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J. Leech

Publications and source records attributed to J. Leech.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Spectral Properties of Anomalous Microwave Emission in 144 Galactic Clouds

Anomalous Microwave Emission (AME) is a diffuse microwave component thought to arise from spinning dust grains, yet remains poorly understood. We analyze AME in 144 Galactic clouds by combining low-frequency maps from S-PASS (2.3 GHz), C-BASS (4.76 GHz), and QUIJOTE (10-20 GHz) with 21 ancillary maps. Using aperture photometry and parametric SED fitting via MCMC methods without informative priors, we measure AME emissivity, peak frequency, and spectral width. We achieve peak frequency constraints nearly three times tighter than previous work and identify 83 new AME sources. AME spectra are generally broader than predicted by spinning dust models for a single phase of the interstellar medium, suggesting either multiple spinning dust components along the line of sight or incomplete representation of the grain size distribution in current models. However, the narrowest observed widths match theoretical predictions, supporting the spinning dust hypothesis. The AME amplitude correlates most strongly with the thermal dust peak flux and radiance, showing $\sim30$% scatter and sublinear scaling, which suggests reduced AME efficiency in regions with brighter thermal dust emission. AME peak frequency increases with thermal dust temperature in a trend current theoretical models do not reproduce, indicating that spinning dust models must incorporate dust evolution and radiative transfer in a self-consistent framework where environmental parameters and grain properties are interdependent. PAH tracers correlate with AME emissivity, supporting a physical link to small dust grains. Finally, a log-Gaussian function provides a good empirical description of the AME spectrum across the sample, given current data quality and frequency coverage.

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The C-Band All-Sky Survey (C-BASS): New Constraints on the Integrated Radio Spectrum of M 31

The Andromeda galaxy (M31) is our closest neighbouring spiral galaxy, making it an ideal target for studying the physics of the interstellar medium in a galaxy very similar to our own. Using new observations of M31 at 4.76GHz by the C-Band All-Sky Survey (C-BASS), and all available radio data at $1^\circ$ resolution, we produce the integrated spectrum and put new constraints on the synchrotron spectral index and anomalous microwave emission (AME) from M31. We use aperture photometry and spectral modelling to fit for the integrated spectrum of M31, and subtract a comprehensive model of nearby background radio sources. The AME in M31 is detected at $3\sigma$ significance with a peak near 30GHz and flux density $0.27\pm0.09$Jy. The synchrotron spectral index of M31 is flatter than our own Galaxy at $\alpha = -0.66 \pm 0.03$ with no strong evidence of spectral curvature. The emissivity of AME, averaged over the total emission from M31 is lower than typical AME sources in our Galaxy, implying that AME is not uniformly distributed throughout M31 and instead is likely confined to sub-regions -- this will need to be confirmed using future higher resolution observations around 20--30GHz.

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The C-Band All-Sky Survey (C-BASS): Template Fitting of Diffuse Galactic Microwave Emission in the Northern Sky

The C-Band All-Sky Survey (C-BASS) has observed the Galaxy at 4.76GHz with an angular resolution of $0.73^\circ$ full-width half-maximum, and detected Galactic synchrotron emission with high signal-to-noise ratio over the entire northern sky ($\delta > -15^{\circ}$). We present the results of a spatial correlation analysis of Galactic foregrounds at mid-to-high ($b > 10^\circ$) Galactic latitudes using a preliminary version of the C-BASS intensity map. We jointly fit for synchrotron, dust, and free-free components between $20$ and $1000$GHz and look for differences in the Galactic synchrotron spectrum, and the emissivity of anomalous microwave emission (AME) when using either the C-BASS map or the 408MHz all-sky map to trace synchrotron emission. We find marginal evidence for a steepening ($\left<\Delta\beta\right> = -0.06\pm0.02$) of the Galactic synchrotron spectrum at high frequencies resulting in a mean spectral index of $\left<\beta\right> = -3.10\pm0.02$ over $4.76-22.8$GHz. Further, we find that the synchrotron emission can be well modelled by a single power-law up to a few tens of GHz. Due to this, we find that the AME emissivity is not sensitive to changing the synchrotron tracer from the 408MHz map to the 4.76GHz map. We interpret this as strong evidence for the origin of AME being spinning dust emission.

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Detection of Spectral Variations of Anomalous Microwave Emission with QUIJOTE and C-BASS

Anomalous Microwave Emission (AME) is a significant component of Galactic diffuse emission in the frequency range $10$-$60\,$GHz and a new window into the properties of sub-nanometre-sized grains in the interstellar medium. We investigate the morphology of AME in the $\approx10^{\circ}$ diameter $λ$ Orionis ring by combining intensity data from the QUIJOTE experiment at $11$, $13$, $17$ and $19\,$GHz and the C-Band All Sky Survey (C-BASS) at $4.76\,$GHz, together with 19 ancillary datasets between $1.42$ and $3000\,$GHz. Maps of physical parameters at $1^{\circ}$ resolution are produced through Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) fits of spectral energy distributions (SEDs), approximating the AME component with a log-normal distribution. AME is detected in excess of $20\,σ$ at degree-scales around the entirety of the ring along photodissociation regions (PDRs), with three primary bright regions containing dark clouds. A radial decrease is observed in the AME peak frequency from $\approx35\,$GHz near the free-free region to $\approx21\,$GHz in the outer regions of the ring, which is the first detection of AME spectral variations across a single region. A strong correlation between AME peak frequency, emission measure and dust temperature is an indication for the dependence of the AME peak frequency on the local radiation field. The AME amplitude normalised by the optical depth is also strongly correlated with the radiation field, giving an overall picture consistent with spinning dust where the local radiation field plays a key role.

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The C-Band All-Sky Survey (C-BASS): Total intensity point-source detection over the northern sky

We present a point-source detection algorithm that employs the second order Spherical Mexican Hat wavelet filter (SMHW2), and use it on C-BASS northern intensity data to produce a catalogue of point-sources. This catalogue allows us to cross-check the C-BASS flux-density scale against existing source surveys, and provides the basis for a source mask which will be used in subsequent C-BASS and cosmic microwave background (CMB) analyses. The SMHW2 allows us to filter the entire sky at once, avoiding complications from edge effects arising when filtering small sky patches. The algorithm is validated against a set of Monte Carlo simulations, consisting of diffuse emission, instrumental noise, and various point-source populations. The simulated source populations are successfully recovered. The SMHW2 detection algorithm is used to produce a $4.76\,\mathrm{GHz}$ northern sky source catalogue in total intensity, containing 1784 sources and covering declinations $δ\geq-10^{\circ}$. The C-BASS catalogue is matched with the Green Bank 6\,cm (GB6) and Parkes-MIT-NRAO (PMN) catalogues over their areas of common sky coverage. From this we estimate the $90$ per cent completeness level to be approximately $610\,\mathrm{mJy}$, with a corresponding reliability of $98$ per cent, when masking the brightest $30$ per cent of the diffuse emission in the C-BASS northern sky map. We find the C-BASS and GB6 flux-density scales to be consistent with one another to within approximately $4$ per cent.

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The C-Band All-Sky Survey (C-BASS): Simulated parametric fitting in single pixels in total intensity and polarization

The cosmic microwave background $B$-mode signal is potentially weaker than the diffuse Galactic foregrounds over most of the sky at any frequency. A common method of separating the CMB from these foregrounds is via pixel-based parametric-model fitting. There are not currently enough all-sky maps to fit anything more than the most simple models of the sky. By simulating the emission in seven representative pixels, we demonstrate that the inclusion of a 5 GHz data point allows for more complex models of low-frequency foregrounds to be fitted than at present. It is shown that the inclusion of the CBASS data will significantly reduce the uncertainties in a number of key parameters in the modelling of both the galactic foregrounds and the CMB. The extra data allow estimates of the synchrotron spectral index to be constrained much more strongly than is presently possible, with corresponding improvements in the accuracy of the recovery of the CMB amplitude. However, we show that to place good limits on models of the synchrotron spectral curvature will require additional low-frequency data.

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The C-Band All-Sky Survey (C-BASS): Constraining diffuse Galactic radio emission in the North Celestial Pole region

The C-Band All-Sky Survey C-BASS is a high-sensitivity all-sky radio survey at an angular resolution of 45 arcmin and a frequency of 4.7 GHz. We present a total intensity 4.7 GHz map of the North Celestial Pole (NCP) region of sky, above declination +80 deg, which is limited by source confusion at a level of ~0.6 mK rms. We apply the template-fitting (cross-correlation) technique to WMAP and Planck data, using the C-BASS map as the synchrotron template, to investigate the contribution of diffuse foreground emission at frequencies ~20-40 GHz. We quantify the anomalous microwave emission (AME) that is correlated with far-infrared dust emission. The AME amplitude does not change significantly (<10%) when using the higher frequency C-BASS 4.7 GHz template instead of the traditional Haslam 408 MHz map as a tracer of synchrotron radiation. We measure template coefficients of $9.93\pm0.35$ and $9.52\pm0.34$ K per unit $τ_{353}$ when using the Haslam and C-BASS synchrotron templates, respectively. The AME contributes $55\pm2\,μ$K rms at 22.8 GHz and accounts for ~60% of the total foreground emission. Our results suggest that a harder (flatter spectrum) component of synchrotron emission is not dominant at frequencies >5 GHz; the best-fitting synchrotron temperature spectral index is $β=-2.91\pm0.04$ from 4.7 to 22.8 GHz and $β=-2.85\pm0.14$ from 22.8 to 44.1 GHz. Free-free emission is weak, contributing ~$7\,μ$K rms (~7%) at 22.8 GHz. The best explanation for the AME is still electric dipole emission from small spinning dust grains.

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The C-Band All-Sky Survey (C-BASS): Design and capabilities

The C-Band All-Sky Survey (C-BASS) is an all-sky full-polarisation survey at a frequency of 5 GHz, designed to provide complementary data to the all-sky surveys of WMAP and Planck, and future CMB B-mode polarization imaging surveys. The observing frequency has been chosen to provide a signal that is dominated by Galactic synchrotron emission, but suffers little from Faraday rotation, so that the measured polarization directions provide a good template for higher frequency observations, and carry direct information about the Galactic magnetic field. Telescopes in both northern and southern hemispheres with matched optical performance are used to provide all-sky coverage from a ground-based experiment. A continuous-comparison radiometer and a correlation polarimeter on each telescope provide stable imaging properties such that all angular scales from the instrument resolution of 45 arcmin up to full sky are accurately measured. The northern instrument has completed its survey and the southern instrument has started observing. We expect that C-BASS data will significantly improve the component separation analysis of Planck and other CMB data, and will provide important constraints on the properties of anomalous Galactic dust and the Galactic magnetic field.

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The State-of-Play of Anomalous Microwave Emission (AME) Research

Anomalous Microwave Emission (AME) is a component of diffuse Galactic radiation observed at frequencies in the range $\approx 10$-60 GHz. AME was first detected in 1996 and recognised as an additional component of emission in 1997. Since then, AME has been observed by a range of experiments and in a variety of environments. AME is spatially correlated with far-IR thermal dust emission but cannot be explained by synchrotron or free-free emission mechanisms, and is far in excess of the emission contributed by thermal dust emission with the power-law opacity consistent with the observed emission at sub-mm wavelengths. Polarization observations have shown that AME is very weakly polarized ($\lesssim 1$%). The most natural explanation for AME is rotational emission from ultra-small dust grains ("spinning dust"), first postulated in 1957. Magnetic dipole radiation from thermal fluctuations in the magnetization of magnetic grain materials may also be contributing to the AME, particularly at higher frequencies ($\gtrsim 50$ GHz). AME is also an important foreground for Cosmic Microwave Background analyses. This paper presents a review and the current state-of-play in AME research, which was discussed in an AME workshop held at ESTEC, The Netherlands, June 2016.

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C-Band All-Sky Survey: A First Look at the Galaxy

We present an analysis of the diffuse emission at 5 GHz in the first quadrant of the Galactic plane using two months of preliminary intensity data taken with the C-Band All Sky Survey (C-BASS) northern instrument at the Owens Valley Radio Observatory, California. Combining C-BASS maps with ancillary data to make temperature-temperature plots we find synchrotron spectral indices of $β= -2.65 \pm 0.05$ between 0.408 GHz and 5 GHz and $ β= -2.72 \pm 0.09$ between 1.420 GHz and 5 GHz for $-10^{\circ} < |b| < -4^{\circ}$, $20^{\circ} < l < 40^{\circ}$. Through the subtraction of a radio recombination line (RRL) free-free template we determine the synchrotron spectral index in the Galactic plane ($ |b| < 4^{\circ}$) to be $β= -2.56 \pm 0.07$ between 0.408 GHz and 5 GHz, with a contribution of $53 \pm 8$ per cent from free-free emission at 5\,GHz. These results are consistent with previous low frequency measurements in the Galactic plane. By including C-BASS data in spectral fits we demonstrate the presence of anomalous microwave emission (AME) associated with the HII complexes W43, W44 and W47 near 30 GHz, at 4.4 sigma, 3.1 sigma and 2.5 sigma respectively. The CORNISH VLA 5 GHz source catalogue rules out the possibility that the excess emission detected around 30\;GHz may be due to ultra-compact HII regions. Diffuse AME was also identified at a 4 sigma level within $30^{\circ} < l < 40^{\circ}$, $-2^{\circ} < b < 2^{\circ}$ between 5 GHz and 22.8 GHz.

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Astronomical Receiver Modelling Using Scattering Matrices

Proper modelling of astronomical receivers is vital: it describes the systematic errors in the raw data, guides the receiver design process, and assists data calibration. In this paper we describe a method of analytically modelling the full signal and noise behaviour of arbitrarily complex radio receivers. We use electrical scattering matrices to describe the signal behaviour of individual components in the receiver, and noise correlation matrices to describe their noise behaviour. These are combined to produce the full receiver model. We apply this approach to a specified receiver architecture: a hybrid of a continous comparison radiometer and correlation polarimeter designed for the C-Band All-Sky Survey. We produce analytic descriptions of the receiver Mueller matrix and noise temperature, and discuss how imperfections in crucial components affect the raw data. Many of the conclusions drawn are generally applicable to correlation polarimeters and continuous comparison radiometers.

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Warm Molecular Gas in Luminous Infrared Galaxies

We present our initial results on the CO rotational spectral line energy distribution (SLED) of the $J$ to $J$$-$1 transitions from $J=4$ up to $13$ from Herschel SPIRE spectroscopic observations of 65 luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs) in the Great Observatories All-Sky LIRG Survey (GOALS). The observed SLEDs change on average from one peaking at $J \le 4$ to a broad distribution peaking around $J \sim\,$6$-$7 as the IRAS 60-to-100 um color, $C(60/100)$, increases. However, the ratios of a CO line luminosity to the total infrared luminosity, $L_{\rm IR}$, show the smallest variation for $J$ around 6 or 7. This suggests that, for most LIRGs, ongoing star formation (SF) is also responsible for a warm gas component that emits CO lines primarily in the mid-$J$ regime ($5 \lesssim J \lesssim 10$). As a result, the logarithmic ratios of the CO line luminosity summed over CO (5$-$4), (6$-$5), (7$-$6), (8$-$7) and (10$-$9) transitions to $L_{\rm IR}$, $\log R_{\rm midCO}$, remain largely independent of $C(60/100)$, and show a mean value of $-4.13$ ($\equiv \log R^{\rm SF}_{\rm midCO}$) and a sample standard deviation of only 0.10 for the SF-dominated galaxies. Including additional galaxies from the literature, we show, albeit with small number of cases, the possibility that galaxies, which bear powerful interstellar shocks unrelated to the current SF, and galaxies, in which an energetic active galactic nucleus contributes significantly to the bolometric luminosity, have their $R_{\rm midCO}$ higher and lower than $R^{\rm SF}_{\rm midCO}$, respectively.

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The C-Band All-Sky Survey (C-BASS): Design and implementation of the northern receiver

The C-Band All-Sky Survey (C-BASS) is a project to map the full sky in total intensity and linear polarization at 5 GHz. The northern component of the survey uses a broadband single-frequency analogue receiver fitted to a 6.1-m telescope at the Owens Valley Radio Observatory in California, USA. The receiver architecture combines a continuous-comparison radiometer and a correlation polarimeter in a single receiver for stable simultaneous measurement of both total intensity and linear polarization, using custom-designed analogue receiver components. The continuous-comparison radiometer measures the temperature difference between the sky and temperature-stabilized cold electrical reference loads. A cryogenic front-end is used to minimize receiver noise, with a system temperature of $\approx 30\,$K in both linear polarization and total intensity. Custom cryogenic notch filters are used to counteract man-made radio frequency interference. The radiometer $1/f$ noise is dominated by atmospheric fluctuations, while the polarimeter achieves a $1/f$ noise knee frequency of 10 mHz, similar to the telescope azimuthal scan frequency.

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The James Clerk Maxwell Telescope Nearby Galaxies Legacy Survey IX: $^{12}$CO $J=3\to2$ Observations of NGC 2976 and NGC 3351

We present $^{12}$CO \textit{J=3$\rightarrow$2} maps of NGC 2976 and NGC 3351 obtained with the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT), both early targets of the JCMT Nearby Galaxy Legacy Survey (NGLS). We combine the present observations with $^{12}$CO \textit{J=1$\rightarrow$0} data and find that the computed $^{12}$CO \textit{J=3$\rightarrow$2} to $^{12}$CO \textit{J=1$\rightarrow$0} line ratio ($R_{31}$) agrees with values measured in other NGLS field galaxies. We compute the M$_{\rm{H_2}}$ value and find that it is robust against the value of $R_{31}$ used. Using \textsc{Hi} data from the The \textsc{Hi} Nearby Galaxy Survey (THINGS) survey, we find a tight correlation between surface density of H$_2$ and star formation rate density for NGC 3351 when $^{12}$CO \textit{J=3$\rightarrow$2} data are used. Finally, we compare the $^{12}$CO \textit{J=3$\rightarrow$2} intensity with the PAH 8 $μ$m surface brightness and find a good correlation in the high surface brightness regions. We extend this study to include all 25 \textit{Spitzer} Infrared Nearby Galaxies Survey (SINGS) galaxies within the NGLS sample and find a tight correlation at large spatial scales. We suggest that both PAH 8 $μ$m and $^{12}$CO \textit{J=3$\rightarrow$2} are likely to originate in regions of active star formation.

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A Herschel Survey of the [N II] 205 micron Line in Local Luminous Infrared Galaxies --- The [N II] 205 micron Emission as a Star Formation Rate Indicator

We present, for the first time, a statistical study of [N II] 205 mciron line emission for a large sample of local luminous infrared galaxies using Herschel Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver Fourier Transform Spectrometer (SPIRE FTS) data. For our sample of galaxies, we investigate the correlation between the [N II] luminosity (LNII) and the total infrared luminosity (LIR), as well as the dependence of LNII/LIR ratio on LIR, far infrared colors (IRAS $f_{60}/f_{100}$) and the [O III] 88 micron to [N II] luminosity ratio. We find that LNII correlates almost linearly with LIR for non AGN galaxies (all having $L_{IR} < 10^{12} L_solar$) in our sample, which implies that LNII can serve as a SFR tracer which is particularly useful for high redshift galaxies which will be observed with forthcoming submm spectroscopic facilities such as the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. Our analysis shows that the deviation from the mean LNII-LIR relation correlates with tracers of the ionization parameter, which suggests the scatter in this relation is mainly due to the variations in the hardness, and/or ionization parameter, of the ambient galactic UV field among the sources in our sample.

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The JCMT Nearby Galaxies Legacy Survey VIII. CO data and the L(CO3-2)-L(FIR) correlation in the SINGS sample

The James Clerk Maxwell Telescope Nearby Galaxies Legacy Survey (NGLS) comprises an HI-selected sample of 155 galaxies spanning all morphological types with distances less than 25 Mpc. We describe the scientific goals of the survey, the sample selection, and the observing strategy. We also present an atlas and analysis of the CO J=3-2 maps for the 47 galaxies in the NGLS which are also part of the Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxies Survey. We find a wide range of molecular gas mass fractions in the galaxies in this sample and explore the correlation of the far-infrared luminosity, which traces star formation, with the CO luminosity, which traces the molecular gas mass. By comparing the NGLS data with merging galaxies at low and high redshift which have also been observed in the CO J=3-2 line, we show that the correlation of far-infrared and CO luminosity shows a significant trend with luminosity. This trend is consistent with a molecular gas depletion time which is more than an order of magnitude faster in the merger galaxies than in nearby normal galaxies. We also find a strong correlation of the L(FIR)/L(CO3-2) ratio with the atomic to molecular gas mass ratio. This correlation suggests that some of the far-infrared emission originates from dust associated with atomic gas and that its contribution is particularly important in galaxies where most of the gas is in the atomic phase.

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The JCMT Nearby Galaxies Legacy Survey IV. Velocity Dispersions in the Molecular Interstellar Medium in Spiral Galaxies

An analysis of large-area CO J=3-2 maps from the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope for 12 nearby spiral galaxies reveals low velocity dispersions in the molecular component of the interstellar medium. The three lowest luminosity galaxies show a relatively flat velocity dispersion as a function of radius while the remaining nine galaxies show a central peak with a radial fall-off within 0.2-0.4 r(25). Correcting for the average contribution due to the internal velocitydispersions of a population of giant molecular clouds, the average cloud-cloud velocity dispersion across the galactic disks is 6.1 +/- 1.0 km/s (standard deviation 2.9 km/s), in reasonable agreement with previous measurements for the Galaxy andM33. The cloud-cloud velocity dispersion derived from the CO data is on average two times smaller than the HI velocity dispersion measured in the same galaxies. The low cloud-cloudvelocity dispersion implies that the molecular gas is the critical component determining the stability of the galactic disk against gravitational collapse, especially in those regions of the disk which are H2 dominated. The cloud-cloud velocity dispersion shows a significant positivecorrelation with both the far-infrared luminosity, which traces the star formation activity, and the K-band absolute magnitude, which traces the total stellar mass. For three galaxies in the Virgo cluster, smoothing the data to a resolution of 4.5 kpc (to match the typical resolution of high redshift CO observations) increases the measured velocity dispersion by roughly a factor of two, comparable to the dispersion measured recently in a normal galaxy at z=1. This comparison suggests that the mass and star formation rate surface densities may be similar in galaxies from z=0-1 and that the high star formation rates seen at z=1 may be partly due to the presence of physically larger molecular gas disks.

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A CO(3-2) survey of a merging sequence of luminous infrared galaxies

Luminous infrared galaxies ($L_{\rm{IR}}>10^{11} L_{\odot}$) are often associated with interacting galactic systems and are thought to be powered by merger--induced starbursts and/or dust--enshrouded AGN. In such systems, the evolution of the dense, star forming molecular gas as a function of merger separation is of particular interest. Here, we present observations of the CO(3-2) emission from a sample of luminous infrared galaxy mergers that span a range of galaxy-galaxy separations. The excitation of the molecular gas is studied by examining the CO(3-2)/CO(1-0) line ratio, $r_{31}$, as a function of merger extent. We find these line ratios, $r_{31}$, to be consistent with kinetic temperatures of $T_k$=(30--50) K and gas densities of $n_{\rm{H}_2}=10^3 \rm{cm}^{-3}$. We also find weak correlations between $r_{31}$ and both merger progression and star formation efficiency ($L_{\rm{fIR}} / L_{\rm{CO(1-0)}}$). These correlations show a tendency for gas excitation to increase as the merger progresses and the star formation efficiency rises. To conclude, we calculate the contributions of the CO(3-2) line to the 850 $μ$m fluxes measured with SCUBA, which are seen to be significant ($\sim$24%).

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