Gas accretion history of galaxies at z ~ 0 - 2: Comparison of the observational data of molecular gas with the mass evolution model of galaxies

Abstract

AbstractWe found stellar mass-dependent evolution of galactic molecular gas fractions ($f_{\rm mol}=\frac{M_{\rm mol}}{M_\star+M_{\rm mol}}$, Mmol: molecular gas mass, M*: stellar mass) where less massive galaxies have decreased fmol from z = 1 whereas massive galaxies have already had low fmol until z = 1. Comparison of the observed quantities (fmol, optical and near infra-red [NIR] colors, specific star formation rate [sSFR = SFR/M*]) with mass evolution models suggests that less massive galaxies had high fmol at z = 1 thanks to recent gas accretion.