Molecular Gas Fraction Research Articles

The Evolution of the Star-Forming Interstellar Medium Across Cosmic Time

Over the past decade, increasingly robust estimates of the dense molecular gas content in galaxy populations between redshift z = 0 and the peak of cosmic galaxy/star formation ( z ∼ 1–3) have become available. This rapid progress has been possible due to the advent of powerful ground- and space-based telescopes for the combined study of several millimeter to far-IR, line or continuum tracers of the molecular gas and dust components. The main conclusions of this review are as follows: ▪ Star-forming galaxies contained much more molecular gas at earlier cosmic epochs than at the present time. ▪ The galaxy-integrated depletion timescale for converting the gas into stars depends primarily on z or Hubble time and, at a given z, on the vertical location of a galaxy along the star-formation rate versus stellar mass main sequence (MS) correlation. ▪ Global rates of galaxy gas accretion primarily control the evolution of the cold molecular gas content and star-formation rates of the dominant MS galaxy population, which in turn vary with cosmological expansion. Another key driver may be global disk fragmentation in high- z, gas-rich galaxies, which ties local free-fall timescales to galactic orbital times and leads to rapid radial matter transport and bulge growth. The low star-formation efficiency inside molecular clouds is plausibly set by supersonic streaming motions and internal turbulence, which in turn may be driven by conversion of gravitational energy at high z and/or by local feedback from massive stars at low z. ▪ A simple gas regulator model is remarkably successful in predicting the combined evolution of molecular gas fractions, star-formation rates, galactic winds, and gas-phase metallicities.

The Role of Active Galactic Nuclei in the Quenching of Massive Galaxies in the SQuIGG E Survey

Abstract We study the incidence of nuclear activity in a large sample of massive post-starburst (PSB) galaxies at selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, and identify active galactic nuclei based on radio continuum and optical emission lines. Over our mass range of , the incidence of radio activity is weakly dependent on stellar mass and independent of stellar age, while radio luminosity depends strongly on stellar mass. Optical nuclear activity incidence depends most strongly on the Dn4000 line index, a proxy for stellar age, with an active fraction that is ∼10 times higher in the youngest versus oldest PSB galaxies. Since a similar trend is seen between age and molecular gas fractions, we argue that, like in local galaxies, the age trend reflects a peak in available fueling rather than feedback from the central black hole on the surrounding galaxy.

H I filaments are cold and associated with dark molecular gas

Context. There are significant amounts of H2 in the Milky Way. Due to its symmetry H2 does not radiate at radio frequencies. CO is thought to be a tracer for H2; however, CO is formed at significantly higher opacities than H2. Thus, toward high Galactic latitudes significant amounts of H2 are hidden and are called CO–dark. Aims. We demonstrate that the dust-to-gas ratio is a tool for identifying locations and column densities of CO–dark H2. Methods. We adopt the hypothesis of a constant E(B−V)∕NH ratio, independent of phase transitions from H I to H2. We investigate the Doppler temperatures TD, from a Gaussian decomposition of HI4PI data, to study temperature dependences of E(B−V)∕NHI. Results. The E(B−V)∕NHI ratio in the cold H I gas phase is high in comparison to the warmer phase. We consider this as evidence that cold H I gas toward high Galactic latitudes is associated with H2. Beyond CO–bright regions, for TD ≤ 1165 K we find a correlation (NHI + 2NH2)∕NHI ∝−logTD. In combination with a factor XCO = 4.0 × 1020 cm−2 (K km s−1)−1 this yields NH∕E(B−V) ~ 5.1 to 6.7 × 1021 cm−2 mag−1 for the full sky, which is compatible with X-ray scattering and UV absorption line observations. Conclusions. Cold H I with TD ≤ 1165 K contains on average 46% CO–dark H2. Prominent filaments have TD ≤ 220 K and typical excitation temperatures Tex ~ 50 K. With a molecular gas fraction of ≥61% they are dominated dynamically by H2.

Theoretical modelling of two-component molecular discs in spiral galaxies

As recent observations of the molecular discs in spiral galaxies point to the existence of a diffuse, low-density thick molecular disc along with the prominent thin one, we investigate the observational signatures of this thick disc by theoretically modelling two-component molecular discs in a sample of eight nearby spiral galaxies. Assuming a prevailing hydrostatic equilibrium, we set up and solved the joint Poisson’s-Boltzmann equation to estimate the three-dimensional distribution of the molecular gas and the molecular scale height in our sample galaxies. The molecular scale height in a two-component molecular disc is found to vary between 50 and 300 pc, which is higher than what is found in a single-component disc. We find that this scale height can vary significantly depending on the assumed thick disc molecular gas fraction. We also find that the molecular gas flares as a function of the radius and follows a tight exponential law with a scale length of (0.48 ± 0.01)r25. We used the density solutions to produce the column density maps and spectral cubes to examine the ideal observing conditions to identify a thick molecular disc in galaxies. We find that unless the molecular disc is an edge-on system and imaged with a high spatial resolution (≲100 pc), it is extremely hard to identify a thick molecular disc in a column density map. The spectral analysis further reveals that at moderate to high inclination (i ≳ 40°), spectral broadening can fictitiously introduce the signatures of a two-component disc into the spectral cube of a single-component disc. Hence, we conclude that a low inclination molecular disc imaged with high spatial resolution would serve as the ideal site for identifying the thick molecular disc in galaxies.

A large amount of diffuse molecular gases in the bar of the strongly barred galaxy NGC 1300: cause of the low star formation efficiency

ABSTRACT In many barred galaxies, star formation efficiency (SFE) in the bar is lower than those in the arm and bar-end, and its cause has still not been clear. Focusing on the strongly barred galaxy NGC 1300, we investigate the possibility that the presence of a large amount of diffuse molecular gas, which would not contribute to the SF, makes the SFE low in appearance. We examine the relation between the SFE and the diffuse molecular gas fraction (fdif), which is derived using the 12CO(1–0) flux obtained from the interferometer of ALMA 12-m array, which has no sensitivity on diffuse (extended; full width at half-maximum ⪆700 pc) molecular gases due to the lack of ACA, and the total 12CO(1–0) flux obtained from Nobeyama 45-m single-dish telescope. We find that the SFE decreases with increasing fdif. The fdif and SFE are 0.74−0.91 and $0.06\!-\!0.16 ~\rm Gyr^{-1}$ in the bar regions, and 0.28−0.65 and $0.23\!-\!0.96 ~\rm Gyr^{-1}$ in the arm and bar-end regions, respectively. This result supports the idea that the presence of a large amount of diffuse molecular gas makes the SFE low. The suppression of the SFE in the bar has also been seen even when we exclude the diffuse molecular gas components. This suggests that the low SFE appears to be caused not only by a large amount of diffuse molecular gases but also by other mechanisms such as fast cloud–cloud collisions.

Evolution of grain size distribution in galactic discs

Context. Dust is formed out of stellar material and it is constantly affected by different mechanisms occurring in the interstellar medium. Depending on their size, the behaviour of dust grains vary under these mechanisms and, therefore, the dust grain size distribution evolves as part of the dust evolution itself. Following how the grain size distribution evolves is a difficult computing task that has only recently become the subject of consideration. Smoothed particle hydrodynamic (SPH) simulations of a single galaxy, together with cosmological simulations, are producing the first predictions of the evolution of dust grain size distribution. Aims. We compare, for the first time, the evolution of the dust grain size distribution as predicted by SPH simulations and results from observations. We are able to validate not only the predictions of the evolution of the small-to-large grain mass ratio (DS/DL) within a galaxy, but we also provide observational constraints for recent cosmological simulations that include the grain size distribution in the dust evolution framework. Methods. We selected a sample of three spiral galaxies with different masses: M 101, NGC 628, and M 33. We fitted the dust spectral energy distribution across the disc of each object and derived the abundance of the different grain types included in the dust model. We analysed how the radial distribution of the relative abundance of the different grain size populations changes over the whole disc within each galaxy. The DS/DL ratio as a function of the galactocentric distance and metallicity is directly compared to what has been predicted by the SPH simulations. Results. We find a good agreement between the observed radial distribution of DS/DL and what was obtained from the SPH simulations of a single galaxy. The comparison agrees with the expected evolutionary stage of each galaxy. We show that the central parts of NGC 628 at a high metallicity and with a high molecular gas fraction are mainly affected not only by accretion, but also by the coagulation of dust grains. The centre of M 33, having a lower metallicity and lower molecular gas fraction, presents an increase in the DS/DL ratio, demonstrating that shattering is very effective for creating a large fraction of small grains. Finally, the observational results provided by our galaxies confirm the general relations predicted by the cosmological simulations based on the two-grain size approximation. However, we also present evidence that the simulations could be overestimating the amount of large grains in high massive galaxies.

ALMA Reveals the Molecular Gas Properties of Five Star-forming Galaxies across the Main Sequence at 3

We present the detection of CO(5-4) with S/N> 7 - 13 and a lower CO transition with S/N > 3 (CO(4-3) for 4 galaxies, and CO(3-2) for one) with ALMA in band 3 and 4 in five main sequence star-forming galaxies with stellar masses 3-6x10^10 M/M_sun at 3 < z < 3.5. We find a good correlation between the total far-infrared luminosity LFIR and the luminosity of the CO(5-4) transition L'CO(5-4), where L'CO(5-4) increases with SFR, indicating that CO(5-4) is a good tracer of the obscured SFR in these galaxies. The two galaxies that lie closer to the star-forming main sequence have CO SLED slopes that are comparable to other star-forming populations, such as local SMGs and BzK star-forming galaxies; the three objects with higher specific star formation rates (sSFR) have far steeper CO SLEDs, which possibly indicates a more concentrated episode of star formation. By exploiting the CO SLED slopes to extrapolate the luminosity of the CO(1-0) transition, and using a classical conversion factor for main sequence galaxies of alpha_CO = 3.8 M_sun(K km s^-1 pc^-2)^-1, we find that these galaxies are very gas rich, with molecular gas fractions between 60 and 80%, and quite long depletion times, between 0.2 and 1 Gyr. Finally, we obtain dynamical masses that are comparable with the sum of stellar and gas mass (at least for four out of five galaxies), allowing us to put a first constraint on the alpha_CO parameter for main sequence galaxies at an unprecedented redshift.

Properties of the dense core population in Orion B as seen by the Herschel Gould Belt survey

We present a detailed study of the Orion B molecular cloud complex (d ~ 400 pc), which was imaged with the PACS and SPIRE photometric cameras at wavelengths from 70 to 500 μm as part of the Herschel Gould Belt survey (HGBS). We release new high-resolution maps of column density and dust temperature for the whole complex, derived in the same consistent manner as for other HGBS regions. In the filamentary subregions NGC 2023 and 2024, NGC 2068 and 2071, and L1622, a total of 1768 starless dense cores were identified based on Herschel data, 490–804 (~28−45%) of which are self-gravitating prestellar cores that will likely form stars in the future. A total of 76 protostellar dense cores were also found. The typical lifetime of the prestellar cores was estimated to be tpreOrionB = 1.7−0.6+0.8Myr. The prestellar core mass function (CMF) derived for the whole sample of prestellar cores peaks at ~0.5 M⊙ (in dN/dlogM format) and is consistent with a power-law with logarithmic slope −1.27 ± 0.24 at the high-mass end, compared to the Salpeter slope of − 1.35. In the Orion B region, we confirm the existence of a transition in prestellar core formation efficiency (CFE) around a fiducial value AVbg ~ 7 mag in background visual extinction, which is similar to the trend observed with Herschel in other regions, such as the Aquila cloud. This is not a sharp threshold, however, but a smooth transition between a regime with very low prestellar CFE at AVbg &lt; 5 and a regime with higher, roughly constant CFE at AVbg ≳ 10. The total mass in the form of prestellar cores represents only a modest fraction (~20%) of the dense molecular cloud gas above AVbg ≳ 7 mag. About 60–80% of the prestellar cores are closely associated with filaments, and this fraction increases up to &gt;90% when a more complete sample of filamentary structures is considered. Interestingly, the median separation observed between nearest core neighbors corresponds to the typical inner filament width of ~0.1 pc, which is commonly observed in nearby molecular clouds, including Orion B. Analysis of the CMF observed as a function of background cloud column density shows that the most massive prestellar cores are spatially segregated in the highest column density areas, and suggests that both higher- and lower-mass prestellar cores may form in denser filaments.

The Properties of the Interstellar Medium of Galaxies across Time as Traced by the Neutral Atomic Carbon [C i

Abstract We report Atacama Large Millimeter Array observations of the neutral atomic carbon transitions [C i] and multiple CO lines in a sample of ∼30 main-sequence galaxies at , including novel information on [C i] and CO for 7 of such normal objects. We complement our observations with a collection of &gt;200 galaxies with coverage of similar transitions, spanning the z = 0–4 redshift interval and a variety of ambient conditions from local to high-redshift starbursts. We find systematic variations in the [C i]/IR and [C i]/high-J upper (J upper = 7) CO luminosity ratios among the various samples. We interpret these differences as increased dense molecular gas fractions and star formation efficiencies in the strongest high-redshift starbursts with respect to normal main-sequence galaxies. We further report constant / ratios across the galaxy populations and redshifts, suggesting that gas temperatures T exc traced by [C i] do not strongly vary. We find only a mild correlation with T dust and that, generally, T exc ≲ T dust. We fit the line ratios with classical photodissociation region models, retrieving consistently larger densities and intensities of the UV radiation fields in submillimeter galaxies than in main-sequence and local objects. However, these simple models fall short in representing the complexity of a multiphase interstellar medium and should be treated with caution. Finally, we compare our observations with the Santa Cruz semi-analytical model of galaxy evolution, recently extended to simulate submillimeter emission. While we confirm the success in reproducing the CO lines, we find systematically larger [C i] luminosities at fixed IR luminosity than predicted theoretically. This highlights the necessity of improving our understanding of the mechanisms regulating the [C i] emission on galactic scales. We release our data compilation to the community.

GRB 190114C in the nuclear region of an interacting galaxy

Context. For the first time, very high energy emission up to the TeV range has been reported for a gamma-ray burst (GRB). It is still unclear whether the environmental properties of GRB 190114C might have contributed to the production of these very high energy photons, or if it is solely related to the released GRB emission. Aims. The relatively low redshift of the GRB (z = 0.425) allows us to study the host galaxy of this event in detail, and to potentially identify idiosyncrasies that could point to progenitor characteristics or environmental properties that might be responsible for this unique event. Methods. We used ultraviolet, optical, infrared, and submillimetre imaging and spectroscopy obtained with the HST, the VLT, and ALMA to obtain an extensive dataset on which the analysis of the host galaxy is based. Results. The host system is composed of a close pair of interacting galaxies (Δv = 50 km s−1), both of which are well detected by ALMA in CO(3-2). The GRB occurred within the nuclear region (∼170 pc from the centre) of the less massive but more star-forming galaxy of the pair. The host is more massive (log(M/M⊙) = 9.3) than average GRB hosts at this redshift, and the location of the GRB is rather unique. The higher star formation rate was probably triggered by tidal interactions between the two galaxies. Our ALMA observations indicate that both host galaxy and companion have a high molecular gas fraction, as has been observed before in interacting galaxy pairs. Conclusions. The location of the GRB within the core of an interacting galaxy with an extinguished line of sight is indicative of a denser environment than typically observed for GRBs and could have been crucial for the generation of the very high energy photons that were observed.

The ISM scaling relations in DustPedia late-type galaxies: A benchmark study for the Local Universe

Aims.The purpose of this work is the characterization of the main scaling relations between all of the interstellar medium (ISM) components, namely dust, atomic, molecular, and total gas, and gas-phase metallicity, as well as other galaxy properties, such as stellar mass (Mstar) and galaxy morphology, for late-type galaxies in the Local Universe.Methods.This study was performed by extracting late-type galaxies from the entire DustPedia sample and by exploiting the large and homogeneous dataset available thanks to the DustPedia project. The sample consists of 436 galaxies with morphological stage spanning fromT= 1−10,Mstarfrom 6 × 107to 3 × 1011M⊙, star formation rate from 6 × 10−4to 60M⊙yr−1, and oxygen abundance from 12 + log(O/H) = 8−9.5. Molecular and atomic gas data were collected from the literature and properly homogenized. All the masses involved in our analysis refer to the values within the optical disks of galaxies. The scaling relations involving the molecular gas are studied by assuming both a constant and a metallicity-dependent CO-to-H2conversion factor (XCO). The analysis was performed by means of the survival analysis technique, in order to properly take into account the presence of both detection and nondetection in the data.Results.We confirm that the dust mass correlates very well with the total gas mass, and find –for the first time– that the dust mass correlates better with the atomic gas mass than with the molecular one. We characterize important mass ratios such as the gas fraction, the molecular-to-atomic gas mass ratio, the dust-to-total gas mass ratio (DGR), and the dust-to-stellar mass ratio, and study how they relate to each other, to galaxy morphology, and to gas-phase metallicity. Only the assumption of a metallicity-dependentXCOreproduces the expected decrease of the DGR with increasing morphological stage and decreasing gas-phase metallicity, with a slope of about 1. The DGR, the gas-phase metallicity, and the dust-to-stellar mass ratio are, for our galaxy sample, directly linked to galaxy morphology. The molecular-to-atomic gas mass ratio and the DGR show a positive correlation for low molecular gas fractions, but for galaxies rich in molecular gas this trend breaks down. To our knowledge, this trend has never been found before, and provides new constraints for theoretical models of galaxy evolution and a reference for high-redshift studies. We discuss several scenarios related to this finding.Conclusions.The DustPedia database of late-type galaxies is an extraordinary tool for the study of the ISM scaling relations, thanks to its homogeneous collection of data for the different ISM components. The database is made publicly available to the whole community.

The Gas–Star Formation Cycle in Nearby Star-forming Galaxies. I. Assessment of Multi-scale Variations

Abstract The processes regulating star formation in galaxies are thought to act across a hierarchy of spatial scales. To connect extragalactic star formation relations from global and kiloparsec-scale measurements to recent cloud-scale resolution studies, we have developed a simple, robust method that quantifies the scale dependence of the relative spatial distributions of molecular gas and recent star formation. In this paper, we apply this method to eight galaxies with ∼1″ resolution molecular gas imaging from the Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby GalaxieS–ALMA (PHANGS–ALMA) survey and PdBI Arcsecond Whirlpool Survey (PAWS) that have matched resolution, high-quality narrowband Hα imaging. At a common scale of 140 pc, our massive (log(M ⋆[M ⊙]) = 9.3–10.7), normally star-forming (SFR[M ⊙ yr−1] = 0.3–5.9) galaxies exhibit a significant reservoir of quiescent molecular gas not associated with star formation as traced by Hα emission. Galactic structures act as backbones for both molecular gas and H ii region distributions. As we degrade the spatial resolution, the quiescent molecular gas disappears, with the most rapid changes occurring for resolutions up to ∼0.5 kpc. As the resolution becomes poorer, the morphological features become indistinct for spatial scales larger than ∼1 kpc. The method is a promising tool to search for relationships between the quiescent or star-forming molecular reservoir and galaxy properties, but requires a larger sample size to identify robust correlations between the star-forming molecular gas fraction and global galaxy parameters.

Molecular Gas in the Outflow of the Small Magellanic Cloud

Abstract We report the first evidence of molecular gas in two atomic hydrogen (H i) clouds associated with gas outflowing from the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). We used the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment to detect and spatially resolve individual clumps of 12CO(2 → 1) emission in both clouds. CO clumps are compact (∼10 pc) and dynamically cold (line widths ). Most CO emission appears to be offset from the peaks of the H i emission, some molecular gas lies in regions without a clear H i counterpart. We estimate a total molecular gas mass of in each cloud and molecular gas fractions up to 30% of the total cold gas mass (molecular + neutral). Under the assumption that this gas is escaping the galaxy, we calculated a cold gas outflow rate of and mass loading factors of at a distance larger than 1 kpc. These results show that relatively weak starburst-driven winds in dwarf galaxies like the SMC are able to accelerate significant amounts of cold and dense matter and inject it into the surrounding environment.

SDSS-IV MaNGA: Bar pattern speed estimates with the Tremaine-Weinberg method and their error sources

Abstract Estimating the bar pattern speed (Ωbar) is one of the main challenges faced in understanding the role of stellar bars in galaxy dynamical evolution. This work aims to characterise different uncertainty sources affecting the Tremaine Weinberg (TW)-method to study the correlation between bar and galaxies physical parameters. We use a sample of 15 MaNGA SDSS-IV galaxies and 3 CALIFA galaxies from Aguerri et al. (2015). We studied the errors related with (i) galaxy centre determination, (ii) disc position angle (PA) emphasising the difficulties triggered by outer non-axisymmetric structures besides the bar, (iii) the slits length and (iv) the spatial resolution. In average, the PA uncertainties range $\sim 15 \%$, the slit length $\sim 9 \%$ and the centring error $\sim 5 \%$. Reducing the spatial resolution increases the sensitivity to the PA error. Through Monte Carlo simulations, we estimate the probability distribution of the $\mathcal {R}$ bar speed parameter. The present sample is composed of 7 slow, 4 fast and 7 ultrafast bars, with no trend with morphological types. Although uncertainties and low sample numbers may mask potential correlations between physical properties, we present a discussion of them: We observe an anti-correlation of Ωbar with the bar length and the stellar mass, suggesting that massive galaxies tend to host longer and slower bars. We also observe a correlation of the molecular gas fraction with $\mathcal {R}$, and a weak anti-correlation with Ωbar, suggesting that bars rotate slower in gaseous discs. Confirmation of such trends awaits future studies.

Dust emissivity and absorption cross section in DustPedia late-type galaxies

Aims. We compare the far-infrared to sub-millimetre dust emission properties measured in high Galactic latitude cirrus with those determined in a sample of 204 late-type DustPedia galaxies. The aim is to verify if it is appropriate to use Milky Way dust properties to derive dust masses in external galaxies. Methods. We used Herschel observations and atomic and molecular gas masses to estimate ϵ(250 μm), the disc-averaged dust emissivity at 250 μm, and from this, the absorption cross section per H atom σ(250 μm) and per dust mass κ(250 μm). The emissivity ϵ(250 μm) requires one assumption, which is the CO-to-H2 conversion factor, and the dust temperature is additionally required for σ(250 μm); yet another constraint on the dust-to-hydrogen ratio D/H, depending on metallicity, is required for κ(250 μm). Results. We find ϵ(250 μm) = 0.82 ± 0.07 MJy sr−1 (1020 H cm−2)−1 for galaxies with 4 &lt; F(250 μm)/F(500 μm) &lt; 5. This depends only weakly on the adopted CO-to-H2 conversion factor. The value is almost the same as that for the Milky Way at the same colour ratio. Instead, for F(250 μm)/F(500 μm) &gt; 6, ϵ(250 μm) is lower than predicted by its dependence on the heating conditions. The reduction suggests a variation in dust emission properties for spirals of earlier type, higher metallicity, and with a higher fraction of molecular gas. When the standard emission properties of Galactic cirrus are used for these galaxies, their dust masses might be underestimated by up to a factor of two. Values for σ(250 μm) and κ(250 μm) at the Milky Way metallicity are also close to those of the cirrus. Mild trends of the absorption cross sections with metallicity are found, although the results depend on the assumptions made.

The role of AGN in galaxy star formation: A case study of a radio galaxy at z = 2.6

AbstractRadio galaxies are ideal sites to scrutinize AGN feedback physics, as they are massive galaxies with jets that interact with the surrounding ISM. I will present a detailed analysis of the recent star formation history and conditions of a starbursting, massive radio galaxy at z = 2.6, PKS 0529-549. In the 8.5-hour VLT/X-Shooter spectrum, we detect unambiguous signatures of stellar photospheric absorption lines originating from OB-stars. Comparison with model spectra shows that more than one burst took place in its recent past: the most recent one at 4 − 7 Myr, and another aged ⩾20 Myr. ALMA observations of the [CI] atomic carbon emission line indicates that it has a low molecular gas fraction (∼13%) and short depletion time (∼40 Myr). Most intriguing is the modest velocity dispersion (⩽50 km/s) of these photospheric lines and the ALMA [CI] cold gas. We attribute its efficient star formation to compressive gas motions, induced by radio jets and/or interaction. Star formation works in concert with the AGN to remove any residual molecular gas and eventually leads to quenching.

Evidence for Inside-out Galaxy Growth and Quenching of a z ∼ 2 Compact Galaxy From High-resolution Molecular Gas Imaging

Abstract We present high spatial resolution imaging of the CO(1–0) line from the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array of COSMOS 27289, a massive, compact star-forming galaxy (SFG) at z = 2.234. This galaxy was selected because of its structural similarity to z ∼ 2 passive galaxies. Our previous observations showed that it is very gas poor with respect to typical SFGs at these redshifts, consistent with a rapid transition to quiescence as the molecular gas is depleted. The new data show that both the molecular gas fraction, , and the molecular gas depletion time, /SFR, are lower in the central 1–2 kpc of the galaxy and rise at larger radii ∼2–4 kpc. These observations are consistent with a scenario in which COSMOS 27289 will imminently cease star formation in the inner regions before the outskirts, i.e., inside-out quenching, the first time this phenomenon has been seen via observations of molecular gas in the high-redshift universe. We find good qualitative and quantitative agreement with a hydrodynamical simulation of galaxy quenching, in which the central suppression of molecular gas arises due to rapid gas consumption and outflows that evacuate the central regions of gas. Our results provide independent evidence for inside-out quenching of star formation as a plausible formation mechanism for z ∼ 2 quiescent galaxies.

Evolution of star formation rate–density relation over cosmic time in a simulated universe: the observed reversal reproduced

ABSTRACT We use the IllustrisTNG cosmological hydrodynamical simulation to study the evolution of star formation rate (SFR)–density relation over cosmic time. We construct several samples of galaxies at different redshifts from z = 2.0 to z = 0.0, which have the same comoving number density. The SFR of galaxies decreases with local density at z = 0.0, but its dependence on local density becomes weaker with redshift. At z ≳ 1.0, the SFR of galaxies increases with local density (reversal of the SFR–density relation), and its dependence becomes stronger with redshift. This change of SFR–density relation with redshift still remains even when fixing the stellar masses of galaxies. The dependence of SFR on the distance to a galaxy cluster also shows a change with redshift in a way similar to the case based on local density, but the reversal happens at a higher redshift, z ∼ 1.5, in clusters. On the other hand, the molecular gas fraction always decreases with local density regardless of redshift at z = 0.0–2.0 even though the dependence becomes weaker when we fix the stellar mass. Our study demonstrates that the observed reversal of the SFR–density relation at z ≳ 1.0 can be successfully reproduced in cosmological simulations. Our results are consistent with the idea that massive, star-forming galaxies are strongly clustered at high redshifts, forming larger structures. These galaxies then consume their gas faster than those in low-density regions through frequent interactions with other galaxies, ending up being quiescent in the local universe.

The Fornax Deep Survey with the VST

Context. We present the study of a magnitude limited sample (mB ≤ 16.6 mag) of 13 late type galaxies (LTGs), observed inside the virial radius, Rvir ∼ 0.7 Mpc, of the Fornax cluster within the Fornax Deep Survey (FDS). Aims. The main objective is to use surface brightness profiles and g − i colour maps to obtain information on the internal structure of these galaxies and find signatures of the mechanisms that drive their evolution in high-density environments inside the virial radius of the cluster. Methods. By modelling galaxy isophotes, we extract the azimuthally averaged surface brightness profiles in four optical bands. We also derive g − i colour profiles, and relevant structural parameters like total magnitude and effective radius. For ten of the galaxies in this sample, we observe a clear discontinuity in their typical exponential surface brightness profiles, derive their “break radius”, and classify their disc-breaks into Type II (down-bending) or Type III (up-bending). Results. We find that Type II galaxies have bluer average (g − i) colour in their outer discs while Type III galaxies are redder. The break radius increases with stellar mass and molecular gas mass while it decreases with molecular gas-fractions. The inner and outer scale-lengths increase monotonically with absolute magnitude, as found in other works. For galaxies with CO(1-0) measurements, there is no detected cold gas beyond the break radius (within the uncertainties). In the context of morphological segregation of LTGs in clusters, we also find that, in Fornax, galaxies with morphological type 5 &lt; T ≤ 9 (∼60% of the sample) are located beyond the high-density, ETG-dominated regions, however there is no correlation between T and the disc-break type. We do not find any correlation between the average (g − i) colours and cluster-centric distance, but the colour-magnitude relation holds true. Conclusions. The main results of this work suggest that the disc-breaks of LTGs inside the virial radius of the Fornax cluster seem to have arisen through a variety of mechanisms (e.g. ram-pressure stripping, tidal disruption), which is evident in their outer-disc colours and the absence of molecular gas beyond their break radius in some cases. This can result in a variety of stellar populations inside and outside the break radii.

CO observations of major merger pairs at z = 0: molecular gas mass and star formation

We present CO observations of 78 spiral galaxies in local merger pairs. These galaxies represent a subsample of a Ks-band-selected sample consisting of 88 close major-merger pairs (HKPAIRs), 44 spiral–spiral (S+S) pairs, and 44 spiral–elliptical (S+E) pairs, with separation &lt;20 h−1 kpc and mass ratio &lt;2.5. For all objects, the star formation rate (SFR) and dust mass were derived from Herschel PACS and SPIRE data, and the atomic gas mass, MHI, from the Green Bank Telescope HI observations. The complete data set allows us to study the relation between gas (atomic and molecular) mass, dust mass, and SFR in merger galaxies. We derive the molecular gas fraction (MH2/M*), molecular-to-atomic gas mass ratio (MH2/MHI), gas-to-dust mass ratio and SFE (= SFR/MH2) and study their dependences on pair type (S+S compared to S+E), stellar mass, and the presence of morphological interaction signs. We find an overall moderate enhancement (∼2×) in both molecular gas fraction (MH2/M*) and molecular-to-atomic gas ratio (MH2/MHI) for star-forming galaxies in major-merger pairs compared to non-interacting comparison samples, whereas no enhancement was found for the SFE nor for the total gas mass fraction ((MHI + MH2)/M*). When divided into S+S and S+E, low mass and high mass, and with and without interaction signs, there is a small difference in SFE, a moderate difference in MH2/M*, and a strong difference in MH2/MHI between subsamples. For the molecular-to-atomic gas ratio MH2/MHI, the difference between S+S and S+E subsamples is 0.55 ± 0.18 dex and between pairs with and without interaction sign 0.65 ± 0.16 dex. Together, our results suggest that (1) star formation enhancement in close major-merger pairs occurs mainly in S+S pairs after the first close encounter (indicated by interaction signs) because the HI gas is compressed into star-forming molecular gas by the tidal torque; and (2) this effect is much weakened in the S+E pairs.