663 research outputs found
ALMA constraints on the faint millimetre source number counts and their contribution to the cosmic infrared background
We have analysed 18 ALMA continuum maps in Bands 6 and 7, with rms down to
7.8Jy, to derive differential number counts down to 60Jy and
100Jy at 1.3 mm and 1.1 mm, respectively. The area
covered by the combined fields is at 1.1mm and at 1.3mm. We improved the source extraction method by
requiring that the dimension of the detected sources be consistent with the
beam size. This method enabled us to remove spurious detections that have
plagued the purity of the catalogues in previous studies. We detected 50 faint
sources with S/N3.5 down to 60Jy, hence improving the statistics by a
factor of four relative to previous studies. The inferred differential number
counts are at a 1.1 mm flux Jy, and at a 1.3
mm flux Jy. At the faintest flux limits,
i.e. 30Jy and 40Jy, we obtain upper limits on the differential number
counts of and , respectively. Our results provide a new
lower limit to CIB intensity of 17.2 at 1.1mm and of
12.9 at 1.3mm. Moreover, the flattening of the integrated
number counts at faint fluxes strongly suggests that we are probably close to
the CIB intensity. Our data imply that galaxies with SFR
certainly contribute less than 50% to the CIB while more than 50% of the CIB
must be produced by galaxies with . The differential
number counts are in nice agreement with recent semi-analytical models of
galaxy formation even as low as our faint fluxes. Consequently, this supports
the galaxy evolutionary scenarios and assumptions made in these models.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures, A&A accepte
Sub-kiloparsec Imaging of Cool Molecular Gas in Two Strongly Lensed Dusty, Star-Forming Galaxies
We present spatially-resolved imaging obtained with the Australia Telescope
Compact Array (ATCA) of three CO lines in two high-redshift gravitationally
lensed dusty star-forming galaxies, discovered by the South Pole Telescope.
Strong lensing allows us to probe the structure and dynamics of the molecular
gas in these two objects, at z=2.78 and z=5.66, with effective source-plane
resolution of less than 1kpc. We model the lensed emission from multiple CO
transitions and the dust continuum in a consistent manner, finding that the
cold molecular gas as traced by low-J CO always has a larger half-light radius
than the 870um dust continuum emission. This size difference leads to up to 50%
differences in the magnification factor for the cold gas compared to dust. In
the z=2.78 galaxy, these CO observations confirm that the background source is
undergoing a major merger, while the velocity field of the other source is more
complex. We use the ATCA CO observations and comparable resolution Atacama
Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array dust continuum imaging of the same objects
to constrain the CO-H_2 conversion factor with three different procedures,
finding good agreement between the methods and values consistent with those
found for rapidly star-forming systems. We discuss these galaxies in the
context of the star formation - gas mass surface density relation, noting that
the change in emitting area with observed CO transition must be accounted for
when comparing high-redshift galaxies to their lower redshift counterparts.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures; accepted for publication in Ap
SPT0346-52: Negligible AGN Activity in a Compact, Hyper-starburst Galaxy at z = 5.7
We present Chandra ACIS-S and ATCA radio continuum observations of the
strongly lensed dusty, star-forming galaxy SPT-S J034640-5204.9 (hereafter
SPT0346-52) at = 5.656. This galaxy has also been observed with ALMA, HST,
Spitzer, Herschel, APEX, and the VLT. Previous observations indicate that if
the infrared (IR) emission is driven by star formation, then the inferred
lensing-corrected star formation rate ( 4500 M_{\sun} yr) and
star formation rate surface density ( 2000 M_{\sun}
{yr^{-1}} {kpc^{-2}}) are both exceptionally high. It remained unclear from
the previous data, however, whether a central active galactic nucleus (AGN)
contributes appreciably to the IR luminosity. The {\it Chandra} upper limit
shows that SPT0346-52 is consistent with being star-formation dominated in the
X-ray, and any AGN contribution to the IR emission is negligible. The ATCA
radio continuum upper limits are also consistent with the FIR-to-radio
correlation for star-forming galaxies with no indication of an additional AGN
contribution. The observed prodigious intrinsic IR luminosity of (3.6
0.3) 10 L_{\sun} originates almost solely from vigorous star
formation activity. With an intrinsic source size of 0.61 0.03 kpc,
SPT0346-52 is confirmed to have one of the highest of any known
galaxy. This high , which approaches the Eddington limit for a
radiation pressure supported starburst, may be explained by a combination of
very high star formation efficiency and gas fraction.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
The Rest-Frame Submillimeter Spectrum of High-Redshift, Dusty, Star-Forming Galaxies
We present the average rest-frame spectrum of high-redshift dusty,
star-forming galaxies from 250-770GHz. This spectrum was constructed by
stacking ALMA 3mm spectra of 22 such sources discovered by the South Pole
Telescope and spanning z=2.0-5.7. In addition to multiple bright spectral
features of 12CO, [CI], and H2O, we also detect several faint transitions of
13CO, HCN, HNC, HCO+, and CN, and use the observed line strengths to
characterize the typical properties of the interstellar medium of these
high-redshift starburst galaxies. We find that the 13CO brightness in these
objects is comparable to that of the only other z>2 star-forming galaxy in
which 13CO has been observed. We show that the emission from the high-critical
density molecules HCN, HNC, HCO+, and CN is consistent with a warm, dense
medium with T_kin ~ 55K and n_H2 >~ 10^5.5 cm^-3. High molecular hydrogen
densities are required to reproduce the observed line ratios, and we
demonstrate that alternatives to purely collisional excitation are unlikely to
be significant for the bulk of these systems. We quantify the average emission
from several species with no individually detected transitions, and find
emission from the hydride CH and the linear molecule CCH for the first time at
high redshift, indicating that these molecules may be powerful probes of
interstellar chemistry in high-redshift systems. These observations represent
the first constraints on many molecular species with rest-frame transitions
from 0.4-1.2mm in star-forming systems at high redshift, and will be invaluable
in making effective use of ALMA in full science operations.Comment: 19 pages, 10 figures (2 in appendices); accepted for publication in
Ap
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