CS Lines Profiles in Hot Cores

We present a theoretical study of CS line profiles in archetypal hot cores. We provide estimates of line fluxes from the CS(1-0) to the CS(15-14) transitions and present the temporal variation of these fluxes. We find that \textit{i)} the CS(1-0) transition is a better tracer of the Envelope of the hot core whereas the higher-J CS lines trace the ultra-compact core; \textit{ii)} the peak temperature of the CS transitions is a good indicator of the temperature inside the hot core; \textit{iii)} in the Envelope, the older the hot core the stronger the self-absorption of CS; \textit{iv)} the fractional abundance of CS is highest in the innermost parts of the ultra-compact core, confirming the CS molecule as one of the best tracers of very dense gas.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, In press in Ap

Chemical tracers of high-metallicity environments

We present for the first time a detailed study of the properties of molecular gas in metal-rich environments such as early-type galaxies (ETGs). We have explored Photon-Dominated Region (PDR) chemistry for a wide range of physical conditions likely to be appropriate for these sources. We derive fractional abundances of the 20 most chemically reactive species as a function of the metallicity, as a function of the optical depth and for various volume number gas densities, Far-Ultra Violet (FUV) radiation fields and cosmic ray ionisation rates. We also investigate the response of the chemistry to the changes in $\alpha-$element enhancement as seen in ETGs. We find that the fractional abundances of CS, H$_{2}$S, H$_{2}$CS, H$_{2}$O, H$_{3}$O$^{+}$, HCO$^{+}$ and H$_{2}$CN seem invariant to an increase of metallicity whereas C$^{+}$, CO, C$_{2}$H, CN, HCN, HNC and OCS appear to be the species most sensitive to this change. The most sensitive species to the change in the fractional abundance of $\alpha-$elements are C$^{+}$, C, CN, HCN, HNC, SO, SO$_{2}$, H$_{2}$O and CS. Finally, we provide line brightness ratios for the most abundant species, especially in the range observable with ALMA. Discussion of favorable line ratios to use for the estimation of super-solar metallicities and $\alpha$-elements are also provided.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, 4 tables, Accepted for publication into MNRA

Mapping CS in Starburst Galaxies: Disentangling and Characterising Dense Gas

Aims. We observe the dense gas tracer CS in two nearby starburst galaxies to determine how the conditions of the dense gas varies across the circumnuclear regions in starburst galaxies. Methods. Using the IRAM-30m telescope, we mapped the distribution of the CS(2-1) and CS(3-2) lines in the circumnuclear regions of the nearby starburst galaxies NGC 3079 and NGC 6946. We also detected the formaldehyde (H2CO) and methanol (CH3OH) in both galaxies. We marginally detect the isotopologue C34S. Results. We calculate column densities under LTE conditions for CS and CH3OH. Using the detections accumulated here to guide our inputs, we link a time and depth dependent chemical model with a molecular line radiative transfer model; we reproduce the observations, showing how conditions where CS is present are likely to vary away from the galactic centres. Conclusions. Using the rotational diagram method for CH3OH, we obtain a lower limit temperature of 14 K. In addition to this, by comparing the chemical and radiative transfer models to observations, we determine the properties of the dense gas as traced by CS (and CH3OH). We also estimate the quantity of the dense gas. We find that, provided that there are a between 10^5 and 10^6 dense cores in our beam, for both target galaxies, emission of CS from warm (T = 100 - 400 K), dense (n(H2) = 10^5-6 cm-3) cores, possibly with a high cosmic ray ionisation rate (zeta = 100 zeta0) best describes conditions for our central pointing. In NGC 6946, conditions are generally cooler and/or less dense further from the centre, whereas in NGC 3079, conditions are more uniform. The inclusion of shocks allows for more efficient CS formation, leading to an order of magnitude less dense gas being required to replicate observations in some cases.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures, accepted to A&

Deuterated species in extragalactic star-forming regions

We present a theoretical study of the deuterated species detectability in various types of extragalactic star-forming regions based on our predictions of chemical abundances. This work is motivated by the past and current attempts at observing deuterated species in external galaxies such as NGC~253, IC~342 and the LMC. Here, we investigate the influence of the density, the temperature, the FUV radiation field, the cosmic ray ionisation, and the metallicity on the fractional abundances and D/H abundance ratios of about 20 deuterated species. Without modelling any particular source, we determined how the deuterium chemistry behaves in different physical environments such as starburst, cosmic-rays enhanced environments, low metallicity and high redshift galaxies. In general, our predicted column densities seem in good agreement with those derived from the current limited dataset of observations in external galaxies. We provide, for the first time, a list of key deuterated species whose abundances are high enough to be possibly detectable by the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) and Herschel, as a function of galactic nuclear activity and redshift.Comment: 19 pages, 6 figures, 5 tables, In press in Ap

Extragalactic CS survey

We present a coherent and homogeneous multi-line study of the CS molecule in nearby (D$<$10Mpc) galaxies. We include, from the literature, all the available observations from the $J=1-0$ to the $J=7-6$ transitions towards NGC 253, NGC 1068, IC 342, Henize~2-10, M~82, the Antennae Galaxies and M~83. We have, for the first time, detected the CS(7-6) line in NGC 253, M~82 (both in the North-East and South-West molecular lobes), NGC 4038, M~83 and tentatively in NGC 1068, IC 342 and Henize~2-10. We use the CS molecule as a tracer of the densest gas component of the ISM in extragalactic star-forming regions, following previous theoretical and observational studies by Bayet et al. (2008a,b and 2009). In this first paper out of a series, we analyze the CS data sample under both Local Thermodynamical Equilibrium (LTE) and non-LTE (Large Velocity Gradient-LVG) approximations. We show that except for M~83 and Overlap (a shifted gas-rich position from the nucleus NGC 4039 in the Antennae Galaxies), the observations in NGC 253, IC 342, M~82-NE, M~82-SW and NGC 4038 are not well reproduced by a single set of gas component properties and that, at least, two gas components are required. For each gas component, we provide estimates of the corresponding kinetic temperature, total CS column density and gas density.Comment: 17 pages, 16 figures, 3 tables, Accepted to Ap

The influence of cosmic rays in the circumnuclear molecular gas of NGC1068

We surveyed the circumnuclear disk of the Seyfert galaxy NGC1068 between the frequencies 86.2 GHz and 115.6 GHz, and identified 17 different molecules. Using a time and depth dependent chemical model we reproduced the observational results, and show that the column densities of most of the species are better reproduced if the molecular gas is heavily pervaded by a high cosmic ray ionization rate of about 1000 times that of the Milky Way. We discuss how molecules in the NGC1068 nucleus may be influenced by this external radiation, as well as by UV radiation fields.Comment: 6 pages. Conference proceeding for the workshop on "Cosmic-ray induced phenomenology in star-forming environments" held in Sant Cugat, Spain, on April 16-19, 201

Chemical complexity in NGC1068

We aimed to study the chemistry of the circumnuclear molecular gas of NGC1068, and to compare it with those of the starburst galaxies M82 and NGC253. Using the IRAM-30m telescope, we observed the inner 2 kpc of NGC1068 between 86.2 GHz and 115.6 GHz. We identified 35 spectral features, corresponding to 24 different molecular species. Among them, HC3N, SO, N2H+, CH3CN, NS, 13CN, and HN13C are detected for the first time in NGC1068. Assuming local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE), we calculated the column densities of the detected molecules, as well as the upper limits to the column densities of some undetected species. The comparison among the chemistries of NGC1068, M82, and NGC253, suggests that, apart from X-rays, shocks also determine the chemistry of NGC1068. We propose the column density ratio between CH3CCH and HC3N as a prime indicator of the imprints of starburst and AGN environments in the circumnuclear interstellar medium. This ratio is, at least, 64 times larger in M82 than in NGC1068, and, at least, 4 times larger in NGC253 than in NGC1068. Finally, we used the UCL_CHEM and UCL_PDR chemical codes to constrain the origin of the species, as well as to test the influence of UV radiation fields and cosmic rays on the observed abundances.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, 3 tables. Proceedings of the "The Central Kiloparsec in Galactic Nuclei", 29 August - 2 September 2011, Bad Honnef, German

Molecular tracers of PDR-dominated galaxies

Photon-dominated regions (PDRs) are powerful molecular line emitters in external galaxies. They are expected in galaxies with high rates of massive star formation due to either starburst (SB) events or starburst coupled with active galactic nuclei (AGN) events. We have explored the PDR chemistry for a range of physical conditions representing a variety of galaxy types. Our main result is a demonstration of the sensitivity of the chemistry to changes in the physical conditions. We adopt crude estimates of relevant physical parameters for several galaxy types and use our models to predict suitable molecular tracers of those conditions. The set of recommended molecular tracers differs from that which we recommended for use in galaxies with embedded massive stars. Thus, molecular observations can in principle be used to distinguish between excitation by starburst and by SB+AGN in distant galaxies. Our recommendations are intended to be useful in preparing Herschel and ALMA proposals to identify sources of excitation in galaxies.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures, Accepted in Ap

Are 12^{12}CO lines good indicators of the star formation rate in galaxies?

In this paper, we investigate the relevance of using the $^{12}$CO line emissions as indicators of star formation rates (SFR). For the first time, we present this study for a relatively large number of $^{12}$CO transitions (12) as well as over a large interval in redshift (from z$\sim$0 to z$\sim$6). For the nearby sources (D$\leq$10 Mpc), we have used homogeneous sample of $^{12}$CO data provided by Bayet et al. (2004, 2006), mixing observational and modelled line intensities. For higher-z sources (z $\geq$ 1), we have collected $^{12}$CO observations from various papers and have completed the data set of line intensities with model predictions which we also present in this paper. Finally, for increasing the statistics, we have included recent $^{12}$CO(1-0) and $^{12}$CO(3-2) observations of intermediate-z sources. Linear regressions have been calculated for identifying the tightest SFR-$^{12}$CO line luminosity relationships. We show that the \emph{total} $^{12}$CO, the $^{12}$CO(5-4), the $^{12}$CO(6-5) and the $^{12}$CO(7-6) luminosities are the best indicators of SFR (as measured by the far-infrared luminosity). Comparisons with theoretical approaches from Krumholz and Thompson (2007) and Narayanan et al. (2008) are also performed in this paper. Although in general agreement, the predictions made by these authors and the observational results we present here show small and interesting discrepancies. In particular, the slope of the linear regressions, for J$_{upper}\geq$ 4 $^{12}$CO lines are not similar between theoretical studies and observations. On one hand, a larger high-J $^{12}$CO data set of observations might help to better agree with models, increasing the statistics. On the other hand, theoretical studies extended to high redshift sources might also reduce such discrepancies.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures and 4 tables, Accepted in MNRA

Chemistry in Cosmic-Ray Dominated Regions (CRDRs)

Molecular line observations may serve as diagnostics of the degree to which the number density of cosmic ray protons, having energies of 10s to 100s of MeVs each, is enhanced in starburst galaxies and galaxies with active nuclei. Results, obtained with the UCL\_PDR code, for the fractional abundances of molecules as functions of the cosmic-ray induced ionisation rate, $\zeta$, are presented. The aim is not to model any particular external galaxies. Rather, it is to identify characteristics of the dependencies of molecular abundances on $\zeta$, in part to enable the development of suitable observational programmes for cosmic ray dominated regions (CRDRs) which will then stimulate detailed modelling. For a number density of hydrogen nuclei of of $10^4$ cm$^{-3}$, and high visual extinction, the fractional abundances of some species increase as $\zeta$ increases to $10^{-14}$ s$^{-1}$, but for much higher values of $\zeta$ the fractional abundances of all molecular species are significantly below their peak values. We show in particular that OH, H$_{2}$O, H$_{3}^{+}$, H$_{3}$O$^{+}$ and OH$^{+}$ attain large fractional abundances ($\geqslant 10^{-8}$) for $\zeta$ as large as $10^{-12}$ s$^{-1}$. HCO$^{+}$ is a poor tracer of CRDRs when $\zeta > 10^{-13}$ s$^{-1}$. Sulphur-bearing species may be useful tracers of CRDRs gas in which $\zeta \sim 10^{-16}$ s$^{-1}$. Ammonia has a large fractional abundance for $\zeta \leqslant 10^{-16}$ s$^{-1}$ and nitrogen appears in CN-bearing species at significant levels as $\zeta$ increases, even up to $\sim 10^{-14}$ s$^{-1}$. In this paper, we also discuss our model predictions, comparing them to recent detections in both galactic and extragalactic sources. We show that they agree well, to a first approximation, with the observational constraints.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables, Accepted to MNRAS publicatio