Bibcode
Calistro Rivera, G.; Hodge, J. A.; Smail, Ian; Swinbank, A. M.; Weiss, A.; Wardlow, J. L.; Walter, F.; Rybak, M.; Chen, Chian-Chou; Brandt, W. N.; Coppin, K.; da Cunha, E.; Dannerbauer, H.; Greve, T. R.; Karim, A.; Knudsen, K. K.; Schinnerer, E.; Simpson, J. M.; Venemans, B.; van der Werf, P. P.
Bibliographical reference
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 863, Issue 1, article id. 56, 16 pp. (2018).
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8
2018
Journal
Citations
105
Refereed citations
95
Description
We use Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) observations of four
submillimeter galaxies (SMGs) at z ˜ 2-3 to investigate the
spatially resolved properties of the interstellar medium (ISM) at scales
of 1-5 kpc (0.″1-0.″6). The velocity fields of
our sources, traced by the 12CO(J = 3-2) emission, are
consistent with disk rotation to the first order, implying average
dynamical masses of ˜3 × 1011 {M}⊙
within two half-light radii. Through a Bayesian approach we investigate
the uncertainties inherent to dynamically constraining total gas masses.
We explore the covariance between the stellar mass-to-light ratio and
CO-to-H2 conversion factor, α CO, finding
values of {α }CO}={1.1}-0.7+0.8
for dark matter fractions of 15%. We show that the resolved spatial
distribution of the gas and dust continuum can be uncorrelated to the
stellar emission, challenging energy balance assumptions in global SED
fitting. Through a stacking analysis of the resolved radial profiles of
the CO(3-2), stellar, and dust continuum emission in SMG samples,
we find that the cool molecular gas emission in these sources (radii
˜5-14 kpc) is clearly more extended than the rest-frame
˜250 μm dust continuum by a factor >2. We propose that
assuming a constant dust-to-gas ratio, this apparent difference in sizes
can be explained by temperature and optical depth gradients alone. Our
results suggest that caution must be exercised when extrapolating
morphological properties of dust continuum observations to conclusions
about the molecular gas phase of the interstellar medium (ISM).
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Two of the most fundamental questions in astrophysics are the conversion of molecular gas into stars and how this physical process is a function of environments on all scales, ranging from planetary systems, stellar clusters, galaxies to galaxy clusters. The main goal of this internal project is to get insight into the formation and evolution of
Helmut
Dannerbauer