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Register a new userThe origin of the atomic and molecular gas contents of early-type galaxies. I. A new test of galaxy formation physics
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Claudia del P. Lagos
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We study the atomic (HI) and molecular hydrogen (H2) contents of early-type galaxies (ETGs) and their gas sources using the GALFORM model of galaxy formation. This model uses a self-consistent calculation of the star formation rate (SFR), which depends on the H2 content of galaxies. We first present a new analysis of HIPASS and ATLAS3D surveys, with special emphasis on ETGs. The model predicts HI and H2 contents of ETGs in agreement with the observations from these surveys only if partial ram pressure stripping of the hot gas is included, showing that observations of neutral gas in `quenched galaxies place stringent constraints on the treatment of the hot gas in satellites. We find that ~90% of ETGs at z=0 have neutral gas contents supplied by radiative cooling from their hot halos, 8% were supplied by gas accretion from minor mergers that took place in the last 1Gyr, while 2% were supplied by mass loss from old stars. The model predicts neutral gas fractions strongly decreasing with increasing bulge fraction. This is due to the impeded disk regeneration in ETGs, resulting from both active galactic nuclei feedback and environmental quenching by partial ram pressure stripping of the hot gas.
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We study the origin of the wide distribution of angles between the angular momenta of the stellar and gas components, $alpha_{rm G,S}$, in early-type galaxies (ETGs). We use the GALFORM model of galaxy formation, set in the $Lambda$ cold dark matter framework, and coupled it with a Monte-Carlo simulation to follow the angular momenta flips driven by matter accretion onto haloes and galaxies. We consider a gas disk to be misaligned with respect to the stellar body if $alpha_{rm G,S}>30$~degrees. By assuming that the only sources of misaligments in galaxies are galaxy mergers, we place a lower limit of $2-5$ per cent on the fraction of ETGs with misaligned gas/stellar components. These low fractions are inconsistent with the observed value of $approx 42pm 6$ per cent in ATLAS$^{rm 3D}$. In the more general case, in which smooth gas accretion in addition to galaxy mergers can drive misalignments, our calculation predicts that $approx 46$ per cent of ETGs have $alpha_{rm G,S}>30$~degrees. In this calculation, we find correlations between $alpha_{rm G,S}$ and stellar mass, cold gas fraction and star formation rate, such that ETGs with high masses, low cold gas fractions and low star formation rates are more likely to display aligned cold gas and stellar components. We confirm these trends observationally for the first time using ATLAS$^{rm 3D}$ data. We argue that the high fraction of misaligned gas discs observed in ETGs is mostly due to smooth gas accretion (e.g. cooling from the hot halo of galaxies) which takes place after most of the stellar mass of the galaxy is in place and comes misaligned with respect to the stellar component. Galaxies that have accreted most of their cold gas content prior to the time where most of the stellar mass was in place show aligned components.
A recent determination of the relationships between the X-ray luminosity of the ISM (Lx) and the stellar and total mass, for a sample of nearby early-type galaxies (ETGs), is used to investigate the origin of the hot gas, via a comparison with the results of hydrodynamical simulations of the ISM evolution for a large set of isolated ETGs. After the epoch of major galaxy formation (after z~2), the ISM is replenished by stellar mass losses and SN ejecta, at the rate predicted by stellar evolution, and is depleted by star formation; it is heated by the thermalization of stellar motions, SNe explosions and the mechanical (from winds) and radiative AGN feedback. The models agree well with the observed relations, even for the largely different Lx values at the same mass, thanks to the sensitivity of the gas flow to many galaxy properties; this holds for models including AGN feedback, and those without. Therefore, the mass input from the stellar population is able to account for a major part of the observed Lx; and AGN feedback, while very important to maintain massive ETGs in a time-averaged quasi-steady state, keeping low star formation and the black hole mass, does not dramatically alter the gas content originating in stellar recycled material. These conclusions are based on theoretical predictions for the stellar population contributions in mass and energy, and on a self-consistent modeling of AGN feedback.
The molecular gas content of local early-type galaxies is constrained and discussed in relation to their evolution. First, as part of the Atlas3D survey, we present the first complete, large (260 objects), volume-limited single-dish survey of CO in normal local early-type galaxies. We find a surprisingly high detection rate of 22%, independent of luminosity and at best weakly dependent on environment. Second, the extent of the molecular gas is constrained with CO synthesis imaging, and a variety of morphologies is revealed. The kinematics of the molecular gas and stars are often misaligned, implying an external gas origin in over a third of the systems, although this behaviour is drastically diffferent between field and cluster environments. Third, many objects appear to be in the process of forming regular kpc-size decoupled disks, and a star formation sequence can be sketched by piecing together multi-wavelength information on the molecular gas, current star formation, and young stars. Last, early-type galaxies do not seem to systematically obey all our usual prejudices regarding star formation, following the standard Schmidt-Kennicutt law but not the far infrared-radio correlation. This may suggest a greater diversity in star formation processes than observed in disk galaxies. Using multiple molecular tracers, we are thus starting to probe the physical conditions of the cold gas in early-types.
In this paper we study the molecular gas content of a representative sample of 67 of the most massive early-type galaxies in the local universe, drawn uniformly from the MASSIVE survey. We present new IRAM-30m telescope observations of 30 of these galaxies, allowing us to probe the molecular gas content of the entire sample to a fixed molecular-to-stellar mass fraction of 0.1%. The total detection rate in this representative sample is 25$^{+5.9}_{-4.4}$%, and by combining the MASSIVE and ATLAS$^{rm 3D}$ molecular gas surveys we find a joint detection rate of 22.4$^{+2.4}_{-2.1}$%. This detection rate seems to be independent of galaxy mass, size, position on the fundamental plane, and local environment. We show here for the first time that true slow rotators can host molecular gas reservoirs, but the rate at which they do so is significantly lower than for fast-rotators. Objects with a higher velocity dispersion at fixed mass (a higher kinematic bulge fraction) are less likely to have detectable molecular gas, and where gas does exist, have lower molecular gas fractions. In addition, satellite galaxies in dense environments have $approx$0.6 dex lower molecular gas-to-stellar mass ratios than isolated objects. In order to interpret these results we created a toy model, which we use to constrain the origin of the gas in these systems. We are able to derive an independent estimate of the gas-rich merger rate in the low-redshift universe. These gas rich mergers appear to dominate the supply of gas to ETGs, but stellar mass loss, hot halo cooling and transformation of spiral galaxies also play a secondary role.
In a pilot project to study the relationship between star formation and molecular gas properties in nearby normal early-type galaxies, we used the IRAM 30m telescope to observe the 13CO(J=1-0), 13CO(J=2-1), HCN(J=1-0) and HCO+(J=1-0) line emission in the four galaxies of the SAURON sample with the strongest 12CO emission. We report the detection of 13CO emission in all four SAURON sources and HCN emission in three sources, while no HCO+ emission was found to our detection limits in any of the four galaxies. We find that the 13CO/12CO ratios of three SAURON galaxies are somewhat higher than those in galaxies of different Hubble types. The HCN/12CO and HCN/13CO ratios of all four SAURON galaxies resemble those of nearby Seyfert and dwarf galaxies with normal star formation rates, rather than those of starburst galaxies. The HCN/HCO+ ratio is found to be relatively high (i.e., >1) in the three SAURON galaxies with detected HCN emission, mimicking the behaviour in other star-forming galaxies but being higher than in starburst galaxies. When compared to most galaxies, it thus appears that 13CO is enhanced (relative to 12CO) in three out of four SAURON galaxies and HCO+ is weak (relative to HCN) in three out of three galaxies. All three galaxies detected in HCN follow the standard HCN-infrared luminosity and dense gas fraction-star formation efficiency correlations. As already suggested by 12CO observations, when traced by infrared radiation, star formation in the three SAURON galaxies thus appears to follow the same physical laws as in galaxies of different Hubble types. The star formation rate and fraction of dense molecular gas however do not reach the high values found in nearby starburst galaxies, but rather resemble those of nearby normal star-forming galaxies.
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