No Arabic abstract
We present CO(1-0) observations of objects within the Shocked POststarburst Galaxy Survey taken with the Institut de Radioastronomie Millimetrique (IRAM) 30m single dish and the Combined Array for Research for Millimeter Astronomy (CARMA) interferometer. Shocked Poststarburst Galaxies (SPOGs) represent a transitioning population of galaxies, with deep Balmer absorption (Hdelta>5A), consistent with an intermediate-age (A-star) stellar population, and ionized gas line ratios inconsistent with pure star formation. The CO(1-0) subsample was selected from SPOGs detected by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with 22um flux detected at a signal-to-noise (S/N)>3. Of the 52 objects observed in CO(1-0), 47 are detected with S/N>3. A large fraction (37-46%) of our CO-SPOG sample were visually classified as morphologically disrupted. The H2 masses detected were between 10^(8.7-10.8) Msuns, consistent with the gas masses found in normal galaxies, though approximately an order of magnitude larger than the range seen in poststarburst galaxies. When comparing the 22um and CO(1-0) fluxes, SPOGs diverge from the normal star-forming relation, having 22um fluxes in excess by a factor of <EMIR,SPOG>=4.91+0.42-0.39. The Na I D characteristics of CO-SPOGs show that it is likely that many of these objects host interstellar winds. Objects with the large Na I D enhancements also tend to emit in the radio, suggesting possible AGN-driving of neutral winds.
The Shocked POststarburst Galaxy Survey (SPOGS) aims to identify galaxies in the transitional phase between actively star-forming and quiescence with nebular lines that are excited from shocks rather than star formation processes. We explored the ultraviolet (UV) properties of objects with near-ultraviolet (NUV) and far-ultraviolet (FUV) photometry from archival GALEX data; 444 objects were detected in both bands, 365 in only NUV, and 24 in only FUV, for a total of 833 observed objects. We compared SPOGs to samples of Star-forming galaxies (SFs), Quiescent galaxies (Qs), classical E+A post-starburst galaxies, active galactic nuclei (AGN) host galaxies, and interacting galaxies. We found that SPOGs have a larger range in their FUV-NUV and NUV-r colors compared to most of the other samples, although all of our comparison samples occupied color space inside of the SPOGs region. Based on their UV colors, SPOGs are a heterogeneous group, possibly made up of a mixture of SFs, Qs, and/or AGN. Using Gaussian mixture models, we are able to recreate the distribution of FUV-NUV colors of SPOGs and E+A galaxies with different combinations of SFs, Qs, and AGN. We find that the UV colors of SPOGs require a >60% contribution from SFs, with either Qs or AGN representing the remaining contribution, while UV colors of E+A galaxies required a significantly lower fraction of SFs, supporting the idea that SPOGs are at an earlier point in their transition from quiescent to star-forming than E+A galaxies.
We study the properties of the cold gas component of the interstellar medium of the Herschel Reference Survey, a complete volume-limited (15<D<25 Mpc), K-band-selected sample of galaxies spanning a wide range in morphological type (from E to Im) and stellar mass (10^9<M*<10^11 Mo). The multifrequency data in our hands are used to trace the molecular gas mass distribution and the main scaling relations of the sample, which put strong constraints on galaxy formation simulations. We extend the main scaling relations concerning the total and the molecular gas component determined for massive galaxies (M* > 10^10 Mo) from the COLD GASS survey down to stellar masses M* ~ 10^9 Mo. As scaling variables we use M*, the stellar surface density mu*, the specific star formation rate SSFR, and the metallicity of the target galaxies. By comparing molecular gas masses determined using a constant or a luminosity dependent conversion factor, we estimate the robustness of these scaling relations on the very uncertain assumptions used to transform CO line intensities into molecular gas masses. The molecular gas distribution of a K-band-selected sample is different from that of a far-infrared-selected sample since it includes a significantly smaller number of objects with M(H2) < 6 10^9 Mo. In spiral galaxies the molecular gas phase is only 25-30% of the atomic gas. The analysis also indicates that the slope of the main scaling relations depends on the adopted conversion factor. Among the sampled relations, all those concerning M(gas)/M* are statistically significant and show little variation with X_CO. We observe a significant correlation between M(H2)/M* and SSFR, M(H2)/M(HI) and mu*, M(H2)/M(HI), and 12+log(O/H) regardless of the adopted X_CO. The total and molecular gas consumption timescales are anticorrelated with the SSFR.
We present the 3 mm wavelength spectra of 28 local galaxy merger remnants obtained with the Large Millimeter Telescope. Fifteen molecular lines from 13 different molecular species and isotopologues were identified, and 21 out of 28 sources were detected in one or more molecular lines. On average, the line ratios of the dense gas tracers, such as HCN (1-0) and HCO$^{+}$(1-0), to $^{13}$CO (1-0) are 3-4 times higher in ultra/luminous infrared galaxies (U/LIRGs) than in non-LIRGs in our sample. These high line ratios could be explained by the deficiency of $^{13}$CO and high dense gas fractions suggested by high HCN (1-0)/$^{12}$CO (1-0) ratios. We calculate the IR-to-HCN (1-0) luminosity ratio as a proxy of the dense gas star formation efficiency. There is no correlation between the IR/HCN ratio and the IR luminosity, while the IR/HCN ratio varies from source to source (1.1-6.5) $times 10^{3}$ $L_{odot}$/(K km s$^{-1}$ pc$^{2}$). Compared with the control sample, we find that the average IR/HCN ratio of the merger remnants is higher by a factor of 2-3 than those of the early/mid-stage mergers and non-merging LIRGs, and it is comparable to that of the late-stage mergers. The IR-to-$^{12}$CO (1-0) ratios show a similar trend to the IR/HCN ratios. These results suggest that star formation efficiency is enhanced by the merging process and maintained at high levels even after the final coalescence. The dynamical interactions and mergers could change the star formation mode and continue to impact the star formation properties of the gas in the post-merger phase.
We present the results of CO(1-0) and CO(4-3) observations of the host galaxy of a long-duration gamma-ray burst GRB080207 at z = 2.0858 by using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. The host is detected in CO(1-0) and CO(4-3), becoming the first case for a GRB host with more than two CO transitions detected combined with CO(2-1) and CO(3-2) in the literature. Adopting a metallicity-dependent CO-to-H2 conversion factor, we derive a molecular gas mass of Mgas = 8.7 x 10^10 Modot, which places the host in a sequence of normal star-forming galaxies in a Mgas-star-formation rate (SFR) plane. A modified blackbody fit to the far-infrared--millimeter photometry results in a dust temperature of 37 K and a dust mass of Mdust = 1.5 x 10^8 Modot. The spatially-resolving CO(4-3) observations allow us to examine the kinematics of the host. The CO velocity field shows a clear rotation and is reproduced by a rotation-dominated disk model with a rotation velocity of 350 km/s and a half-light radius of 2.4 kpc. The CO spectral line energy distribution derived from the four CO transitions is similar to that of starburst galaxies, suggesting a high excitation condition. Comparison of molecular gas properties between the host and normal (main-sequence) galaxies at similar redshifts shows that they share common properties such as gas mass fraction, gas depletion timescale, gas-to-dust ratio, location in the Mgas-SFR (or surface density) relation, and kinematics, suggesting that long-duration GRBs can occur in normal star-forming environments at z ~ 2.
Galaxy interactions are often accompanied by an enhanced star formation rate (SFR). Since molecular gas is essential for star formation, it is vital to establish whether, and by how much, galaxy interactions affect the molecular gas properties. We investigate the effect of interactions on global molecular gas properties by studying a sample of 58 galaxies in pairs and 154 control galaxies. Molecular gas properties are determined from observations with the JCMT, PMO, CSO telescopes, and supplemented with data from the xCOLD GASS and JINGLE surveys at $^{12}$CO(1-0) and $^{12}$CO(2-1). The SFR, gas mass ($M_mathrm{H_{2}}$), and gas fraction ($f_{gas}$) are all enhanced in galaxies in pairs by $sim$ 2.5 times compared to the controls matched in redshift, mass, and effective radius, while the enhancement of star formation efficiency (SFE $equiv$ SFR/$M_{H_{2}}$) is less than a factor of 2. We also find that the enhancements in SFR, $M_{H_{2}}$ and $f_{gas}$ increase with decreasing pair separation and are larger in systems with smaller stellar mass ratio. Conversely, the SFE is only enhanced in close pairs (separation $<$ 20 kpc) and equal-mass systems; therefore most galaxies in pairs lie in the same parameter space on the SFR-$M_{H_{2}}$ plane as controls. This is the first time that the dependence of molecular gas properties on merger configurations is probed statistically with a relatively large sample and with a carefully-selected control sample for individual galaxies. We conclude that galaxy interactions do modify the molecular gas properties, although the strength of the effect is merger configuration dependent.