No Arabic abstract
We investigate a sample of 152 dusty sources at 1:5 < z < 2:5 to understand the connection of enhanced Star-Formation-Rate (SFR) and Black-Hole-Accretion-Rate (BHAR). The sources are Herschel-selected, having stellar masses M*>10^10Msun and SFR (100-1000Msun/yr) elevated(>4?) above the star-forming main sequence, classifying them as Starbursts (SB). Through a multiwavelength fitting approach (including a dusty torus component), we divided the sample into active SBs (dominated by an AGN emission, SBs-AGN, ? 23% of the sample) and purely star-forming SBs (SBs-SFR). We visually inspected their HST/UV-restframe maps: SBs-SFR are generally irregular and composite systems; ? 50% of SBs-AGN are instead dominated by regular compact morphologies. We then found archival ALMA continuum counterparts for 33 galaxies (12 SBs-AGN and 21 SBs-SFR). For these sources we computed dust masses, and, with standard assumptions, we also guessed total molecular gas-masses. SBs turn to be gas rich systems (fgas = Mgas=Mgas/(Mgas+M*) sim 20%-70%), and the gas fractions of the two SB classes are very similar (fgas = 43 +/-4% and fgas = 42+/- 2%). Our results show that SBs are consistent with a mixture of: 1) highly star-forming merging systems (dominating the SBs-SFR), and 2) primordial galaxies, rapidly growing their M* together with their Black Hole (mainly the more compact SBs-AGN). Anyway, feedback effects have not reduced their fgas yet. Indeed, SBs at z = 2, with relatively low bolometric AGN luminosities in the range 10^44 < Lbol(AGN) < 10^46 erg/s (compared to bright optical and X-ray quasars), are still relatively far from the epoch when the AGN feedback will quench the SFR in the host and will substantially depress the gas fractions.
We present ALMA, NOEMA, and IRAM-30m/EMIR observations of the high-density tracer molecules HCN, HCO+, and HNC in three of the brightest lensed dusty star-forming galaxies at z~3-3.5, part of the Plancks Dusty GEMS sample, to probe the gas reservoirs closely associated with their exceptional levels of star formation. We obtain robust detections of ten emission lines between J_up=4 and 6, as well as several additional flux upper limits. In PLCK_G244.8+54.9, the brightest source at z=3.0, the HNC(5-4) line emission at 0.1 resolution, together with other spatially-integrated line profiles, suggests comparable distributions of dense and more diffuse gas reservoirs, at least over the most strongly magnified regions. This rules out any major effect from differential lensing. The HCO+/HCN > 1 and HNC/HCN ~ 1 line ratios in our sample are similar to those of nearby ULIRGs and consistent with photon-dominated regions without any indication of important mechanical heating or AGN feedback. We characterize the dense-gas excitation in PLCK_G244.8+54.9 using radiative transfer models assuming pure collisional excitation and find that mid-J HCN, HCO+, and HNC lines arise from a high-density phase with H2 density n~10^5-6 cm^-3, although important degeneracies prevent determining the exact conditions. The three GEMS are consistent with extrapolations of dense-gas star-formation laws derived in the nearby Universe, adding further evidence that the extreme star-formation rates observed in the most active galaxies at z~3 are a consequence of their important dense-gas contents. The dense-gas-mass fractions traced by HCN/[CI] and HCO+/[CI] line ratios are elevated, but not exceptional compared to other lensed dusty star-forming galaxies at z>2 and fall near the upper envelope of local ULIRGs. Our results also favor constant dense-gas depletion times in these populations.
The bright [CI] 1-0 and [CI] 2-1 lines of atomic carbon are becoming more and more widely employed tracers of the cold neutral gas in high-redshift galaxies. Here we present observations of these lines in the 11 galaxies of the set of Plancks Dusty GEMS, the brightest gravitationally lensed galaxies on the extragalactic submillimeter sky probed by the Planck satellite. We have [CI] 1-0 measurements for seven, and [CI] 2-1 measurements for eight galaxies, including four galaxies where both lines are measured. We use our observations to constrain the gas excitation mechanism, excitation temperatures, optical depths, atomic carbon and molecular gas masses, and carbon abundances. Ratios of L_CI/L_ FIR are similar to those found in the local Universe, and suggest that the total cooling budget through atomic carbon has not strongly changed in the last 12 Gyr. Both lines are optically thin and trace 1 - 6 x 10^7 M_sun of atomic carbon. Carbon abundance ratios with H_2, X_CI, are between 2.5 and 4 x 10^-5, for a ULIRG CO-to-H_2 conversion factor of alpha_CO=0.8 M_sun/ [K km s^-1 pc^2]. Ratios of molecular gas masses derived from [CI] 1-0 and CO agree within the measurement uncertainties for five galaxies, and to better than a factor of 2 for another two with [CI] 1-0 measurements, after taking CO excitation carefully into account. This does not support the idea that intense, high-redshift starburst galaxies host large quantities of CO-dark gas. These results also support the common assumptions underlying most molecular gas mass estimates made for massive, dusty, high-redshift starburst galaxies, although the good agreement between the masses obtained with both tracers cannot be taken as an independent confirmation of either alpha_CO or X_CI.
Most successful galaxy formation scenarios now postulate that the intense star formation in massive, high-redshift galaxies during their major growth period was truncated when powerful AGNs launched galaxy-wide outflows of gas that removed large parts of the interstellar medium. The most powerful radio galaxies at z~2 show clear signatures of such winds, but are too rare to be good representatives of a generic phase in the evolution of all massive galaxies at high redshift. Here we present SINFONI imaging spectroscopy of 12 radio galaxies at z~2 that are intermediate between the most powerful radio and vigorous starburst galaxies in radio power, and common enough to represent a generic phase in the early evolution of massive galaxies. The kinematic properties are diverse, with regular velocity gradients with amplitudes of Delta v=200-400 km s^-1 as in rotating disks as well as irregular kinematics with multiple velocity jumps of a few 100 km s^-1. Line widths are generally high, typically around FWHM=800 km s^-1, consistent with wind velocities in hydrodynamic models. A broad H-alpha line in one target implies a black hole mass of a few 10^9 M$_sun. The ratio of line widths, sigma, to bulk velocity, v, is so large that even the gas in galaxies with regular velocity fields is unlikely to be gravitationally bound. It is unclear, however, whether the large line widths are due to turbulence or unresolved, local outflows as are sometimes observed at low redshifts. Comparison of the kinetic energy with the energy supply from the AGN through jet and radiation pressure suggests that the radio source still plays a dominant role for feedback, consistent with low-redshift radio-loud quasars.
We present optical and near infrared observations of GRB 080325 classified as a Dark GRB. Near-infrared observations with Subaru/MOIRCS provided a clear detection of afterglow in Ks band, although no optical counterpart was reported. The flux ratio of rest-wavelength optical to X-ray bands of the afterglow indicates that the dust extinction along the line of sight to the afterglow is Av = 2.7 - 10 mag. This large extinction is probably the major reason for optical faintness of GRB 080325. The J - Ks color of the host galaxy, (J - Ks = 1.3 in AB magnitude), is significantly redder than those for typical GRB hosts previously identified. In addition to J and Ks bands, optical images in B, Rc, i, and z bands with Subaru/Suprime-Cam were obtained at about one year after the burst, and a photometric redshift of the host is estimated to be z_{photo} = 1.9. The host luminosity is comparable to L^{*} at z sim 2 in contrast to the sub-L^{*} property of typical GRB hosts at lower redshifts. The best-fit stellar population synthesis model for the host shows that a large dust extinction (Av = 0.8 mag) attributes to the red nature of the host and that the host galaxy is massive (M_{*} = 7.0 times 10^{10} Msun) which is one of the most massive GRB hosts previously identified. By assuming that the mass-metallicity relation for star-forming galaxies at z sim 2 is applicable for the GRB host, this large stellar mass suggests the high metallicity environment around GRB 080325, consistent with inferred large extinction.
Similarly to the cosmic star formation history, the black hole accretion rate density of the Universe peaked at 1<z<3. This cosmic epoch is hence best suited for investigating the effects of radiative feedback from AGN. Observational efforts are underway to quantify the impact of AGN feedback, if any, on their host galaxies. Here we present a study of the molecular gas content of AGN hosts at z~1.5 using CO[2-1] line emission observed with ALMA for a sample of 10 AGNs. We compare this with a sample of galaxies without an AGN matched in redshift, stellar mass, and star formation rate. We detect CO in 3 AGNs with $mathrm{L_{CO} sim 6.3-25.1times 10^{9} L_{odot}}$ which translates to a molecular hydrogen gas mass of $mathrm{2.5-10times 10^{10} M_{odot}}$ assuming conventional conversion factor of $mathrm{alpha_{CO}}sim3.6$. Our results indicate a >99% probability of lower depletion time scales and lower molecular gas fractions in AGN hosts with respect to the non-AGN comparison sample. We discuss the implications of these observations on the impact that AGN feedback may have on star formation efficiency of z>1 galaxies.