A radio-to-mm census of star-forming galaxies in protocluster 4C23.56 at z=2.5 : Gas mass and its fraction revealed with ALMA


الملخص بالإنكليزية

We investigate gas contents of star-forming galaxies associated with protocluster 4C23.56 at z = 2.49 by using the redshifted CO(3-2) and 1.1 mm dust continuum with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. The observations unveil seven CO detections out of 22 targeted H$alpha$ emitters (HAEs) and four out of 19 in 1.1 mm dust continuum. They have high stellar mass ($M_{star}>4times 10^{10}$ $M_{odot}$) and exhibit a specific star-formation rate typical of main-sequence star forming galaxies at $zsim2.5$. Different gas mass estimators from CO(3-2) and 1.1 mm yield consistent values for simultaneous detections. The gas mass ($M_{rm gas}$) and gas fraction ($f_{rm gas}$) are comparable to those of field galaxies, with $M_{rm gas}=[0.3, 1.8]times10^{11} times (alpha_{rm CO}/(4.36times A(Z)$)) M$_{odot}$, where $alpha_{rm CO}$ is the CO-to-H$_2$ conversion factor and $A(Z)$ the additional correction factor for the metallicity dependence of $alpha_{rm CO}$, and $langle f_{rm gas}rangle = 0.53 pm 0.07$ from CO(3-2). Our measurements place a constraint on the cosmic gas density of high-$z$ protoclusters, indicating the protocluster is characterized by a gas density higher than that of the general fields by an order of magnitude. We found $rho (H_2)sim 5 times 10^9 ,M_{odot},{rm Mpc^{-3}}$ with the CO(3-2) detections. The five ALMA CO detections occur in the region of highest galaxy surface density, where the density positively correlates with global star-forming efficiency (SFE) and stellar mass. Such correlations imply a potentially critical role of environment on early galaxy evolution at high-z protoclusters, although future observations are necessary for confirmation.

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