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Abstract Observations of local star-forming galaxies (SFGs) show a tight correlation between their singly ionized carbon line luminosity ($$L_{\rm [C\, \small {II}]}$$) and star formation rate (SFR), suggesting that $$L_{\rm [C\, \small {II}]}$$ may be a useful SFR tracer for galaxies. Some other galaxy populations, however, are found to have lower $$L_{\rm [C\, \small {II}]}{}/{}\rm SFR$$ than local SFGs, including the infrared-luminous, starburst galaxies at low and high redshifts as well as some moderately star-forming galaxies at the epoch of re-ionization (EoR). The origins of this ‘$$\rm [C\, \small {II}]$$ deficit’ is unclear. In this work, we study the $$L_{\rm [C\, \small {II}]}$$-SFR relation of galaxies using a sample of z = 0 − 8 galaxies with M* ≈ 107 − 5 × 1011 M⊙ extracted from cosmological volume and zoom-in simulations from the Feedback in Realistic Environments (fire) project. We find a simple analytic expression for $$L_{\rm [C\, \small {II}]}$$/SFR of galaxies in terms of the following parameters: mass fraction of $$\rm [C\, \small {II}]$$-emitting gas ($$f_{\rm [C\, \small {II}]}$$), gas metallicity (Zgas), gas density (ngas) and gas depletion time ($$t_{\rm dep}{}={}M_{\rm gas}{}/{}\rm SFR$$). We find two distinct physical regimes: $$\rm H_2$$-rich galaxies where tdep is the main driver of the $$\rm [C\, \small {II}]$$ deficit and $$\rm H_2$$-poor galaxies where Zgas is the main driver. The observed $$\rm [C\, \small {II}]$$ deficit of IR-luminous galaxies and early EoR galaxies, corresponding to the two different regimes, is due to short gas depletion time and low gas metallicity, respectively. Our result indicates that the $$\rm [C\, \small {II}]$$ deficit is a common phenomenon of galaxies, and caution needs to be taken when applying a constant $$L_{\rm [C\, \small {II}]}$$-to-SFR conversion factor derived from local SFGs to estimate cosmic SFR density at high redshifts and interpret data from upcoming $$\rm [C\, \small {II}]$$ line intensity mapping experiments.
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The dual role of starburst and active galactic nuclei in driving extreme molecular outflows
We report molecular gas observations of IRAS 20100-4156 and IRAS 03158+4227, two local ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) hosting some of the fastest and most massive molecular outflows known. Using ALMA and PdBI observations, we spatially resolve the CO(1-0) emission from the outflowing molecular gas in both and find maximum outflow velocities of $$ v_{\rm max} \sim 1600$$ and $$\sim 1700$$ km/s for IRAS 20100-4156 and IRAS 03158+4227, respectively. We find total gas mass outflow rates of $$\dot M_{\rm OF} \sim 670$$ and $$\sim 350$$ Msun/yr, respectively, corresponding to molecular gas depletion timescales $$\tau^{\rm dep}_{\rm OF} \sim 11$$ and $$\sim 16$$ Myr. This is nearly 3 times shorter than the depletion timescales implied by star formation, $$\tau^{\rm dep}_{\rm SFR} \sim 33$$ and $$\sim 46$$ Myr, respectively. To determine the outflow driving mechanism, we compare the starburst ($$L_{*}$$) and AGN ($$L_{\rm AGN}$$) luminosities to the outflowing energy and momentum fluxes, using mid-infrared spectral decomposition to discern $$L_{\rm AGN}$$. Comparison to other molecular outflows in ULIRGs reveals that outflow properties correlate similarly with $$L_{*}$$ and $$L_{\rm IR}$$ as with $$L_{\rm AGN}$$, indicating that AGN luminosity alone may not be a good tracer of feedback strength and that a combination of AGN and starburst activity may be driving the most powerful molecular outflows. We also detect the OH 1.667 GHz maser line from both sources and demonstrate its utility in detecting molecular outflows.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1614213
- PAR ID:
- 10058273
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- The Astrophysical journal
- ISSN:
- 0004-637X
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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