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Current observations favour that the massive ultraviolet-bright clumps with a median stellar mass of $\sim 10^7\, {\rm M}_{\odot }$, ubiquitously observed in z ∼ 1–3 galaxies, are star-forming regions formed in situ in galaxies. It has been proposed that they result from gas fragmentation due to gravitational instability of gas-rich, turbulent, and high-redshift discs. We bring support to this scenario by reporting the new discovery of giant molecular clouds (GMCs) in the strongly lensed, clumpy, main-sequence galaxy, A521-sys1, at z = 1.043. Its CO(4–3) emission was mapped with the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA) at an angular resolution of 0.19 × 0.16 arcsec2, reading down to 30 pc, thanks to gravitational lensing. We identified 14 GMCs, most being virialized, with $10^{5.9}-10^{7.9}\, {\rm M}_{\odot }$ masses and a median $800\, {\rm M}_{\odot }~\mathrm{pc}^{-2}$ molecular gas mass surface density, that are, respectively, 100 and 10 times higher than for nearby GMCs. They are also characterized by 10 times higher supersonic turbulence with a median Mach number of 60. They end up to fall above the Larson scaling relations, similarly to the GMCs in another clumpy z ≃ 1 galaxy, the Cosmic Snake, although differences between the two sets of high-redshift GMCs exist. Altogether they support that GMCs form with properties that adjust to the ambient interstellar medium conditions prevalent in the host galaxy whatever its redshift. The detected A521-sys1 GMCs are massive enough to be the parent gas clouds of stellar clumps, with a relatively high star formation efficiency per free-fall time of ∼11 per cent.

 

We present the first [C II] 158 μ m luminosity function (LF) at z  ∼ 5 from a sample of serendipitous lines detected in the ALMA Large Program to INvestigate [C II] at Early times (ALPINE). A study of the 118 ALPINE pointings revealed several serendipitous lines. Based on their fidelity, we selected 14 lines for the final catalog. According to the redshift of their counterparts, we identified eight out of 14 detections as [C II] lines at z  ∼ 5, along with two as CO transitions at lower redshifts. The remaining four lines have an elusive identification in the available catalogs and we considered them as [C II] candidates. We used the eight confirmed [C II] and the four [C II] candidates to build one of the first [C II] LFs at z  ∼ 5. We found that 11 out of these 12 sources have a redshift very similar to that of the ALPINE target in the same pointing, suggesting the presence of overdensities around the targets. Therefore, we split the sample in two (a “clustered” and “field” subsample) according to their redshift separation and built two separate LFs. Our estimates suggest that there could be an evolution of the [C II] LF between z  ∼ 5 and z  ∼ 0. By converting the [C II] luminosity to the star-formation rate, we evaluated the cosmic star-formation rate density (SFRD) at z  ∼ 5. The clustered sample results in a SFRD ∼10 times higher than previous measurements from UV–selected galaxies. On the other hand, from the field sample (likely representing the average galaxy population), we derived a SFRD ∼1.6 higher compared to current estimates from UV surveys but compatible within the errors. Because of the large uncertainties, observations of larger samples will be necessary to better constrain the SFRD at z  ∼ 5. This study represents one of the first efforts aimed at characterizing the demography of [C II] emitters at z  ∼ 5 using a mm selection of galaxies.