Search for: All records

Abstract The high-frequency radio sky has historically remained largely unexplored due to the typical faintness of sources in this regime, and the modest survey speed compared to observations at lower frequencies. However, high-frequency radio surveys offer an invaluable tracer of high-redshift star formation, as they directly target the faint radio free–free emission. We present deep continuum observations at 34 GHz in the COSMOS and GOODS-North fields from the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), as part of the COLD z survey. The deep COSMOS mosaic spans down to σ = 1.3 μ Jy beam −1 , while the wider GOODS-N observations cover to σ = 5.3 μ Jy beam −1 . We detect a total of 18 galaxies at 34 GHz, of which nine show radio emission consistent with being powered by star formation; although for two sources, this is likely due to thermal emission from dust. Utilizing deep ancillary radio data at 1.4, 3, 5, and 10 GHz, we decompose the spectra of the remaining seven star-forming galaxies into their synchrotron and thermal free–free components, and find typical thermal fractions and synchrotron spectral indices comparable to those observed in local star-forming galaxies. We further determine free–free star formation rates (SFRs), and show that these are in agreement with SFRs from spectral energy distribution-fitting and the far-infrared/radio correlation. Our observations place strong constraints on the high-frequency radio emission in typical galaxies at high redshift, and provide some of the first insights into what is set to become a key area of study with future radio facilities, such as the Square Kilometer Array Phase 1 and next-generation VLA. 

ABSTRACT We present Herschel–PACS spectroscopy of four main-sequence star-forming galaxies at z ∼ 1.5. We detect [OI]63 μm line emission in BzK-21000 at z = 1.5213, and measure a line luminosity, $L_{\rm [O\, {\small I}]63\, \mu m} = (3.9\pm 0.7)\times 10^9$ L⊙. Our PDR modelling of the interstellar medium in BzK-21000 suggests a UV radiation field strength, G ∼ 320G0, and gas density, n ∼ 1800 cm−3, consistent with previous LVG modelling of the molecular CO line excitation. The other three targets in our sample are individually undetected in these data, and we perform a spectral stacking analysis which yields a detection of their average emission and an [O i]63 μm line luminosity, $L_{\rm [O\, {\small I}]63\, \mu m} = (1.1\pm 0.2)\times 10^9$ L⊙. We find that the implied luminosity ratio, $L_{\rm [O\, {\small I}]63\, \mu m}/L_{\rm IR}$, of the undetected BzK-selected star-forming galaxies broadly agrees with that of low-redshift star-forming galaxies, while BzK-21000 has a similar ratio to that of a dusty star-forming galaxy at z ∼ 6. The high [O i]63 μm line luminosities observed in BzK-21000 and the z ∼ 1−3 dusty and sub-mm luminous star-forming galaxies may be associated with extended reservoirs of low density, cool neutral gas. 

We studied the molecular gas properties of AzTEC/C159, a star-forming disk galaxy at $z=4.567$. We secured $^{12}$CO molecular line detections for the $J=2\to1$ and $J=5\to4$ transitions using the Karl G. Jansky VLA and the NOEMA interferometer. The broad (FWHM$\sim750\,{\rm km\,s}^{-1}$) and tentative double-peaked profiles of both $^{12}$CO lines are consistent with an extended molecular gas reservoir, which is distributed in a rotating disk as previously revealed from [CII] 158$\mu$m line observations. Based on the $^{12}$CO(2$\to$1) emission line we derived $L'_{\rm{CO}}=(3.4\pm0.6)\times10^{10}{\rm \,K\,km\,s}^{-1}{\rm \,pc}^{2}$, that yields a molecular gas mass of $M_{\rm H_2 }(\alpha_{\rm CO}/4.3)=(1.5\pm0.3)\times 10^{11}{\rm M}_\odot$ and unveils a gas-rich system with $\mu_{\rm gas}(\alpha_{\rm CO}/4.3)\equiv M_{\rm H_2}/M_\star=3.3\pm0.7$. The extreme star formation efficiency (SFE) of AzTEC/C159, parametrized by the ratio $L_{\rm{IR}}/L'_{\rm{CO}}=(216\pm80)\, {\rm L}_{\odot}{\rm \,(K\,km\,s}^{-1}{\rm \,pc}^{2})^{-1}$, is comparable to merger-driven starbursts such as local ultra-luminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) and SMGs. Likewise, the $^{12}$CO(5$\to$4)/CO(2$\to$1) line brightness temperature ratio of $r_{52}= 0.55\pm 0.15$ is consistent with high excitation conditions, similar to that observed in SMGs. We constrained the value for the $L'_{\text{CO}}-{\rm H}_2$ mass conversion factor in AzTEC/C159, i.e. $\alpha_{\text{CO}}=3.9^{+2.7}_{-1.3}{\rm \,M}_{\odot}{\rm \,K}^{-1}{\rm \,km}^{-1}{\rm \,s\,pc}^{-2}$, that is consistent with a self-gravitating molecular gas distribution as observed in local star-forming disk galaxies. Cold gas streams from cosmological filaments might be fueling a gravitationally unstable gas-rich disk in AzTEC/C159, which breaks into giant clumps forming stars as efficiently as in merger-driven systems and generate high gas excitation. 

We present an analysis of the dust attenuation of star-forming galaxies at z = 2.5–4.0 through the relationship between the UV spectral slope (β), stellar mass (M*), and the infrared excess (IRX = LIR/LUV) based on far-infrared continuum observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (ALMA). Our study exploits the full ALMA archive over the COSMOS field processed by the A3COSMOS team, which includes an unprecedented sample of ∼1500 galaxies at z ∼ 3 as primary or secondary targets in ALMA band 6 or 7 observations with a median continuum sensitivity of 126 $\rm {\mu Jy\, beam}^{-1}$ (1σ). The detection rate is highly mass dependent, decreasing drastically below log (M*/M⊙) = 10.5. The detected galaxies show that the IRX–β relationship of massive (log M*/M⊙ > 10) main-sequence galaxies at z = 2.5–4.0 is consistent with that of local galaxies, while starbursts are generally offset by $\sim 0.5\, {\rm dex}$ to larger IRX values. At the low-mass end, we derive upper limits on the infrared luminosities through stacking of the ALMA data. The combined IRX–M* relation at $\rm {log\, ({\it M}_{\ast }/\mathrm{M}_{\odot })\gt 9}$ exhibits a significantly steeper slope than reported in previous studies at similar redshifts, implying little dust obscuration at log M*/M⊙ < 10. However, our results are consistent with earlier measurements at z ∼ 5.5, indicating a potential redshift evolution between z ∼ 2 and z ∼ 6. Deeper observations targeting low-mass galaxies will be required to confirm this finding.