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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. 

ABSTRACT We measure the 850-μm source densities of 46 candidate protoclusters selected from the Planck high-z catalogue (PHz) and the Planck Catalogue of Compact Sources (PCCS) that were followed up with Herschel-SPIRE and SCUBA-2. This paper aims to search for overdensities of 850-μm sources in order to select the fields that are most likely to be genuine protoclusters. Of the 46 candidate protoclusters, 25 have significant overdensities (>5 times the field counts), 11 have intermediate overdensities (3–5 times the field counts), and 10 have no overdensity (<3 times the field counts) of 850-μm sources. We find that the enhanced number densities are unlikely to be the result of sample variance. Compared with the number counts of another sample selected from Planck’s compact source catalogues, this [PHz + PCCS]-selected sample has a higher fraction of candidate protoclusters with significant overdensities, though both samples show overdensities of 850-μm sources above intermediate level. Based on the estimated star formation rate densities (SFRDs), we suggest that both samples can efficiently select protoclusters with starbursting galaxies near the redshift at which the global field SFRD peaks (2 < z < 3). Based on the confirmation of overdensities found here, future follow-up observations on other PHz targets may greatly increase the number of genuine dusty star-forming galaxy-rich clusters/protoclusters. 

Exploiting the sensitivity of the IRAM NOrthern Extended Millimeter Array (NOEMA) and its ability to process large instantaneous bandwidths, we have studied the morphology and other properties of the molecular gas and dust in the star forming galaxy, H-ATLAS J131611.5+281219 (HerBS-89a), at z = 2.95. High angular resolution (0 . ″3) images reveal a partial 1 . ″0 diameter Einstein ring in the dust continuum emission and the molecular emission lines of 12 CO(9−8) and H 2 O(2 02  − 1 11 ). Together with lower angular resolution (0 . ″6) images, we report the detection of a series of molecular lines including the three fundamental transitions of the molecular ion OH + , namely (1 1  − 0 1 ), (1 2  − 0 1 ), and (1 0  − 0 1 ), seen in absorption; the molecular ion CH + (1 − 0) seen in absorption, and tentatively in emission; two transitions of amidogen (NH 2 ), namely (2 02  − 1 11 ) and (2 20  − 2 11 ) seen in emission; and HCN(11 − 10) and/or NH(1 2  − 0 1 ) seen in absorption. The NOEMA data are complemented with Very Large Array data tracing the 12 CO(1 − 0) emission line, which provides a measurement of the total mass of molecular gas and an anchor for a CO excitation analysis. In addition, we present Hubble Space Telescope imaging that reveals the foreground lensing galaxy in the near-infrared (1.15  μ m). Together with photometric data from the Gran Telescopio Canarias, we derive a photometric redshift of z phot = 0.9 −0.5 +0.3 for the foreground lensing galaxy. Modeling the lensing of HerBS-89a, we reconstruct the dust continuum (magnified by a factor μ  ≃ 5.0) and molecular emission lines (magnified by μ  ∼ 4 − 5) in the source plane, which probe scales of ∼0 . ″1 (or 800 pc). The 12 CO(9 − 8) and H 2 O(2 02  − 1 11 ) emission lines have comparable spatial and kinematic distributions; the source-plane reconstructions do not clearly distinguish between a one-component and a two-component scenario, but the latter, which reveals two compact rotating components with sizes of ≈1 kpc that are likely merging, more naturally accounts for the broad line widths observed in HerBS-89a. In the core of HerBS-89a, very dense gas with n H 2  ∼ 10 7 − 9 cm −3 is revealed by the NH 2 emission lines and the possible HCN(11 − 10) absorption line. HerBS-89a is a powerful star forming galaxy with a molecular gas mass of M mol  = (2.1 ± 0.4) × 10 11   M ⊙ , an infrared luminosity of L IR  = (4.6 ± 0.4) × 10 12   L ⊙ , and a dust mass of M dust  = (2.6 ± 0.2) × 10 9   M ⊙ , yielding a dust-to-gas ratio δ GDR  ≈ 80. We derive a star formation rate SFR = 614 ± 59  M ⊙ yr −1 and a depletion timescale τ depl  = (3.4 ± 1.0) × 10 8 years. The OH + and CH + absorption lines, which trace low (∼100 cm −3 ) density molecular gas, all have their main velocity component red-shifted by Δ V  ∼ 100 km s −1 relative to the global CO reservoir. We argue that these absorption lines trace a rare example of gas inflow toward the center of a galaxy, indicating that HerBS-89a is accreting gas from its surroundings. 

Using the IRAM NOrthern Extended Millimeter Array (NOEMA), we conducted a program to measure redshifts for 13 bright galaxies detected in the Herschel Astrophysical Large Area Survey with S 500  μ m  ≥ 80 mJy. We report reliable spectroscopic redshifts for 12 individual sources, which are derived from scans of the 3 and 2 mm bands, covering up to 31 GHz in each band, and are based on the detection of at least two emission lines. The spectroscopic redshifts are in the range 2.08 <   z  <  4.05 with a median value of z  = 2.9 ± 0.6. The sources are unresolved or barely resolved on scales of 10 kpc. In one field, two galaxies with different redshifts were detected. In two cases the sources are found to be binary galaxies with projected distances of ∼140 kpc. The linewidths of the sources are large, with a mean value for the full width at half maximum of 700 ± 300 km s −1 and a median of 800 km s −1 . We analyze the nature of the sources with currently available ancillary data to determine if they are lensed or hyper-luminous ( L FIR  >  10 13   L ⊙ ) galaxies. We also present a reanalysis of the spectral energy distributions including the continuum flux densities measured at 3 and 2 mm to derive the overall properties of the sources. Future prospects based on these efficient measurements of redshifts of high- z galaxies using NOEMA are outlined, including a comprehensive survey of all the brightest Herschel galaxies. 

We present images obtained with LABOCA on the APEX telescope of a sample of 22 galaxies selected via their red Herschel SPIRE 250-, 350- and $$500\textrm{-}\mu\textrm{m}$$ colors. We aim to see if these luminous, rare and distant galaxies are signposting dense regions in the early Universe. Our $$870\textrm{-}\mu\textrm{m}$$ survey covers an area of $$\approx0.8\,\textrm{deg}^2$$ down to an average r.m.s. of $$3.9\,\textrm{mJy beam}^{-1}$$, with our five deepest maps going $$\approx2\times$$ deeper still. We catalog 86 DSFGs around our 'signposts', detected above a significance of $$3.5\sigma$$. This implies a $$100\pm30\%$$ over-density of $$S_{870}>8.5\,\textrm{mJy}$$ DSFGs, excluding our signposts, when comparing our number counts to those in 'blank fields'. Thus, we are $$99.93\%$$ confident that our signposts are pinpointing over-dense regions in the Universe, and $$\approx95\%$$ confident that these regions are over-dense by a factor of at least $$\ge1.5\times$$. Using template SEDs and SPIRE/LABOCA photometry we derive a median photometric redshift of $$z=3.2\pm0.2$$ for our signposts, with an interquartile range of $$z=2.8\textrm{-}3.6$$. We constrain the DSFGs likely responsible for this over-density to within $$|\Delta z|\le0.65$$ of their respective signposts. These 'associated' DSFGs are radially distributed within $$1.6\pm0.5\,\textrm{Mpc}$$ of their signposts, have median SFRs of $$\approx(1.0\pm0.2)\times10^3\,M_{\odot}\,\textrm{yr}^{-1}$$ (for a Salpeter stellar IMF) and median gas reservoirs of $$\sim1.7\times10^{11}\,M_{\odot}$$. These candidate proto-clusters have average total SFRs of at least $$\approx (2.3\pm0.5)\times10^3\,M_{\odot}\,\textrm{yr}^{-1}$$ and space densities of $$\sim9\times10^{-7}\,\textrm{Mpc}^{-3}$$, consistent with the idea that their constituents may evolve to become massive ETGs in the centers of the rich galaxy clusters we see today.