The ALMA-ALPINE [CII] survey: Kennicutt-Schmidt relation in four massive main-sequence galaxies at z ∼ 4.5

Creators: Béthermin, M.^{1, 2}; Accard, C.¹; Guillaume, C.¹; Dessauges-Zavadsky, M.³; Ibar, E.⁴; Cassata, P.^{5, 6}; Devereaux, T.^{5, 6}; Faisst, A.⁷; Freundlich, J.¹; Jones, G. C.⁸; Kraljic, K.¹; Algera, H.^{9, 10}; Amorín, R. O.^{11, 12}; Bardelli, S.¹³; Boquien, M.¹⁴; Buat, V.²; Donghia, E.¹⁵; Dubois, Y.¹⁶; Ferrara, A.¹⁷; Fudamoto, Y.¹⁸; Ginolfi, M.^{19, 20}; Guillard, P.¹⁶; Giavalisco, M.²¹; Gruppioni, C.¹³; Gururajan, G.^{22, 13}; Hathi, N.²³; Hayward, C. C.²⁴; Koekemoer, A. M.²³; Lemaux, B. C.^{25, 26}; Magdis, G. E.^{27, 28}; Molina, J.²⁹; Narayanan, D.^{27, 30}; Mayer, L.³¹; Pozzi, F.¹³; Rizzo, F.²⁷; Romano, M.^{6, 32}; Tasca, L.²; Theulé, P.²; Vergani, D.¹³; Vallini, L.¹³; Zamorani, G.¹³; Zanella, A.⁶; Zucca, E.¹³

1. Observatory of Strasbourg
2. French National Centre for Scientific Research
3. University of Geneva
4. University of Valparaíso
5. University of Padua
6. Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova
7. Infrared Processing and Analysis Center
8. University of Oxford
9. Hiroshima University
10. National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
11. Centro de Estudios de Física del Cosmos de Aragón
12. University of La Serena
13. INAF – Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio, Via Gobetti 93/3, 40129, Bologna, Italy
14. University of Tarapacá
15. University of Wisconsin–Madison
16. Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris
17. Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa
18. Chiba University
19. University of Florence
20. Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory
21. University of Massachusetts Amherst
22. University of Bologna
23. Space Telescope Science Institute
24. Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute, 162 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY, 10010, USA
25. University of California, Davis
26. Gemini Observatory, NSF's NOIRLab, 670 N. A'ohoku Place, Hilo, Hawai'i, 96720, USA
27. University of Copenhagen
28. Technical University of Denmark
29. Chalmers University of Technology
30. University of Florida
31. University of Zurich
32. National Centre for Nuclear Research

Abstract

Aims. The Kennicutt-Schmidt (KS) relation between the gas and the star formation rate (SFR) surface density (Σ_gas − Σ_SFR) is essential to understand star formation processes in galaxies. To date, it has been measured up to z ∼ 2.5 in main-sequence galaxies. In this Letter our aim is to put constraints at z ∼ 4.5 using a sample of four massive main-sequence galaxies observed by ALMA at high resolution.

Methods. We obtained ∼0.3″-resolution [CII] and continuum maps of our objects, which we then converted into gas and obscured SFR surface density maps. In addition, we produced unobscured SFR surface density maps by convolving Hubble ancillary data in the rest-frame UV. We then derived the average Σ_SFR in various Σ_gas bins, and estimated the uncertainties using a Monte Carlo sampling.

Results. Our galaxy sample follows the KS relation measured in main-sequence galaxies at lower redshift, and is slightly lower than the predictions from simulations. Our data points probe the high end both in terms of Σ_gas and Σ_SFR, and gas depletion timescales (285–843 Myr) remain similar to z ∼ 2 objects. However, three of our objects are clearly morphologically disturbed, and we could have expected shorter gas depletion timescales (≲100 Myr) similar to merger-driven starbursts at lower redshifts. This suggests that the mechanisms triggering starbursts at high redshift may be different than in the low- and intermediate-z Universe.

Copyright and License

© The Authors 2023. Open Access article, published by EDP Sciences, under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Acknowledgement

We thank Jackie Hodge for sharing her data compilation. This paper makes use of the following ALMA data: ADS/JAO.ALMA#2017.1.00428L, ADS/JAO.ALMA#2019.1.00226.S, ADS/JAO.ALMA#2022.1.01118.S. ALMA is a partnership of ESO (representing its member states), NSF (USA) and NINS (Japan), together with NRC (Canada), MOST and ASIAA (Taiwan), and KASI (Republic of Korea), in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. The Joint ALMA Observatory is operated by ESO, AUI/NRAO and NAOJ. This work was supported by the Programme National Cosmology et Galaxies (PNCG) of CNRS/INSU with INP and IN2P3, co-funded by CEA and CNES. E.I. acknowledges funding by ANID FONDECYT Regular 1221846. The Flatiron Institute is supported by the Simons Foundation. G.G. acknowledges support from the grants PRIN MIUR 2017 - 20173ML3WW_001, ASI n.I/023/12/0 and INAF-PRIN 1.05.01.85.08. Médéric Boquien gratefully acknowledges support from the ANID BASAL project FB210003 and from the FONDECYT regular grant 1211000. G.E.M. acknowledges the Villum Fonden research grant 13160 “Gas to stars, stars to dust: tracing star formation across cosmic time,” grant 37440, “The Hidden Cosmos,” and the Cosmic Dawn Center of Excellence funded by the Danish National Research Foundation under the grant No. 140. This work was supported by NAOJ ALMA Scientific Research Grant Code 2021-19A (HSBA). M.R. acknowledges support from the Narodowe Centrum Nauki (UMO-2020/38/E/ST9/00077) and support from the Foundation for Polish Science (FNP) under the program START 063.2023. Y.F. acknowledges support from JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP23K13149.

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