Extremely Large Telescope

Abstract:

We present a kinematic analysis of the main-sequence galaxy HZ4 at z = 5.5. Our study is based on deep, spatially resolved observations of the [C II] 158 μm transition obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA). From the combined analysis of the disk morphology, the 2D velocity structure, and forward modeling of the 1D velocity and velocity dispersion profiles, we conclude that HZ4 has a regular rotating disk in place. The intrinsic velocity dispersion in HZ4 is high (σ0 = 65.8−3.3+2.9 km s−1), and the ratio between the rotational velocity and the intrinsic velocity dispersion is Vrot/σ0 = 2.2. These values are consistent with the expectations from the trends of increasing σ0 and decreasing Vrot/σ0 as a function of the redshift observed in main-sequence galaxies up to z ≈ 4. Galaxy evolution models suggest that the high level of turbulence observed in HZ4 can only be achieved if, in addition to stellar feedback, there is radial transport of gas within the disk. Finally, we find that HZ4 is baryon-dominated on galactic scales (≲2 × Re), with a dark-matter fraction at one effective radius of fDM(Re) = 0.41−0.22+0.25. This value is comparable to the dark-matter fractions found in lower redshift galaxies that could be the descendants of HZ4: massive (M⋆ ≈ 1011 M⊙), star-forming galaxies at z ∼ 2, and passive, early-type galaxies at z ≈ 0.

Abstract:

The mm-Wave Interferometric Survey of Dark Object Masses (WISDOM) is probing supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in galaxies across the Hubble sequence via molecular gas dynamics. We present the first WISDOM study of a luminous infrared galaxy with an active galactic nuclei (AGN): Fairall 49. We use new ALMA observations of the CO(2-1) line with a spatial resolution of about 80 pc together with ancillary HST imaging. We reach the following results: (1) The CO kinematics are well described by a regularly rotating gas disk with a radial inflow motion, suggesting weak feedback on the cold gas from both AGN and starburst activity; (2) The dynamically inferred SMBH mass is 1.6 +/- 0.4 (rnd) +/- 0.8 (sys) x 10^8 Msun, assuming that we have accurately subtracted the AGN and starburst light contributions, which have a luminosity of about 10^9 Lsun; (3) The SMBH mass agrees with the SMBH-stellar mass relation but is about 50 times higher than previous estimates from X-ray variability; (4) The dynamically inferred molecular gas mass is 30 times smaller than that inferred from adopting the Galactic CO-to-H_2 conversion factor (X_CO) for thermalised gas, suggesting low values of X_CO; (5) the molecular gas inflow rate increases steadily with radius and may be as high as 5 Msun/yr. This work highlights the potential of using high-resolution CO data to estimate, in addition to SMBH masses, the X_CO factor and gas inflow rates in nearby galaxies.

Abstract:

<jats:title>ABSTRACT</jats:title> <jats:p>The mm-Wave Interferometric Survey of Dark Object Masses (WISDOM) is probing supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in galaxies across the Hubble sequence via molecular gas dynamics. We present the first WISDOM study of a luminous infrared galaxy with an active galactic nuclei (AGNs): Fairall 49. We use new ALMA observations of the CO(2 − 1) line with a spatial resolution of ∼80 pc together with ancillary HST imaging. We reach the following results: (1) The CO kinematics are well described by a regularly rotating gas disc with a radial inflow motion, suggesting weak feedback on the cold gas from both AGN and starburst activity; (2) The dynamically inferred SMBH mass is 1.6 ± 0.4(rnd) ± 0.8(sys) × 108 M⊙ assuming that we have accurately subtracted the AGN and starburst light contributions, which have a luminosity of ∼109 L⊙; (3) The SMBH mass agrees with the SMBH−stellar mass relation but is ∼50 times higher than previous estimates from X-ray variability; (4) The dynamically inferred molecular gas mass is 30 times smaller than that inferred from adopting the Galactic CO-to-H2 conversion factor (XCO) for thermalized gas, suggesting low values of XCO; (5) the molecular gas inflow rate increases steadily with radius and may be as high as ∼5 M⊙ yr−1. This work highlights the potential of using high-resolution CO data to estimate, in addition to SMBH masses, the XCO factor, and gas inflow rates in nearby galaxies.</jats:p>