Prof. Dimitra Rigopoulou

Abstract:

We present the results from our Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) imaging observations of the CO(7-6), [C i] 370 μm (hereafter [C i]), and [N ii] 205 μm (hereafter [N ii]) lines and their underlying continuum emission of BRI 1335-0417, an infrared bright quasar at z = 4.407. At the achieved resolutions of ∼1.″1 to 1.″2 (or 7.5-8.2 kpc), the continuum at 205 and 372 μm (rest frame), the CO(7-6), and the [C i] emissions are at best barely resolved whereas the [N ii] emission is well resolved with a beam-deconvolved major axis of 1.″3(±0.″3) or 9(±2) kpc. As a warm dense gas tracer, the CO(7-6) emission shows a more compact spatial distribution and a significantly higher peak velocity dispersion than the other two lines that probe lower density gas, a picture favoring a merger-Triggered star formation (SF) scenario over an orderly rotating SF disk. The CO(7-6) data also indicate a possible QSO-driven gas outflow that reaches a maximum line-of-sight velocity of 500-600 km s-1. The far-infrared (FIR) dust temperature (Tdust) of 41.5 K from a graybody fit to the continuum agrees well with the average Tdustinferred from various line luminosity ratios. The resulting LCO(7-6)/LFIRluminosity ratio is consistent with that of local luminous infrared galaxies powered predominantly by SF. The LCO(7-6)-inferred SF rate is 5.1(±1.5) × 103Moyr-1. The system has an effective star-forming region of kpc in diameter and a molecular gas reservoir of ∼5 × 1011Mo.

Abstract:

We present HCN J = 4→3 and HCO+ J = 4→3 maps of six nearby star-forming galaxies, NGC 253, NGC 1068, IC 342, M82, M83, and NGC 6946, obtained with the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope as part of the MALATANG survey. All galaxies were mapped in the central 2×2 region at 14 (FWHM) resolution (corresponding to linear scales of ∼0.2-1.0 kpc). The LIR-Ldense relation, where the dense gas is traced by the HCN J = 4→3 and the HCO+ J = 4→3 emission, measured in our sample of spatially resolved galaxies is found to follow the linear correlation established globally in galaxies within the scatter. We find that the luminosity ratio, LIR/Ldense, shows systematic variations with LIR within individual spatially resolved galaxies, whereas the galaxy-integrated ratios vary little. A rising trend is also found between LIR/Ldense ratio and the warm-dust temperature gauged by the 70 μm/100 μm flux ratio. We find that the luminosity ratios of IR/HCN (4-3) and IR/HCO+ (4-3), which can be taken as a proxy for the star formation efficiency (SFE) in the dense molecular gas (SFEdense), appear to be nearly independent of the dense gas fraction ( fdense) for our sample of galaxies. The SFE of the total molecular gas (SFEmol) is found to increase substantially with fdensewhen combining our data with those on local (ultra)luminous infrared galaxies and high-z quasars. The mean LHCN(4-3) LHCO+(4-3) line ratio measured for the six targeted galaxies is 0.9±0.6. No significant correlation is found for the L'HCN(4-3) L'HCO+(4-3) ratio with the star formation rate as traced by LIR, nor with the warm-dust temperature, for the different populations of galaxies.

Abstract:

We present ALMA Band 612CO(2-1) line and rest-frame 232 GHz continuum observations of the nearby Compton-thick Seyfert galaxy NGC 5643 with angular resolutions 0.″11-0.″26 (9-21 pc). The CO(2-1) integrated line map reveals emission from the nuclear and circumnuclear region with a two-arm nuclear spiral extending ∼10″ on each side. The circumnuclear CO(2-1) kinematics can be fitted with a rotating disk, although there are regions with large residual velocities and/or velocity dispersions. The CO(2-1) line profiles of these regions show two different velocity components. One is ascribed to the circular component and the other to the interaction of the AGN outflow, as traced by the [O iii]λ5007 Åemission, with molecular gas in the disk a few hundred parsecs from the AGN. On nuclear scales, we detected an inclined CO(2-1) disk (diameter 26 pc, FWHM) oriented almost in a north-south direction. The CO(2-1) nuclear kinematics can be fitted with a rotating disk that appears to be tilted with respect to the large-scale disk. There are strong non-circular motions in the central 0.″2-0.″3 with velocities of up to 110 km s-1. In the absence of a nuclear bar, these motions could be explained as radial outflows in the nuclear disk. We estimate a total molecular gas mass for the nuclear disk of M(H2) = 1.1 ×107Moand an H2column density toward the location of the AGN of N(H2) ∼ 5 ×1023cm-2, for a standard CO-to-H2conversion factor. We interpret this nuclear molecular gas disk as the obscuring torus of NGC 5643 as well as the collimating structure of the ionization cone.