MOLECULAR AND ATOMIC LINE SURVEYS OF GALAXIES. I. THE DENSE, STAR-FORMING GAS PHASE AS A BEACON
- Department of Physics, McGill University, 3600 rue University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2T8 (Canada)
We predict the space density of molecular gas reservoirs in the universe and place a lower limit on the number counts of carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen cyanide (HCN) molecular, and [C II] atomic emission lines in blind redshift surveys in the submillimeter-centimeter spectral regime. Our model uses (1) recently available HCN spectral line energy distributions (SLEDs) of local luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs, L{sub IR} > 10{sup 11} L{sub Sun }), (2) a value for {epsilon}{sub *} = SFR/M{sub dense}(H{sub 2}) provided by new developments in the study of star formation feedback on the interstellar medium, and (3) a model for the evolution of the infrared luminosity density. Minimal 'emergent' CO SLEDs from the dense gas reservoirs expected in all star-forming systems in the universe are then computed from the HCN SLEDs since warm, HCN-bright gas will necessarily be CO-bright, with the dense star-forming gas phase setting an obvious minimum to the total molecular gas mass of any star-forming galaxy. We include [C II] as the most important of the far-infrared cooling lines. Optimal blind surveys with the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) could potentially detect very distant (z {approx} 10-12) [C II] emitters in the {>=}ULIRG galaxy class at a rate of {approx}0.1-1 hr{sup -1} (although this prediction is strongly dependent on the star formation and enrichment history at this early epoch), whereas the (high-frequency) Square Kilometer Array will be capable of blindly detecting z > 3 low-J CO emitters at a rate of {approx}40-70 hr{sup -1}. The [C II] line holds special promise for detecting metal-poor systems with extensive reservoirs of CO-dark molecular gas where detection rates with ALMA can reach up to 2-7 hr{sup -1} in Bands 4-6.
- OSTI ID:
- 22092161
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 757, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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