THE EVOLVING INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM OF STAR-FORMING GALAXIES SINCE z = 2 AS PROBED BY THEIR INFRARED SPECTRAL ENERGY DISTRIBUTIONS

By G. Magdis, E. Daddi, M. B'ethermin, M. Sargent, D. Elbaz, M. Pannella, Mark Dickinson, H. Dannerbauer, E. D. Cunha, F. Walter and 4 more. 2012

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Using data from the mid-infrared to millimeter wavelengths for individual galaxies and for stacked ensembles at 0.5 < z < 2, we derive robust estimates of dust masses (Mdust) for main-sequence (MS) galaxies, which obey a tight correlation between star formation rate (SFR) and stellar mass (M*), and for starbursting galaxies that fall outside that relation. Exploiting the correlation of gas-to-dust mass with metallicity (Mgas/Mdust–Z), we use our measurements to constrain the gas content, CO-to-H2 conversion factors (αCO), and star formation efficiencies (SFE) of these distant galaxies. Using large statistical samples, we confirm that αCO and SFE are an order of magnitude higher and lower, respectively, in MS galaxies at high redshifts compared to the values of local galaxies with equivalently high infrared luminosities (LIR > 1012 L☉). For galaxies within the MS, we show that the variations of specific star formation rates (sSFRs = SFR/M*) are driven by varying gas fractions. For relatively massive galaxies like those in our samples, we show that the hardness of the radiation field, 〈U〉, which is proportional to the dust-mass-weighted luminosity (LIR/Mdust) and the primary parameter defining the shape of the IR spectral energy distribution (SED), is equivalent to SFE/Z. For MS galaxies with stellar mass log (M*/M☉) ⩾ 9.7 we measure this quantity, 〈U〉, showing that it does not depend significantly on either the stellar mass or the sSFR. This is explained as a simple consequence of the existing correlations between SFR–M*, M*–Z, and Mgas–SFR. Instead, we show that 〈U〉 (or equally LIR/Mdust) does evolve, with MS galaxies having harder radiation fields and thus warmer temperatures as redshift increases from z = 0 to 2, a trend that can also be understood based on the redshift evolution of the M*–Z and SFR–M* relations. These results motivate the construction of a universal set of SED templates for MS galaxies that are independent of their sSFR or M* but vary as a function of redshift with only one parameter, 〈U〉.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/cc5412bfd133aea7ef50b5c2924f2b774a4b5d13

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Citations in the corpus

Cool Gas in High-Redshift Galaxies (2013, background): “These results have been generalized in the more comprehensive study by Magdis et al. (2012b).”
PHIBSS: MOLECULAR GAS CONTENT AND SCALING RELATIONS IN z ∼ 1–3 MASSIVE, MAIN-SEQUENCE STAR-FORMING GALAXIES (2012, methodology): “For simplicity, however, we will now adopt a linear relation, N=1, with a constant depletion time scale of 0.7 Gyr for the z=1-3 SFG population, consistent with the independent results of Magdis et al. (2012).”
The Herschel view of the dominant mode of galaxy growth from z = 4 to the present day (2014, background): “…of galactic gas reservoirs yield gas fractions evolving from about 10% in the local Universe (Leroy et al. 2008) up to 60% at z 3 (Tacconi et al. 2010; Daddi et al. 2010; Geach et al. 2011; Magdis et al. 2012; Saintonge et al. 2013; Santini et al. 2014; Genzel et al. 2015; Béthermin et al. 2015).”
Gas-to-dust mass ratios in local galaxies over a 2 dex metallicity range (2013, methodology): “This method is also used to estimate the CO-to-H2 conversion factor in local (e.g., Guelin et al. 1993, 1995; Neininger et al. 1996; Boselli et al. 2002; Sandstrom et al. 2013) and high-z galaxies (e.g., Magdis et al. 2012; Magnelli et al. 2012).”
ALMA SPECTROSCOPIC SURVEY IN THE HUBBLE ULTRA DEEP FIELD: THE INFRARED EXCESS OF UV-SELECTED z = 2–10 GALAXIES AS A FUNCTION OF UV-CONTINUUM SLOPE AND STELLAR MASS (2016, background): “The latter possibility would appear to be a particularly relevant one to consider in light of recent results from Magdis et al. (2012) and Bethermin et al. (2015) which have suggested that the mean intensity in the radiation field (and hence the typical dust temperature) of galaxies with moderate…”
Dusty Star Forming Galaxies at High Redshift (2014, methodology): “These results have come from both from CO inferred H2 gas masses, as well as dust measurements (and associated dust-to-gas ratio assumptions (Magdis et al., 2012)).”
Evolution of the atomic and molecular gas content of galaxies (2013, methodology): “…been estimated using more indirect methods, such as by using Far-Infrared (FIR) observations and an assumed relationship between dust and H2 mass (Magdis et al. 2012), or by using an empirical relationship between SFR density and total gas or H2 content along with SF tracers such as H-α or UV…”
Constraining the properties of AGN host galaxies with spectral energy distribution modelling (2015, methodology): “The template is chosen following the results of Magdis et al. (2012) who fit high-z galaxies with the Draine & Li (2007) models.”
ISM MASSES AND THE STAR FORMATION LAW AT Z = 1 TO 6: ALMA OBSERVATIONS OF DUST CONTINUUM IN 145 GALAXIES IN THE COSMOS SURVEY FIELD (2015, methodology): “Here, we employ an alternative approach – using the long wavelength dust continuum to probe ISM masses, specifically, molecular ISM masses, at high redshift (Scoville 2012; Eales et al. 2012; Magdis et al. 2012a).”
Evolution of density profiles in high-z galaxies: compaction and quenching inside-out (2015, result): “…part of the main sequence are compact, star-forming galaxies (blue nuggets), with higher gas fractions and shorter depletion times, consistent with observations (e.g., Magdis et al. 2012; Sargent et al. 2014; Huang & Kauffmann 2014; Genzel et al. 2015; Silverman et al. 2015; Scoville et al. 2015).”
EXPLAINING THE [C ii]157.7 μm DEFICIT IN LUMINOUS INFRARED GALAXIES—FIRST RESULTS FROM A HERSCHEL/PACS STUDY OF THE GOALS SAMPLE (2013, background): “10L⊙/M⊙) and extended over spatial scales of several kpc (Daddi et al. 2010a; Magdis et al. 2012).”
Dust spectral energy distributions of nearby galaxies: an insight from the Herschel Reference Survey (2014, methodology): “The submm part of the Berta et al. (2013) templates is very similar to Magdis et al. (2012) and the mean SED of this work, however the MIR-FIR domain show a large range of luminosities.”
REGULARITY UNDERLYING COMPLEXITY: A REDSHIFT-INDEPENDENT DESCRIPTION OF THE CONTINUOUS VARIATION OF GALAXY-SCALE MOLECULAR GAS PROPERTIES IN THE MASS-STAR FORMATION RATE PLANE (2013, neutral): “For example, αCO measurements for individual galaxies (rather than stacked populations) at 1<z < 2 (e.g., Magdis et al. 2012b, Magnelli et al. 2012) made with the gas-to-dust ratio technique give values that are inconsistent with a strong decrease of conversion factors at high redshift.”
The Herschel census of infrared SEDs through cosmic time (2013, background): “…although more strongly star-forming galaxies such as ULIRGs are predominantly more massive (e.g. Davé 2008; Shapley 2011) and dustier systems (e.g. Magdis et al. 2012) with warmer average dust temperatures, we find that their SED shapes are not substantially different to their lower luminosity…”
THE EVOLUTION OF INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM MASS PROBED BY DUST EMISSION: ALMA OBSERVATIONS AT z = 0.3–2 (2014, methodology): “Here, we develop an alternative approach – using the long wavelength dust continuum to probe of ISM masses at high redshift (as suggested by Scoville 2012; Eales et al. 2012; Magdis et al. 2012, and references therein).”
ON THE EFFECT OF THE COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND IN HIGH-REDSHIFT (SUB-)MILLIMETER OBSERVATIONS (2013, background): “…as the star formation rate (via the total infrared luminosity) and the molecular gas mass (via the CO line luminosity or the dust mass) is crucial to our understanding of the star formation efficiency of galaxies at high-redshift (e.g. Daddi et al. 2010; Genzel et al. 2010; Magdis et al. 2012).”
Evolution of Interstellar Medium, Star Formation, and Accretion at High Redshift (2017, methodology): “…with existing studies using the CO lines (Tacconi et al. 2010; Daddi et al. 2010; Genzel et al. 2010; Riechers et al. 2011; Ivison et al. 2011; Magdis et al. 2012b; Saintonge et al. 2013; Carilli & Walter 2013; Tacconi et al. 2013; Bolatto et al. 2015; Genzel et al. 2015), the sample of…”
VALIDATION OF THE EQUILIBRIUM MODEL FOR GALAXY EVOLUTION TO z ∼ 3 THROUGH MOLECULAR GAS AND DUST OBSERVATIONS OF LENSED STAR-FORMING GALAXIES (2013, methodology): “Since measuring CO in normal star-forming galaxies at high redshifts is challenging, there has been significant interest recently in using dust masses as a proxy for the total molecular gas contents (e.g. Magdis et al. 2011, 2012a; Scoville 2012).”
EVIDENCE FOR WIDE-SPREAD ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS-DRIVEN OUTFLOWS IN THE MOST MASSIVE z ∼ 1–2 STAR-FORMING GALAXIES (2014, background): “Tacconi et al. (2013), Magdis et al. (2012), and Saintonge et al. (2012) have presented evidence from molecular and dust observations that near the main-sequence sSFR correlates most strongly with galaxy baryonic gas fraction and star formation efficiency (the inverse of the gas depletion…”
Metallicity evolution, metallicity gradients, and gas fractions at z ~ 3.4 (2013, result): “Similar results have been obtained by using the dust mass as a proxy of the gas content in high-z galaxies (Magdis et al. 2012b; Santini et al. 2013).”