First detection of the 448 GHz ortho-H2O line at high redshift: probing the structure of a starburst nucleus at z = 3.63

Submillimeter rotational lines of H2O are a powerful probe in warm gas regions of the interstellar medium (ISM), tracing scales and structures ranging from kiloparsec disks to the most compact and dust-obscured regions of galactic nuclei. The ortho-H2O(423 − 330 line at 448 GHz, which has recently been detected in a local luminous infrared galaxy, offers a unique constraint on the excitation conditions and ISM properties in deeply buried galaxy nuclei because the line requires high far-infrared optical depths to be excited. In this letter, we report the first high-redshift detection of the 448 GHz H2O(423–330) line using ALMA in a strongly lensed submillimeter galaxy (SMG) at z = 3.63. After correcting for magnification, the luminosity of the 448 GHz H2O line is ∼106 L⊙. In combination with three other previously detected H2O lines, we build a model that resolves the dusty ISM structure of the SMG, and find that it is composed of a ∼1 kpc optically thin (optical depth at 100 μm τ100 ∼ 0.3) disk component with a dust temperature Tdust ≈ 50 K that emits a total infrared power of 5 × 1012 L⊙ with a surface density ΣIR = 4 × 1011 L⊙ kpc−2, and a very compact (0.1 kpc) heavily dust-obscured (τ100 ≳ 1) nuclear core with very warm dust (100 K) and ΣIR = 8 × 1012 L⊙ kpc−2. The H2O abundance in the core component, XH2O ∼ (0.3–5) × 10−5, is at least one order of magnitude higher than in the disk component. The optically thick core has the characteristic properties of an Eddington-limited starburst, providing evidence that radiation pressure on dust is capable of supporting the ISM in buried nuclei at high redshifts. The multicomponent ISM structure revealed by our models illustrates that dust and molecules such as H2O are present in regions that are characterized by highly differing conditions and scales, extending from the nucleus to more extended regions of SMGs.

Connecting the density structure of molecular clouds with star formation

In the current paradigm of turbulence-regulated interstellar medium (ISM), star formation rates of entire galaxies are intricately linked to the density structure of the individual molecular clouds. This density structure is essentially encapsulated in the probability distribution function of volume densities (ρ-PDF), which directly affects the star formation rates predicted by analytic models. Contrasting its fundamental role, the ρ-PDF function has remained virtually unconstrained by observations. I describe in this contribution the recent progress in attaining observational constraints for the column density PDFs (N-PDFs) of molecular clouds that function as a proxy of the ρ-PDFs. Specifically, observational works point towards a universal correlation between the shape of the N-PDFs and star formation activity in molecular clouds. The correlation is in place from the scales of a parsec up to the scales of entire galaxies, making it a fundamental, global link between the ISM structure and star formation.

Star formation in Taurus Auriga Perseus and California nebulae

Star formation and interstellar medium (ISM) structure were investigated in the Taurus, Auriga, Perseus and California (TAP) nearby star forming regions. Properties of the cold ISM was derived using AKARI FIR all sky maps, the Osaka-1.85m CO survey focusing to the all-sky Planck catalogue of Galactic Cold Clumps (PGCC). As many as 1041 infrared point sources were classified as young stellar object (YSO) based on multiband photometric data, and 384 of those are associated to a PGCC object. About 30% of the TAP PGCC clumps have associated YSOs.

Decoding 3D Disk Structure and Dynamics Using Doppler Tomography

We demonstrate a method to measure both rotation curves and 3D ISM structure in edge-on galaxies. Two-dimensional spectral coverage of edge-on galaxies reveals substantial deviations in emission line shapes from a purely gaussian profile that vary with radius and height. Non-gaussianity is quantified using statistical moments to third order. We infer the 3D density distribution by comparing the measured line profiles to synthetic line-of-sight velocity distributions from a suite of three-dimensional galaxy models with different 3D distributions of dust and gas and different rotation curve shapes and amplitudes. We apply this method using multi-position longslit data of nearby edge-on galaxy ESO 435-G25 and find our derived rotation curve matches measured HI rotation from envelope fitting but requires a flared dust disk to accurately describe the radial and vertical trends in the measured statistical moments. Our results are consistent with dynamical expectations for constant pressure support in a disk with exponentially declining surface-density.

A turbulence study in Dwarf Irregular galaxies

We present preliminary results of a Fourier transform power spectra analysis carried out on a sample of dwarf irregular galaxies and Local Group members. This project is intended to study turbulence and the ISM structure in irregulars as a class.