Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics – Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2009-05-13
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics
MNRAS Aceepted; 20 pages, 13 Figures. Replaced version after minor revisions from referee. Additional details regarding radiat
Scientific paper
We present a model for the CO molecular line emission from high redshift Submillimeter Galaxies (SMGs). By combining hydrodynamic simulations of gas rich galaxy mergers with the polychromatic radiative transfer code, Sunrise, and the 3D non-LTE molecular line radiative transfer code, Turtlebeach, we show that if SMGs are typically a transient phase of major mergers, their observed compact CO spatial extents, broad line widths, and high excitation conditions (CO SED) are naturally explained. In this sense, SMGs can be understood as scaled-up analogs to local ULIRGs. We utilize these models to investigate the usage of CO as an indicator of physical conditions. We find that care must be taken when applying standard techniques. The usage of CO line widths as a dynamical mass estimator from SMGs can possibly overestimate the true enclosed mass by a factor ~1.5-2. At the same time, assumptions of line ratios of unity from CO J=3-2 (and higher lying lines) to CO (J=1-0) will oftentimes lead to underestimates of the inferred gas mass. We provide tests for these models by outlining predictions for experiments which are imminently feasible with the current generation of bolometer arrays and radio-wave spectrometers.
Cox Thomas J.
Hayward Christopher
Hernquist Lars
Narayanan Desika
Younger Joshua Daniel
No associations
LandOfFree
The Star-Forming Molecular Gas in High Redshift Submillimeter Galaxies does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with The Star-Forming Molecular Gas in High Redshift Submillimeter Galaxies, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and The Star-Forming Molecular Gas in High Redshift Submillimeter Galaxies will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-399414