Spatially resolved [CII]-gas conversion factor in early galaxies

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Vallini, L., Pallottini, A., Kohandel, M., Sommovigo, L., Ferrara, A., Bethermin, M., Herrera-Camus, R., Carniani, S., Faisst, A., Zanella, A., Pozzi, F., Dessauges-Zavadsky, M., Gruppioni, C., Veraldi, E., Accard, C.
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Vallini, L.
Pallottini, A.
Kohandel, M.
Sommovigo, L.
Ferrara, A.
Bethermin, M.
Herrera-Camus, R.
Carniani, S.
Faisst, A.
Zanella, A.
Pozzi, F.
Dessauges-Zavadsky, M.
Gruppioni, C.
Veraldi, E.
Accard, C.
author_facet Vallini, L.
Pallottini, A.
Kohandel, M.
Sommovigo, L.
Ferrara, A.
Bethermin, M.
Herrera-Camus, R.
Carniani, S.
Faisst, A.
Zanella, A.
Pozzi, F.
Dessauges-Zavadsky, M.
Gruppioni, C.
Veraldi, E.
Accard, C.
contents Determining how efficiently gas collapses into stars at high-redshift is key to understanding galaxy evolution in the Epoch of Reionization (EoR). Globally, this process is quantified by the gas depletion time ($t_{dep}$); on resolved scales, by the slope and normalization of the Kennicutt-Schmidt (KS) relation. This work explores the global ($α_{[CII]}$) and spatially resolved ($W_{[CII]}$) [CII]-to-gas conversion factors at high-$z$ and their role in inferring reliable gas masses, surface densities, and $t_{dep}$ in the EoR. We select galaxies at 4<z<9 from the SERRA cosmological zoom-in simulation, that features on-the-fly radiative transfer and resolves interstellar medium properties down to $\approx$30 pc. The [CII] emission modelling from photodissociation regions allow us to derive global $α_{ [CII]}$, and maps of $W_{[CII]}$. We study their dependence on gas metallicity (Z), density (n), Mach number (M), and burstiness parameter ($k_s$), and provide best fit relations. The $α_{[CII]}$ decreases with increasing $Z$ and galaxy compactness, while the resolved $W_{[CII]}$ shows two regimes: at $Z< 0.2 Z_\odot$, it anticorrelates with n and Z, but not with $k_s$; above this threshold, it also depends on $k_s$, with more bursty regions showing lower conversion factors. This implies $W_{[CII]}\propto Σ_{[CII]}^{-0.5}$, as dense, metal-rich, and bursty regions exhibit higher [CII] surface brightness. Applying a constant $α_{[CII]}$ overestimates $Σ_{gas}$ in bright $Σ_{[CII]}$ patches, thus flattening the KS slope and overestimating $t_{dep}$ by a factor of $\approx$4.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_14001
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Spatially resolved [CII]-gas conversion factor in early galaxies
Vallini, L.
Pallottini, A.
Kohandel, M.
Sommovigo, L.
Ferrara, A.
Bethermin, M.
Herrera-Camus, R.
Carniani, S.
Faisst, A.
Zanella, A.
Pozzi, F.
Dessauges-Zavadsky, M.
Gruppioni, C.
Veraldi, E.
Accard, C.
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Determining how efficiently gas collapses into stars at high-redshift is key to understanding galaxy evolution in the Epoch of Reionization (EoR). Globally, this process is quantified by the gas depletion time ($t_{dep}$); on resolved scales, by the slope and normalization of the Kennicutt-Schmidt (KS) relation. This work explores the global ($α_{[CII]}$) and spatially resolved ($W_{[CII]}$) [CII]-to-gas conversion factors at high-$z$ and their role in inferring reliable gas masses, surface densities, and $t_{dep}$ in the EoR. We select galaxies at 4<z<9 from the SERRA cosmological zoom-in simulation, that features on-the-fly radiative transfer and resolves interstellar medium properties down to $\approx$30 pc. The [CII] emission modelling from photodissociation regions allow us to derive global $α_{ [CII]}$, and maps of $W_{[CII]}$. We study their dependence on gas metallicity (Z), density (n), Mach number (M), and burstiness parameter ($k_s$), and provide best fit relations. The $α_{[CII]}$ decreases with increasing $Z$ and galaxy compactness, while the resolved $W_{[CII]}$ shows two regimes: at $Z< 0.2 Z_\odot$, it anticorrelates with n and Z, but not with $k_s$; above this threshold, it also depends on $k_s$, with more bursty regions showing lower conversion factors. This implies $W_{[CII]}\propto Σ_{[CII]}^{-0.5}$, as dense, metal-rich, and bursty regions exhibit higher [CII] surface brightness. Applying a constant $α_{[CII]}$ overestimates $Σ_{gas}$ in bright $Σ_{[CII]}$ patches, thus flattening the KS slope and overestimating $t_{dep}$ by a factor of $\approx$4.
title Spatially resolved [CII]-gas conversion factor in early galaxies
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.14001