ALMA High-J CO Spectroscopy of High-Redshift Galaxies. I. An Archive-based Catalog of CO Spectral Line Energy Distributions

Fuente: arXiv
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Autore principale: Tadaki, Ken-ichi
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2026
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author Tadaki, Ken-ichi
author_facet Tadaki, Ken-ichi
contents High-J CO emission in high-redshift galaxies has been studied primarily on an individual-source basis, limiting our ability to draw population-level conclusions about molecular-gas excitation. To address this limitation, we present a catalog of CO spectroscopy based on archival data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) for a sample of galaxies at z > 3, focusing on high-J transitions (Jup = 9-17). Combining ALMA archival data with published measurements, we compile CO spectral line energy distributions (SLEDs) for 38 well-studied systems spanning z ~ 3.1-6.9, including 5 hot dust-obscured galaxies (Hot DOGs), 17 submillimeter-bright galaxies (SMGs), and 16 optically selected quasars. The class-median SLEDs rise steeply to Jup = 9 and remain approximately flat through Jup ~ 11-12. SMGs show relatively stronger low- to mid-J emission relative to CO J=9-8, while Hot DOGs exhibit tentative evidence for higher excitation. Comparison with simple excitation models suggests that X-ray dominated region (XDR) heating or dense, shock-heated gas can account for the extended high-J CO SLEDs. A tentative anti-correlation between the CO(9-8)-to-infrared luminosity ratio and excitation among the dusty galaxy populations suggests that the enhanced excitation in Hot DOGs may be driven by XDR heating from obscured AGN activity rather than by shocks.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_23521
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle ALMA High-J CO Spectroscopy of High-Redshift Galaxies. I. An Archive-based Catalog of CO Spectral Line Energy Distributions
Tadaki, Ken-ichi
Astrophysics of Galaxies
High-J CO emission in high-redshift galaxies has been studied primarily on an individual-source basis, limiting our ability to draw population-level conclusions about molecular-gas excitation. To address this limitation, we present a catalog of CO spectroscopy based on archival data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) for a sample of galaxies at z > 3, focusing on high-J transitions (Jup = 9-17). Combining ALMA archival data with published measurements, we compile CO spectral line energy distributions (SLEDs) for 38 well-studied systems spanning z ~ 3.1-6.9, including 5 hot dust-obscured galaxies (Hot DOGs), 17 submillimeter-bright galaxies (SMGs), and 16 optically selected quasars. The class-median SLEDs rise steeply to Jup = 9 and remain approximately flat through Jup ~ 11-12. SMGs show relatively stronger low- to mid-J emission relative to CO J=9-8, while Hot DOGs exhibit tentative evidence for higher excitation. Comparison with simple excitation models suggests that X-ray dominated region (XDR) heating or dense, shock-heated gas can account for the extended high-J CO SLEDs. A tentative anti-correlation between the CO(9-8)-to-infrared luminosity ratio and excitation among the dusty galaxy populations suggests that the enhanced excitation in Hot DOGs may be driven by XDR heating from obscured AGN activity rather than by shocks.
title ALMA High-J CO Spectroscopy of High-Redshift Galaxies. I. An Archive-based Catalog of CO Spectral Line Energy Distributions
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.23521