Anomalous Hydrogen Recombination Line Ratios in Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies

We conducted systematic observations of the H i Brα (4.05 μm) and Brβ (2.63 μm) lines in 52 nearby (z < 0.3) ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) with AKARI. Among 33 ULIRGs wherein the lines are detected, 3 galaxies show anomalous Brβ/Brα line ratios (∼1.0), which are significantly higher than those for case B (0.565). Our observations also show that ULIRGs have a tendency to exhibit higher Brβ/Brα line ratios than those observed in Galactic H ii regions. The high Brβ/Brα line ratios cannot be explained by a combination of dust extinction and case B since dust extinction reduces the ratio. We explore possible causes for the high Brβ/Brα line ratios and show that the observed ratios can be explained by a combination of an optically thick Brα line and an optically thin Brβ line. We simulated the H ii regions in ULIRGs with the Cloudy code, and our results show that the high Brβ/Brα line ratios can be explained by high-density conditions, wherein the Brα line becomes optically thick. To achieve a column density large enough to make the Brα line optically thick within a single H ii region, the gas density must be as high as n ∼ 108 cm−3. We therefore propose an ensemble of H ii regions, in each of which the Brα line is optically thick, to explain the high Brβ/Brα line ratio.

Comprehensive Broadband X-Ray and Multiwavelength Study of Active Galactic Nuclei in 57 Local Luminous and Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies Observed with NuSTAR and/or Swift/BAT

We perform a systematic X-ray spectroscopic analysis of 57 local luminous and ultraluminous infrared galaxy systems (containing 84 individual galaxies) observed with the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array and/or Swift/BAT. Combining soft X-ray data obtained with Chandra, XMM-Newton, Suzaku, and/or Swift/XRT, we identify 40 hard (>10 keV) X-ray–detected active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and constrain their torus parameters with the X-ray clumpy torus model XCLUMPY. Among the AGNs at z < 0.03, for which sample biases are minimized, the fraction of Compton-thick (N H ≥ 1024 cm−2) AGNs reaches 64 − 15 + 14 % (6/9 sources) in late mergers, while it is 24 − 10 + 12 % (3/14 sources) in early mergers, consistent with the tendency reported by Ricci et al. We find that the bolometric AGN luminosities derived from the infrared data increase but the X-ray to bolometric luminosity ratios decrease with merger stage. The X-ray-weak AGNs in late mergers ubiquitously show massive outflows at subparsec to kiloparsec scales. Among them, the most luminous AGNs (L bol,AGN ∼ 1046 erg s−1) have relatively small column densities of ≲1023 cm−2 and almost super-Eddington ratios (λ Edd ∼ 1.0). Their torus covering factors (C T (22) ∼ 0.6) are larger than those of Swift/BAT-selected AGNs with similarly high Eddington ratios. These results suggest a scenario where, in the final stage of mergers, multiphase strong outflows are produced due to chaotic quasi-spherical inflows, and the AGN becomes extremely X-ray weak and deeply buried due to obscuration by inflowing and/or outflowing material.

The physics of gas phase metallicity gradients in galaxies

We present a new model for the evolution of gas phase metallicity gradients in galaxies from first principles. We show that metallicity gradients depend on four ratios that collectively describe the metal equilibration timescale, production, transport, consumption, and loss. Our model finds that most galaxy metallicity gradients are in equilibrium at all redshifts. When normalized by metal diffusion, metallicity gradients are governed by the competition between radial advection, metal production, and accretion of metal-poor gas from the cosmic web. The model naturally explains the varying gradients measured in local spirals, local dwarfs, and high-redshift star-forming galaxies. We use the model to study the cosmic evolution of gradients across redshift, showing that the gradient in Milky Way-like galaxies has steepened over time, in good agreement with both observations and simulations. We also predict the evolution of metallicity gradients with redshift in galaxy samples constructed using both matched stellar masses and matched abundances. Our model shows that massive galaxies transition from the advection-dominated to the accretion-dominated regime from high to low redshifts, which mirrors the transition from gravity-driven to star formation feedback-driven turbulence. Lastly, we show that gradients in local ultraluminous infrared galaxies (major mergers) and inverted gradients seen both in the local and high-redshift galaxies may not be in equilibrium. In subsequent papers in this series, we show that the model also explains the observed relationship between galaxy mass and metallicity gradients, and between metallicity gradients and galaxy kinematics.

AGN-driven outflows and the AGN feedback efficiency in young radio galaxies

Active galactic nuclei (AGN) feedback operated by the expansion of radio jets can play a crucial role in driving gaseous outflows on galaxy scales. Galaxies hosting young radio AGN, whose jets are in the first phases of expansion through the surrounding interstellar medium (ISM), are the ideal targets to probe the energetic significance of this mechanism. In this paper, we characterise the warm ionised gas outflows in a sample of nine young radio sources from the 2 Jy sample, combining X-shooter spectroscopy and Hubble Space Telescope imaging data. We find that the warm outflows have similar radial extents (∼0.06−2 kpc) as radio sources, consistent with the idea that “jet mode” AGN feedback is the dominant driver of the outflows detected in young radio galaxies. Exploiting the broad spectral coverage of the X-shooter data, we used the ratios of trans-auroral emission lines of [S II] and [O II] to estimate the electron densities, finding that most of the outflows have gas densities (log(ne cm−3) ∼ 3 − 4.8), which we speculate could be the result of compression by jet-induced shocks. Combining our estimates of the emission-line luminosities, radii, and densities, we find that the kinetic powers of the warm outflows are a relatively small fraction of the energies available from the accretion of material onto the central supermassive black hole, reflecting AGN feedback efficiencies below 1% in most cases. Overall, the warm outflows detected in our sample are strikingly similar to those found in nearby ultraluminous infrared galaxies, but more energetic and with higher feedback efficiencies on average than the general population of nearby AGN of similar bolometric luminosity; this is likely to reflect a high degree of coupling between the jets and the near-nuclear ISM in the early stages of radio source evolution.

Early science with the LMT: molecular torus in UGC 5101

ABSTRACT As part of the Early Science Large Millimeter Telescope projects, we report the detection of nine double-peaked molecular lines, produced by a rotating molecular torus, in the ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRG) – Compton-thick active galactic nuclei (AGN) galaxy UGC 5101. The double-peaked lines we report correspond to molecular transitions of HCN, HCO+, HNC, N2H+, CS, C18O, 13CO, and two CN lines; plus the detection of C2H that is a blend of six lines. The redshift search receiver spectra covers the 73–113 GHz frequency window. Low- and high-density gas tracers of the torus have different implied rotational velocities, with a rotational velocity of 149 ± 3 km s−1 for the low-density ones (C18O, 13CO) and 174 ± 3 km s−1 for high-density tracers (HCN, HCO+, HNC, N2H+, CS, and CN). In UGC 5101, we find that the ratio of integrated intensities of HCN to 13CO to be unusually large, probably indicating that the gas in the torus is very dense. Both the column densities and abundances are consistent with values found in AGN, starburst, and ULIRG galaxies. The observed abundance ratios cannot discriminate between X-ray and UV-field-dominated regions.

Molecular gas inflows and outflows in ultraluminous infrared galaxies at z ∼ 0.2 and one QSO at z = 6.1

Aims. Our aim is to search for and characterize inflows and outflows of molecular gas in four ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs; LIR > 1012L⊙) at z ∼ 0.2−0.3 and one distant quasi-stellar object (QSO) at z = 6.13. Methods. We used Herschel/PACS and ALMA Band 7 observations of the hydroxyl molecule (OH) line at rest-frame wavelength 119 μm, which in absorption can provide unambiguous evidence of inflows or outflows of molecular gas in nuclear regions of galaxies. Our study contributes to doubling the number of OH 119 μm observations of luminous systems at z ∼ 0.2−0.3, and pushes the search for molecular outflows based on the OH 119 μm transition to z ∼ 6. Results. We detect OH 119 μm high-velocity absorption wings in three of the four ULIRGs. In two cases, IRAS F20036−1547 and IRAS F13352+6402, the blueshifted absorption profiles indicate the presence of powerful and fast (∼200−500 km s−1) molecular gas outflows. Consistent with an inside-out quenching scenario, these outflows are depleting the central reservoir of star-forming molecular gas at a rate similar to that of intense star formation activity. For the starburst-dominated system IRAS 10091+4704, we detect an inverted P Cygni profile that is unique among ULIRGs and indicates the presence of a fast (∼400 km s−1) inflow of molecular gas at a rate of ∼100 M⊙ yr−1 towards the central region. Finally, we tentatively detect (∼3σ) the OH 119 μm doublet in absorption in the z = 6.13 QSO ULAS J131911+095051. The OH 119 μm feature is blueshifted with a median velocity that suggests the presence of a molecular outflow, although characterized by a modest molecular mass loss rate of ∼200 M⊙ yr−1. This value is comparable to the small mass outflow rates found in the stacking of the [C II] spectra of other z ∼ 6 QSOs and suggests that ejective feedback in this phase of the evolution of ULAS J131911+095051 has subsided.

Molecular gas and dust properties of galaxies from the Great Observatories All-sky LIRG Survey

We present IRAM-30 m Telescope 12CO and 13CO observations of a sample of 55 luminous and ultraluminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs and ULIRGs) in the local universe. This sample is a subset of the Great Observatory All-Sky LIRG Survey (GOALS), for which we use ancillary multi-wavelength data to better understand their interstellar medium and star formation properties. Fifty-three (96%) of the galaxies are detected in 12CO, and 29 (52%) are also detected in 13CO above a 3σ level. The median full width at zero intensity (FWZI) velocity of the CO line emission is 661 km s−1, and ∼54% of the galaxies show a multi-peak CO profile. Herschel photometric data is used to construct the far-IR spectral energy distribution of each galaxy, which are fit with a modified blackbody model that allows us to derive dust temperatures and masses, and infrared luminosities. We make the assumption that the gas-to-dust mass ratio of (U)LIRGs is comparable to local spiral galaxies with a similar stellar mass (i.e., gas/dust of mergers is comparable to their progenitors) to derive a CO-to-H2 conversion factor of ⟨α⟩ = 1.8−0.8+1.3 M⊙ (K km s−1 pc2)−1; such a value is comparable to that derived for (U)LIRGs based on dynamical mass arguments. We derive gas depletion times of 400 − 600 Myr for the (U)LIRGs, compared to the 1.3 Gyr for local spiral galaxies. Finally, we re-examine the relationship between the 12CO/13CO ratio and dust temperature, confirming a transition to elevated ratios in warmer systems.