ALMA reveals a chemically evolved submillimeter galaxy at z=4.76

Abstract

The chemical properties of high-z galaxies provide important information to constrain galaxy evolutionary scenarios. However, widely-used metallicity diagnostics based on rest-frame optical emission lines are not usable for heavily dust-enshrouded galaxies (such as Sub-Millimeter Galaxies; SMGs), especially at z>3. Here we focus on the flux ratio of the far-infrared fine-structure emission lines [NII]205um and [CII]158um to assess the metallicity of high-z SMGs. Through ALMA cycle 0 observations, we have detected the [NII]205um emission in a strongly [CII]-emitting SMG, LESS J033229.4-275619 at z=4.76. The velocity-integrated [NII]/[CII] flux ratio is 0.043 +/- 0.008. This is the first measurement of the [NII]/[CII] flux ratio in high-z galaxies, and the inferred flux ratio is similar to the ratio observed in the nearby universe (~0.02-0.07). The velocity-integrated flux ratio and photoionization models suggest that the metallicity in this SMG is consistent with solar, implying the chemical evolution has progressed very rapidly in this system at z=4.76. We also obtain a tight upper limit on the CO(12-11) transition, which translates into CO(12-11)/CO(2-1) <3.8 (3 sigma). This suggests that the molecular gas clouds in LESS J033229.4-275619 are not affected significantly by the radiation field emitted by the AGN in this system.

5 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics Letters

References in corpus (11)

• A Kiloparsec-Scale Hyper-Starburst in a Quasar Host Less than 1 Gigayear after the Big Bang
• The Massive Hosts of Radio Galaxies Across Cosmic Time
• Highly-excited CO emission in APM08279+5255 at z=3.9
• The metallicity of the most distant quasars
• Detection of the 205 um [NII] Line from the Carina Nebula
• The Oxygen Abundances of Luminous and Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies
• A submillimetre galaxy at z=4.76 in the LABOCA survey of the Extended Chandra Deep Field South
• On the Detection of High Redshift Black Holes with ALMA through CO and H2 Emission
• The optical spectra of 24 micron galaxies in the COSMOS field: I. Spitzer/MIPS bright sources in the zCOSMOS-bright 10k catalogue
• The CO line SED and atomic carbon in IRAS F10214+4724
• A Sensitive Search For [NII] Emission in a z=6.4 Quasar Host Galaxy

Cited by in corpus (67)

• Cool Gas in High Redshift Galaxies
• Dusty Star-Forming Galaxies at High Redshift
• De Re Metallica: The cosmic chemical evolution of galaxies
• High-redshift star formation in the ALMA era
• Large Population of ALMA Galaxies at z>6 with Very High [OIII]88um to [CII]158um Flux Ratios: Evidence of Extremely High Ionization Parameter or PDR Deficit?
• The Rest-Frame Submillimeter Spectrum of High-Redshift, Dusty, Star-Forming Galaxies
• ALMA resolves turbulent, rotating [CII] emission in a young starburst galaxy at z=4.8
• The MOSDEF Survey: the Variation of the Dust Attenuation Curve with Metallicity
• The dust budget crisis in high-redshift submillimetre galaxies
• The Origins of [CII] Emission in Local Star-forming Galaxies
• SHINING, A Survey of Far Infrared Lines in Nearby Galaxies. II: Line-Deficit Models, AGN impact, [CII]-SFR Scaling Relations, and Mass-Metallicity Relation in (U)LIRGS
• [CII] and 12CO(1-0) Emission Maps in HLSJ091828.6+514223: A Strongly Lensed Interacting System at z=5.24
• The dust-to-stellar mass ratio as a valuable tool to probe the evolution of local and distant star forming galaxies
• High-redshift quasars host galaxies: is there a stellar mass crisis?
• Dust-Deficient Palomar-Green Quasars and the Diversity of AGN Intrinsic IR Emission
• Dual constraints with ALMA: new [O III] 88 $\mu$m and dust-continuum observations reveal the ISM conditions of luminous LBGs at $z\sim 7$
• Far-infrared line spectra of active galaxies from the Herschel/PACS Spectrometer: the complete database
• Far-infrared metallicity diagnostics: Application to local ultraluminous infrared galaxies
• The Ionized Gas in Nearby Galaxies as Traced by the [NII] 122 and 205 μm Transitions
• Subaru High-z Exploration of Low-Luminosity Quasars (SHELLQs) III. Star formation properties of the host galaxies at $z\gtrsim 6$ studied with ALMA
• Faint Submillimeter Galaxies Revealed by Multifield Deep ALMA Observations: Number Counts, Spatial Clustering, and A Dark Submillimeter Line Emitter
• ALMA reveals a warm and compact starburst around a heavily obscured supermassive black hole at z=4.75
• First CO(17-16) emission line detected in a z > 6 quasar
• FIR line emission from high redshift galaxies
• Connecting GRBs and ULIRGs: A Sensitive, Unbiased Survey for Radio Emission from Gamma-Ray Burst Host Galaxies at 0<z<2.5
• Knocking on giants' doors: I. The evolution of the dust-to-stellar mass ratio in distant dusty galaxies
• Dissecting the high-z interstellar medium through intensity mapping cross-correlations
• The dust content of QSO hosts at high redshift
• A Herschel Survey of the [N II] 205 micron Line in Local Luminous Infrared Galaxies --- The [N II] 205 micron Emission as a Star Formation Rate Indicator
• The [NII] 205 micron Emission in Local Luminous Infrared Galaxies
• Varying [CII]/[NII] line ratios in the interacting system BR1202-0725 at z=4.7
• The interstellar medium in high-redshift submillimeter galaxies as probed by infrared spectroscopy
• A dense, solar metallicity ISM in the z=4.2 dusty star-forming galaxy SPT0418-47
• The Contribution of Host Galaxies to the Infrared Energy Output of $z\gtrsim 5.0$ QUASARS
• Low star formation efficiency in typical galaxies at z=5-6
• Radio Constraints on Heavily-Obscured Star-Formation within Dark Gamma-Ray Burst Host Galaxies
• Dust and gas content of high-redshift galaxies hosting obscured AGN in the CDF-S
• The chemical properties of low-redshift QSOs
• Constraining dust formation in high-redshift young galaxies
• The Local [CII] 158 um Emission Line Luminosity Function
• GA-NIFS: Early-stage feedback in a heavily obscured AGN at $z=4.76$
• CNO emission of an unlensed submillimeter galaxy at z=4.3
• An ALMA view of the interstellar medium of the z=4.77 lensed starburst SPT-S J213242-5802.9
• The FeII/MgII flux ratio of low-luminosity quasars at z~3
• A comprehensive view of the interstellar medium in a quasar host galaxy at z~6.4
• Predicting HCN, HCO+, multi-transition CO, and dust emission of star-forming galaxies From local spiral and ultraluminous infrared galaxies to high-z star-forming and submillimeter galaxies
• ALMA reveals Strong [CII] emission in a galaxy embedded in a giant Lyman-alpha blob at z=3.1
• Inferring physical properties of galaxies from their emission line spectra
• The [CII]/[NII] ratio in 3 < z < 6 sub-millimetre galaxies from the South Pole Telescope survey
• Bridging Optical and Far-Infrared Emission-Line Diagrams of Galaxies from Local to the Epoch of Reionization: Characteristic High [O III] 88 $\mu \mathrm{m}$/SFR at $z>6$
• Metallicity Measurements of Gamma-Ray Burst and Supernova Explosion Sites: Lessons from HII regions in M31
• ALMA [NII] 205 micron Imaging Spectroscopy of the Interacting Galaxy System BRI 1202-0725 at Redshift 4.7
• ALMA and MUSE observations reveal a quiescent multi-phase circumgalactic medium around the z~3.6 radio galaxy 4C 19.71
• z-GAL -- A NOEMA spectroscopic redshift survey of bright Herschel galaxies: [III] Physical properties
• ALMA [N ıı] 205 μm Imaging Spectroscopy of the Lensed Submillimeter galaxy ID 141 at redshift 4.24
• The "Red Radio Ring": Ionised and Molecular Gas in a Starburst/Active Galactic Nucleus at $z\sim 2.55$
• Constraint on dust evolution processes in normal galaxies at $z>6$ detected by ALMA
• First-generation Science Cases for Ground-based Terahertz Telescopes
• First [NII]122$\mu$m line detection in a QSO-SMG pair BRI 1202-0725 at $z=4.69$
• Early Results from GLASS-JWST. XXV. Electron Density in the Interstellar Medium at $0.7\lesssim z\lesssim 9.3$ with NIRSpec High-resolution Spectroscopy
• Detection of molecular gas in an ALMA [CII]-identified Submillimetre Galaxy at z = 4.44
• Star-formation rates of two GRB host galaxies at z~2 and a [CII] deficit observed with ALMA
• Physical Conditions of the Gas in an ALMA [CII]-identified Submillimetre Galaxy at z = 4.44
• ALMA Imaging of the CO(7-6) Line Emission in the Submillimeter Galaxy LESS 073 at redshift 4.755${}^{\star }$
• The Effect of the Remnant Mass in Estimating Stellar Mass of Galaxies
• PRUSSIC II -- ALMA imaging of dense-gas tracers in SDP.81: Evidence for low mechanical heating and a sub-solar metallicity in a z=3.04 dusty galaxy
• Strong correlation between FeII/MgII ratio and Eddington ratio of type 1 Active galactic nuclei