VALES: IV. Exploring the transition of star formation efficiencies between normal and starburst galaxies using APEX/SEPIA Band-5 and ALMA at low redshift

Abstract

In this work we present new APEX/SEPIA Band-5 observations targeting the CO ($J=2\text{-}1$) emission line of 24 Herschel-detected galaxies at $z=0.1-0.2$. Combining this sample {with} our recent new Valparaíso ALMA Line Emission Survey (VALES), we investigate the star formation efficiencies (SFEs = SFR/$M_{{\mathrm{H}}_2}$) of galaxies at low redshift. We find the SFE of our sample bridges the gap between normal star-forming galaxies and Ultra-Luminous Infrared Galaxies (ULIRGs), which are thought to be triggered by different star formation modes. Considering the $\mathrm{SF}{\mathrm{E}}^{\prime }$ as the SFR and the $L_{\mathrm{CO}}^{\prime }$ ratio, our data show a continuous and smooth increment as a function of infrared luminosity (or star formation rate) with a scatter about 0.5 dex, instead of a steep jump with a bimodal behaviour. This result is due to the use of a sample with a much larger range of sSFR/sSFR${}_{\mathrm{ms}}$ using LIRGs, with luminosities covering the range between normal and ULIRGs. We conclude that the main parameters controlling the scatter of the SFE in star-forming galaxies are the systematic uncertainty of the ${\alpha }_{\mathrm{CO}}$ conversion factor, the gas fraction and physical size.

arXiv comment9pages, 7 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in MNRAS

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• The ALPINE-ALMA [CII] Survey: the population of [CII]-undetected galaxies and their role in the ${\mathrm{L}}_{[\mathrm{CII}]}$-SFR relation
• A kpc-scale resolved study of unobscured and obscured star-formation activity in normal galaxies at z = 1.5 and 2.2 from ALMA and HiZELS
• VALES VII: Molecular and ionized gas properties in pressure balanced interstellar medium of starburst galaxies at z ~ 0.15
• VALES VI: ISM enrichment in star-forming galaxies up to z$\sim$0.2 using ${}^{12}$CO(1-0), ${}^{13}$CO(1-0) and C${}^{18}$O(1-0) line luminosity ratios
• The atomic gas of star-forming galaxies at z$\sim$0.05 as revealed by the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope
• VALES V: A kinematic analysis of the molecular gas content in $H$-ATLAS galaxies at $z\sim 0.03-0.35$ using ALMA
• Main Sequence to Starburst Transitioning Galaxies: Gamma-ray Burst Hosts at $z\sim 2$
• VALES VIII: Weak ionized gas outflows in star-forming galaxies at $z\sim 0.15$ traced with VLT/MUSE
• Cosmic evolution of molecular gas mass density from an empirical relation between ${\mathrm{L}}_{1.4GHz}$ and ${\mathrm{L}}_{\mathrm{CO}}^{\prime }$