TY - JOUR
T1 - The molecular gas content of z = 3 lyman break galaxies
T2 - Evidence of a non-evolving gas fraction in main-sequence galaxies at z > 2
AU - Magdis, Georgios E.
AU - Daddi, E.
AU - Sargent, M.
AU - Elbaz, D.
AU - Gobat, R.
AU - Dannerbauer, H.
AU - Feruglio, C.
AU - Tan, Q.
AU - Rigopoulou, D.
AU - Charmandaris, V.
AU - Dickinson, M.
AU - Reddy, N.
AU - Aussel, H.
PY - 2012/10/10
Y1 - 2012/10/10
N2 - We present observations of the CO[J = 3 → 2] emission toward two massive and infrared luminous Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) at z = 3.21 and z = 2.92, using the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer, placing first constraints on the molecular gas masses (M gas) of non-lensed LBGs. Their overall properties are consistent with those of typical (main-sequence) galaxies at their redshifts, with specific star formation rates 1.6 and 2.2Gyr-1, despite their large infrared luminosities (L IR (2-3) × 1012L) derived from Herschel. With one plausible CO detection (spurious detection probability of 10-3) and one upper limit, we investigate the evolution of the molecular gas-to-stellar mass ratio (M gas/M *) with redshift. Our data suggest that the steep evolution of M gas/M * of normal galaxies up to z 2 is followed by a flattening at higher redshifts, providing supporting evidence for the existence of a plateau in the evolution of the specific star formation rate at z > 2.5.
AB - We present observations of the CO[J = 3 → 2] emission toward two massive and infrared luminous Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) at z = 3.21 and z = 2.92, using the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer, placing first constraints on the molecular gas masses (M gas) of non-lensed LBGs. Their overall properties are consistent with those of typical (main-sequence) galaxies at their redshifts, with specific star formation rates 1.6 and 2.2Gyr-1, despite their large infrared luminosities (L IR (2-3) × 1012L) derived from Herschel. With one plausible CO detection (spurious detection probability of 10-3) and one upper limit, we investigate the evolution of the molecular gas-to-stellar mass ratio (M gas/M *) with redshift. Our data suggest that the steep evolution of M gas/M * of normal galaxies up to z 2 is followed by a flattening at higher redshifts, providing supporting evidence for the existence of a plateau in the evolution of the specific star formation rate at z > 2.5.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84866705628&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1088/2041-8205/758/1/L9
DO - 10.1088/2041-8205/758/1/L9
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84866705628
SN - 2041-8205
VL - 758
JO - Astrophysical Journal Letters
JF - Astrophysical Journal Letters
IS - 1
M1 - L9
ER -