A Multiwavelength Study of ELAN Environments (AMUSE<SUP>2</SUP>): The Impact of Dense Environment on Massive Dusty Star-forming Galaxies at Cosmic Noon

Wang, Yu-Jan; Chen, Chian-Chou; Arrigoni Battaia, Fabrizio; Decarli, Roberto; Dannerbauer, Helmut; Wu, Po-Feng
Bibliographical reference

The Astrophysical Journal

Advertised on:
11
2025
Number of authors
6
IAC number of authors
1
Citations
1
Refereed citations
0
Description
To understand how massive galaxies are influenced by their surroundings, we present new Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array and Northern Extended Millimeter Array observations as part of A Multiwavelength Study of Enormous Lyα Nebula (ELAN) Environments (AMUSE2). These observations target submillimeter sources discovered in single-dish surveys around nine quasars hosting Lyα nebulae at z = 2 ∼3, including two enormous Lyα nebulae. Through detection of mid-J CO lines, we confirm physical associations of 15 SMGs, which are located outside the expected virial radii of the central dark-matter halos hosting the quasars. We find 73‑21+29% of SMGs have line profiles better described by double-Gaussian models, with a median peak-to-peak separation of 350 ± 25 km s‑1, suggesting rotating disks or interacting pairs. Modified blackbody fits of the far-infrared photometry yield a median β of 2.0 ± 0.2 and Tdust of 34 ± 3 K. Overall, SMGs outside quasar halos share similar physical properties with those in the field, but combining data from other studies reveals depleted gas fractions within quasar halos. This suggests that dense environments significantly impact massive star-forming galaxies only within halo scales at cosmic noon. Additionally, spatial analyses of 15 SMGs indicate they trace large-scale structures, possibly filamentary or elongated pancake-like, with a scale height of 2–5 cMpc. Our measured distributions and densities of star formation rates align with models, although likely represent lower limits.
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