THE EVOLVING INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM OF STAR-FORMING GALAXIES SINCE z = 2 AS PROBED BY THEIR INFRARED SPECTRAL ENERGY DISTRIBUTIONS

Using data from the mid-infrared to millimeter wavelengths for individual galaxies and for stacked ensembles at 0.5 < z < 2, we derive robust estimates of dust masses (M sub(dust)) for main-sequence (MS) galaxies, which obey a tight correlation between star formation rate (SFR) and stellar mas...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Astrophysical journal 2012-11, Vol.760 (1), p.1-23
Main Authors: MAGDIS, GEORGIOS E, Daddi, E, BETHERMIN, M, Sargent, M, Elbaz, D, Pannella, M, Dickinson, M, Dannerbauer, H, da Cunha, E, Walter, F, Rigopoulou, D, Charmandaris, V, Hwang, H S, KARTALTEPE, J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ASTRONOMY
ASTROPHYSICS
ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
CONVERSION
Correlation
CORRELATIONS
COSMIC DUST
Cosmology and Extra-Galactic Astrophysics
ENERGY SPECTRA
Estimates
GALACTIC EVOLUTION
Galaxies
HYDROGEN
INFRARED SPECTRA
LUMINOSITY
MASS
Metallicity
MILKY WAY
RED SHIFT
Sciences of the Universe
Spectra
Star formation
Star formation rate
STARS
Stellar mass
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Summary:Using data from the mid-infrared to millimeter wavelengths for individual galaxies and for stacked ensembles at 0.5 < z < 2, we derive robust estimates of dust masses (M sub(dust)) for main-sequence (MS) galaxies, which obey a tight correlation between star formation rate (SFR) and stellar mass (M sub(*)), and for starbursting galaxies that fall outside that relation. Exploiting the correlation of gas-to-dust mass with metallicity (M sub(gas)/M sub(dust)-Z), we use our measurements to constrain the gas content, CO-to-H sub(2) conversion factors ( alpha co), and star formation efficiencies (SFE) of these distant galaxies. For galaxies within the MS, we show that the variations of specific star formation rates (sSFRs = SFR/M sub(*)) are driven by varying gas fractions. These results motivate the construction of a universal set of SED templates for MS galaxies that are independent of their sSFR or M sub(*) but vary as a function of redshift with only one parameter, [left angle bracket]U[right angle bracket].
ISSN:0004-637X
1538-4357
DOI:10.1088/0004-637X/760/1/6