ALMA reveals a chemically evolved submillimeter galaxy at z=4.76

TL;DR

This study uses ALMA observations to measure the metallicity of a high-redshift submillimeter galaxy, revealing rapid chemical evolution and providing the first [NII]/[CII] flux ratio measurement at z>4.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method to assess metallicity in dust-obscured high-z galaxies using far-infrared line ratios, and presents the first [NII]/[CII] flux ratio measurement at z=4.76.

Findings

The galaxy has near-solar metallicity at z=4.76.

The molecular gas is not significantly affected by AGN radiation.

First measurement of [NII]/[CII] flux ratio in a high-z galaxy.

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.