Is atomic carbon a good tracer of molecular gas in metal-poor galaxies?

TL;DR

This study uses numerical simulations to evaluate atomic carbon as a tracer of molecular hydrogen in low-metallicity galaxies, finding it more reliable than CO especially before star formation begins.

Contribution

It demonstrates that atomic carbon remains a consistent tracer of H2 in metal-poor environments, unlike CO which varies significantly over time.

Findings

$X_{CI}$ scales as $Z^{-1}$ in star-forming clouds.

$X_{CO}$ is smaller than $X_{CI}$ by a factor of a few.

$X_{CI}$ remains stable over time in low-metallicity clouds.

Abstract

Carbon monoxide (CO) is widely used as a tracer of molecular hydrogen (H2) in metal-rich galaxies, but is known to become ineffective in low metallicity dwarf galaxies. Atomic carbon has been suggested as a superior tracer of H2 in these metal-poor systems, but its suitability remains unproven. To help us to assess how well atomic carbon traces H2 at low metallicity, we have performed a series of numerical simulations of turbulent molecular clouds that cover a wide range of different metallicities. Our simulations demonstrate that in star-forming clouds, the conversion factor between [CI] emission and H2 mass, $X_{\rm CI}$, scales approximately as $X_{\rm CI} \propto Z^{-1}$. We recover a similar scaling for the CO-to-H2 conversion factor, $X_{\rm CO}$, but find that at this point in the evolution of the clouds, $X_{\rm CO}$ is consistently smaller than $X_{\rm CI}$, by a factor of a few or more. We have also examined how $X_{\rm CI}$ and $X_{\rm CO}$ evolve with time. We find that $X_{\rm CI}$ does not vary strongly with time, demonstrating that atomic carbon remains a good tracer of H2 in metal-poor systems even at times significantly before the onset of star formation. On the other hand, $X_{\rm CO}$ varies very strongly with time in metal-poor clouds, showing that CO does not trace H2 well in starless clouds at low metallicity.