# High dense gas fraction in intensely star-forming dusty galaxies at high redshift

## TL;DR

This study uses ALMA and VLA observations to detect dense molecular gas tracers in high-redshift starburst galaxies, revealing that their dense gas properties are similar to local IR-bright galaxies and are linked to intense star formation.

## Contribution

First detection of multiple dense gas tracers in high-redshift starbursts, showing their excitation conditions resemble local IR-bright galaxies and establishing a correlation between IR and dense gas luminosities.

## Key findings

- Dense gas tracers detected in high-redshift starbursts.
- Similar excitation conditions to local IR-bright galaxies.
- Correlation between IR luminosity and dense gas luminosity holds at high redshift.

## Abstract

We present ALMA and VLA detections of the dense molecular gas tracers HCN, HCO$^+$ and HNC in two lensed, high-redshift starbursts selected from the {\it Herschel}-ATLAS survey: {\it H}-ATLAS\,J090740.0$-$004200 (SDP.9, $z \sim 1.6$) and {\it H}-ATLAS\,J091043.1$-$000321 (SDP.11, $z \sim 1.8$). ALMA observed the $J = 3-2$ transitions in both sources, while the VLA observed the $J = 1-0$ transitions in SDP.9. We have detected all observed HCN and HCO$^+$ lines in SDP.9 and SDP.11, and also HNC(3--2) in SDP.9. The amplification factors for both galaxies have been determined from sub-arcsec resolution CO and dust emission observations carried out with NOEMA and the SMA. The HNC(1--0)/HCN(1--0) line ratio in SDP.9 suggests the presence of photon-dominated regions, as it happens to most local (U)LIRGs. The CO, HCN and HCO$^+$ SLEDs of SDP.9 are compatible to those found for many local, infrared (IR) bright galaxies, indicating that the molecular gas in local and high-redshift dusty starbursts can have similar excitation conditions. We obtain that the correlation between total IR ($L_{\rm IR}$) and dense line ($L_{\rm dense}$) luminosity in SDP.9 and SDP.11 and local star-forming galaxies can be represented by a single relation. The scatter of the $L_{\rm IR} - L_{\rm dense}$ correlation, together with the lack of sensitive dense molecular gas tracer observations for a homogeneous sample of high-redshift galaxies, prevents us from distinguishing differential trends with redshift. Our results suggest that the intense star formation found in some high-redshift dusty, luminous starbursts is associated with more massive dense molecular gas reservoirs and higher dense molecular gas fractions.