Big Three Dragons: Molecular Gas in a Bright Lyman-Break Galaxy at $z=7.15$

TL;DR

This study uses ALMA observations to analyze molecular gas in a bright galaxy at z=7.15, finding non-detections of certain lines and estimating gas properties, which suggest a lower gas density and potential evolution into a passive galaxy.

Contribution

First detailed molecular gas analysis of a bright z>7 galaxy using multiple emission lines, providing new insights into its gas content and star formation potential.

Findings

Non-detection of CO(6-5), CO(7-6), and [CI](2-1) lines.

High [CII]/CO ratios suggest lower gas density.

Estimated molecular gas mass and gas-to-stellar mass ratio.

Abstract

We report ALMA Band 3 observations of CO(6-5), CO(7-6), and [CI](2-1) in B14-65666 (``Big Three Dragons''), one of the brightest Lyman-Break Galaxies at $z>7$ in the rest-frame ultraviolet continuum, far-infrared continuum, and emission lines of [OIII] 88 $\mu$m and [CII] 158 $\mu$m. CO(6-5), CO(7-6), and [CI](2-1), whose $3\sigma$ upper limits on the luminosities are approximately 40 times fainter than the [CII] luminosity, are all not detected. The $L_{\rm [CII]}$/$L_{\rm CO(6-5)}$ and $L_{\rm [CII]}$/$L_{\rm CO(7-6)}$ ratios are higher than the typical ratios obtained in dusty star-forming galaxies or quasar host galaxies at similar redshifts, and they may suggest a lower gas density in the photodissociated region in B14-65666. By using the (1) [CII] luminosity, (2) dust mass-to-gas mass ratio, and (3) a dynamical mass estimate, we find that the molecular gas mass ($M_{\rm{mol}}$) is $(0.05-11)\times10^{10}$ $M_{\rm \odot}$. This value is consistent with the upper limit inferred from the nondetection of mid-$J$ CO and [CI](2-1). Despite the large uncertauinty in $M_{\rm mol}$, we estimate a molecular gas-to-stellar mass ratio ($\mu_{\rm{gas}}$) of $0.65-140$ and a gas depletion time ($\tau_{\rm dep}$) of $2.5-550$ Myr; these values are broadly consistent with those of other high-redshift galaxies. B14-65666 could be an ancestor of a passive galaxy at $z\gtrsim4$ if no gas is fueled from outside the galaxy.