SDSS-ALMA Legacy Value Archival Gas Exploration (SALVAGE) -- I: global star formation is governed by central (not global) molecular gas

TL;DR

This study uses a new semi-resolved dataset combining SDSS and ALMA observations to show that central star formation efficiency, rather than gas availability, primarily governs a galaxy's position relative to the star-forming main sequence.

Contribution

It introduces the SALVAGE dataset, enabling detailed analysis of inner versus outer galaxy regions, revealing the central region's key role in galaxy evolution.

Findings

Inner star formation efficiency drives galaxy position on the SFMS.

Gas availability in the center influences departure from the SFMS.

Central regions are most critical for galaxy evolution at low redshift.

Abstract

Star-forming galaxies form tight relations between their stellar mass, star-formation rate, and molecular gas reservoir on global and resolved scales. On the path to quiescence, the exchange between gas and stars must inevitably be broken. Understanding the mechanisms governing star formation and quenching therefore requires observations of both the stellar and molecular gas components. To this end, we have assembled a sample of 277 galaxies ($0.02 \lesssim z \lesssim 0.25$) with semi-resolved optical and millimetre $^{12}$CO(1-0) data, wherein the properties of the inner $\thicksim$2 kpc can be distinguished from the outer regions. This effort was made possible by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) catalogues and the maturing archive of the Atacama Large (sub-)Millimetre Array (ALMA). We call this dataset the SDSS-ALMA Legacy Value Archival Gas Exploration (SALVAGE). In this work, we leverage SALVAGE to provide a semi-resolved perspective on global scaling relations and why some galaxies deviate from them. In agreement with previous work, we find that the offset of a galaxy from the global star-forming main sequence (SFMS) is driven by its inner star formation rate. With the relative inner and outer distributions of molecular gas fraction and star formation efficiency, we investigate whether the central star formation driving global changes is due to fuel availability or efficiency. We find that the position of a galaxy within the SFMS is largely due to the inner star-formation efficiency, while departure from the SFMS is driven by availability of central gas. The central few kpc are thus the most consequential region for galaxy evolution at low redshift.