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Extreme CO Isotopologue Line Ratios in ULIRGS: Evidence for a top-heavy IMF
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abstract
We present high-resolution ALMA observations of the C$^{18}$O, $^{13}$CO and $^{12}$CO $J$=1-0 isotopologues in 3 nearby ultra-luminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGS; Arp 220, IRAS 13120-5453, IRAS 17208-0014) and 1 nearby post-merger galaxy (NGC 2623). In all 4 systems, we measure high $^{12}$CO/C$^{18}$O and $^{12}$CO/$^{13}$CO integrated line ratios while the $^{13}$CO/C$^{18}$O ratio is observed to be extremely low in comparison to typical star-forming disks, supporting previous work. We investigate whether these unusual line ratios are due to dynamical effects, astrochemistry within the gas, or nucleosynthesis in stars. Assuming both lines are optically thin, low $^{13}$CO/C$^{18}$O values suggest that C$^{18}$O is more abundant than $^{13}$CO in the interstellar medium of these systems. A plausible explanation is that local ULIRGs and their progeny have an excess in massive star formation; in other words, they are producing a top-heavy stellar initial mass function.
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The Hot Gas Exhaust of Starburst Engines in Mergers: Testing Models of Stellar Feedback and Star Formation Regulation
In 49 merging galaxies with SFR above 1 solar mass per year, the volume and mass of X-ray hot gas scale linearly with the star formation rate, matching stellar feedback simulations.
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