Atomic and molecular gas as traced by [C II] emission

The latest ALMA and JWST observations provide new information on the birth and evolution of galaxies in the early Universe, at the epoch of reionization. Of particular importance are measurements at redshift $ z > 5$ of their cold-gas budget, which is known to be the main fuel for star formation. A powerful tool for probing the physics characterising galaxies at high redshift is the \CII\ $158\,\rm \mu m$ emission line. Due to its low excitation potential, \CII\ emission can be produced in photodissociation regions, neutral atomic gas and molecular clouds. To properly capture the cold-gas processes taking place in such environments (molecule formation, self-shielding, dust grain catalysis, photoelectric and cosmic-ray heating), we make use of a new set of state-of-the-art hydrodynamic simulations (\coldsim) including time-dependent non-equilibrium chemistry, star formation, stellar evolution, metal spreading and feedback mechanisms. We are able to accurately track the evolution of \HI, \HII\ and H$_2$ in a cosmological context and predict the contribution of each gas phase to \CII\ luminosity. We provide formulas that can be used to estimate the mass of molecular and atomic gas from \CII\ detections. Furthermore, we analyse how conversion factors evolve with galactic properties, such as stellar metallicity, star formation rate and stellar mass. We demonstrate that \CII\ emission is dominated by \HI\ gas and most of the \CII\ luminosity is generated in warm, dense star-forming regions. Importantly, we conclude that, despite \CII\ tracing predominantly atomic rather than molecular gas, the \CII\ luminosity remains a robust indicator of the H$_2$ mass.