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The Molecular Interstellar Medium in Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies

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Paper breakdownThe authors' claims, conditions and measurements, as JSON Signed receiptProof this review has not been altered
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P.M. Solomon (Stony Brook), D. Downes (IRAM), S.J.E. Radford (NRAO), J.W. Barrett (Stony Brook)

Astrophysics · Submitted 21 Oct 1996

abstract compiled · 2026-09-23 · no language-model review

The authors' main claim A collision involving a molecular gas rich spiral could lead to an ultraluminous galaxy powered by central starbursts triggered by the compression of infalling preexisting GMC's.

how it is stated · hedged possibility 1.00 read the record →

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arXiv IDastro-ph/9610166 (version 1)
Pith IDRUCTCCKO, Pith's permanent record of this paper and its review
CitationD. Downes (IRAM), J.W. Barrett (Stony Brook), P.M. Solomon (Stony Brook), S.J.E. Radford (NRAO). "The Molecular Interstellar Medium in Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies." arXiv:astro-ph/9610166 (1996). https://pith.science/paper/RUCTCCKO
Claim paper

The compiled record

The paper's own sentences, arranged. Each label is drawn from a closed vocabulary; the number beside it is the probability the classifier gave that label. Numbers in the tables are the authors', checked by code. No sentence in this record was written by a model.

Open the compiled record

Compiled by classifier-1.13-20260917 via OpenRouter, question bank abstract-p1-20260923, 2026-09-23: 1 request, 9,022 input tokens, $0.0004 reported.

What the abstract itself states, as probabilities: claims first 0.03 · states limitation 0.23 · human participants 0.01 · controlled comparison 0.19 · randomized assignment 0.01 · states quantitative result 0.99 · compares with prior results 0.96 · mentions code or data availability 0.02.

The abstract, sentence by sentence

arXiv listing abstract v1. Results and the main claim are underlined; .

We present CO observations of a large sample of ultraluminous IR galaxies out to z = 0.3. Most of the galaxies are interacting, but not completed mergers. All but one have high CO(1-0) luminosities, log(Lco [K-km/s-pc^2]) = 9.92 +/- 0.12. The dispersion in Lco is only 30%, less than that in the FIR luminosity. The integrated CO intensity correlates Strongly with the 100 micron flux density, as expected for a black body model in which the mid and far IR radiation are optically thick. We use this model to derive sizes of the FIR and CO emitting regions and the enclosed dynamical masses. Both the IR and CO emission originate in regions a few hundred parsecs in radius. The median value of Lfir/Lco = 160 Lsun/(K-km/s-pc^2), within a factor of two of the black body limit for the observed FIR temperatures. The entire ISM is a scaled up version of a normal galactic disk with densities a factor of 100 higher, making even the intercloud medium a molecular region. Using three different techniques of H2 mass estimation, we conclude that the ratio of gas mass to Lco is about a factor of four lower than for Galactic molecular clouds, but that the gas mass is a large fraction of the dynamical mass. Our analysis of CO emission reduces the H2 mass from previous estimates of 2-5e10 Msun to 0.4-1.5e10 Msun, which is in the range found for molecular gas rich spiral galaxies. A collision involving a molecular gas rich spiral could lead to an ultraluminous galaxy powered by central starbursts triggered by the compression of infalling preexisting GMC's.

background contribution method result interpretation main claim

What the classifier reports for each sentence. The number is the probability it gave the label.
#sentencerolethe authors' own workstates the main conclusionstrength
s0 We present CO observations of a large sample of ultraluminous IR galaxies out to z = 0.3. contribution 0.95 0.96 0.03 asserted 0.99
s1 Most of the galaxies are interacting, but not completed mergers. result 0.78 0.74 0.03 asserted 1.00
s2 All but one have high CO(1-0) luminosities, log(Lco [K-km/s-pc^2]) = 9.92 +/- 0.12. result 1.00 0.94 0.09 asserted 1.00
s3 The dispersion in Lco is only 30%, less than that in the FIR luminosity. result 1.00 0.92 0.06 asserted 1.00
s4 The integrated CO intensity correlates Strongly with the 100 micron flux density, as expected for a black body model in which the mid and far IR radiation are optically thick. result 0.88 0.86 0.11 asserted 0.98
s5 We use this model to derive sizes of the FIR and CO emitting regions and the enclosed dynamical masses. method 0.98 0.95 0.05 asserted 0.97
s6 Both the IR and CO emission originate in regions a few hundred parsecs in radius. result 1.00 0.93 0.09 asserted 1.00
s7 The median value of Lfir/Lco = 160 Lsun/(K-km/s-pc^2), within a factor of two of the black body limit for the observed FIR temperatures. result 0.98 0.93 0.13 asserted 1.00
s8 The entire ISM is a scaled up version of a normal galactic disk with densities a factor of 100 higher, making even the intercloud medium a molecular region. interpretation 0.87 0.77 0.27 asserted 1.00
s9 Using three different techniques of H2 mass estimation, we conclude that the ratio of gas mass to Lco is about a factor of four lower than for Galactic molecular clouds, but that the gas mass is a large fraction of the dynamical mass. result 0.99 0.95 0.25 asserted 0.99
s10 Our analysis of CO emission reduces the H2 mass from previous estimates of 2-5e10 Msun to 0.4-1.5e10 Msun, which is in the range found for molecular gas rich spiral galaxies. result 0.99 0.91 0.26 asserted 1.00
s11 A collision involving a molecular gas rich spiral could lead to an ultraluminous galaxy powered by central starbursts triggered by the compression of infalling preexisting GMC's. interpretation 1.00 0.29 0.31 hedged possibility 1.00

What kind of paper the classifier reports this is: empirical study 1.00 · evidence from observation or experiment 0.98.

What was examined, and what was not

sources read
  • arXiv listing abstract v1
not examined
  • full text
  • figures and tables
  • references and citing sentences
  • relations to other papers
levels run
  • P abstract
not run
  • S sections
  • T body sentences
  • C citations
  • R cross-paper relations

Every quoted sentence on this record is the authors'. Every label is from Pith's closed vocabulary, with the probability shown beside it. Every number in the measurements table is the authors', checked by code. Record as JSON

The paper
Original abstract

We present CO observations of a large sample of ultraluminous IR galaxies out to z = 0.3. Most of the galaxies are interacting, but not completed mergers. All but one have high CO(1-0) luminosities, log(Lco [K-km/s-pc^2]) = 9.92 +/- 0.12. The dispersion in Lco is only 30%, less than that in the FIR luminosity. The integrated CO intensity correlates Strongly with the 100 micron flux density, as expected for a black body model in which the mid and far IR radiation are optically thick. We use this model to derive sizes of the FIR and CO emitting regions and the enclosed dynamical masses. Both the IR and CO emission originate in regions a few hundred parsecs in radius. The median value of Lfir/Lco = 160 Lsun/(K-km/s-pc^2), within a factor of two of the black body limit for the observed FIR temperatures. The entire ISM is a scaled up version of a normal galactic disk with densities a factor of 100 higher, making even the intercloud medium a molecular region. Using three different techniques of H2 mass estimation, we conclude that the ratio of gas mass to Lco is about a factor of four lower than for Galactic molecular clouds, but that the gas mass is a large fraction of the dynamical mass. Our analysis of CO emission reduces the H2 mass from previous estimates of 2-5e10 Msun to 0.4-1.5e10 Msun, which is in the range found for molecular gas rich spiral galaxies. A collision involving a molecular gas rich spiral could lead to an ultraluminous galaxy powered by central starbursts triggered by the compression of infalling preexisting GMC's.

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References
How later papers used it

79 later papers cite it

Evidence: substantial. 79 of the citing papers share no author with it, and 56 of those carry a confident label from Pith's citation classifier.

Pith read 28 of the 94 citing sentences, choosing only those whose citation markers point at this paper alone, and wrote the paraphrases from them. The summary, the counts, the evidence level, the links and the quotes come from code; the summary counts the papers listed below. A later paper is listed under a label when Pith's citation classifier gives one of its sentences that label at probability 0.8 or more (0.95 for support), Pith's reading finds that the citing paper itself did it, and a second check confirms the paraphrase against the sentence. This section lists uses only. It does not list criticism or disagreement, so their absence here says nothing about how the paper has been received. Papers that share an author with this one are listed apart, under "By the same authors". A quote is the citing authors' own sentence, shown when their paper's licence is CC BY, CC BY-SA or CC0. JSON

Uses its method or tool 24 of 44 papers with this label
Uses its data or values 1 of 8 papers with this label
How the literature uses it

5 arXiv papers cite this in 6 sentences

Each citing sentence is taken from the citing paper's LaTeX source and typed by Pith's classifier. A label appears at probability 0.8 or more (0.95 for support), a contest at 0.7 or more; the quoted words are the citing authors'. How each label was checked · JSON

Papers citing it

Uses its method or tool 5 papers

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