A massive reservoir of low-excitation molecular gas at high redshift

Molecular hydrogen (H2) is an important component of galaxies because it fuels star formation and the accretion of gas onto active galactic nuclei (AGN), the two processes that can generate the large infrared luminosities of gas-rich galaxies. Observations of spectral-line emission from the tracer molecule carbon monoxide (CO) are used to probe the properties of this gas. But the lines that have been studied in the local Universe-mostly the lower rotational transitions of J = 1 --> 0 and J = 2 --> 1-have hitherto been unobservable in high-redshift galaxies. Instead, higher transitions have been used, although the densities and temperatures required to excite these higher transitions may not be reached by much of the gas. As a result, past observations may have underestimated the total amount of molecular gas by a substantial amount. Here we report the discovery of large amounts of low-excitation molecular gas around the infrared-luminous quasar APM08279+5255 at redshift z = 3.91, using the two lowest excitation lines of 12 CO (J = 1 --> 0 and J = 2 --> 1). The maps confirm the presence of hot and dense gas near the nucleus, and reveal an extended reservoir of molecular gas with low excitation that is 10 to 100 times more massive than the gas traced by the higher-excitation observations. This raises the possibility that significant amounts of low-excitation molecular gas may exist in the environments of high-redshift (z > 3) galaxies.     

Rapid growth of black holes in massive star-forming galaxies

The tight relationship between the masses of black holes and galaxy spheroids in nearby galaxies implies a causal connection between the growth of these two components. Optically luminous quasars host the most prodigious accreting black holes in the Universe, and can account for greater than or approximately equal to 30 per cent of the total cosmological black-hole growth. As typical quasars are not, however, undergoing intense star formation and already host massive black holes (> 10(8)M(o), where M(o) is the solar mass), there must have been an earlier pre-quasar phase when these black holes grew (mass range approximately (10(6)-10(8))M(o)). The likely signature of this earlier stage is simultaneous black-hole growth and star formation in distant (redshift z > 1; >8 billion light years away) luminous galaxies. Here we report ultra-deep X-ray observations of distant star-forming galaxies that are bright at submillimetre wavelengths. We find that the black holes in these galaxies are growing almost continuously throughout periods of intense star formation. This activity appears to be more tightly associated with these galaxies than any other coeval galaxy populations. We show that the black-hole growth from these galaxies is consistent with that expected for the pre-quasar phase.     

The suppression of star formation by powerful active galactic nuclei

The old, red stars that constitute the bulges of galaxies, and the massive black holes at their centres, are the relics of a period in cosmic history when galaxies formed stars at remarkable rates and active galactic nuclei (AGN) shone brightly as a result of accretion onto black holes. It is widely suspected, but unproved, that the tight correlation between the mass of the black hole and the mass of the stellar bulge results from the AGN quenching the surrounding star formation as it approaches its peak luminosity. X-rays trace emission from AGN unambiguously, whereas powerful star-forming galaxies are usually dust-obscured and are brightest at infrared and submillimetre wavelengths. Here we report submillimetre and X-ray observations that show that rapid star formation was common in the host galaxies of AGN when the Universe was 2-6 billion years old, but that the most vigorous star formation is not observed around black holes above an X-ray luminosity of 10(44) ergs per second. This suppression of star formation in the host galaxy of a powerful AGN is a key prediction of models in which the AGN drives an outflow, expelling the interstellar medium of its host and transforming the galaxy's properties in a brief period of cosmic time.     

Type II supernovae as a significant source of interstellar dust

Large amounts of dust (>10(8)M(o)) have recently been discovered in high-redshift quasars and galaxies corresponding to a time when the Universe was less than one-tenth of its present age. The stellar winds produced by stars in the late stages of their evolution (on the asymptotic giant branch of the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram) are thought to be the main source of dust in galaxies, but they cannot produce that dust on a short enough timescale (&<1 Gyr) to explain the results in the high-redshift galaxies. Supernova explosions of massive stars (type II) are also a potential source, with models predicting 0.2-4M(o) of dust. As massive stars evolve rapidly, on timescales of a few Myr, these supernovae could be responsible for the high-redshift dust. Observations of supernova remnants in the Milky Way, however, have hitherto revealed only 10(-7)-10(-3)M(o) each, which is insufficient to explain the high-redshift data. Here we report the detection of approximately 2-4M(o) of cold dust in the youngest known Galactic supernova remnant, Cassiopeia A. This observation implies that supernovae are at least as important as stellar winds in producing dust in our Galaxy and would have been the dominant source of dust at high redshifts.     

The formation of cluster elliptical galaxies as revealed by extensive star formation

The most massive galaxies in the present-day Universe are found to lie in the centres of rich clusters. They have old, coeval stellar populations suggesting that the bulk of their stars must have formed at early epochs in spectacular starbursts, which should be luminous phenomena when observed at submillimetre wavelengths. The most popular model of galaxy formation predicts that these galaxies form in proto-clusters at high-density peaks in the early Universe. Such peaks are indicated by massive high-redshift radio galaxies. Here we report deep submillimetre mapping of seven high-redshift radio galaxies and their environments. These data confirm not only the presence of spatially extended regions of massive star-formation activity in the radio galaxies themselves, but also in companion objects previously undetected at any wavelength. The prevalence, orientation, and inferred masses of these submillimetre companion galaxies suggest that we are witnessing the synchronous formation of the most luminous elliptical galaxies found today at the centres of rich clusters of galaxies.     

Submillimetre galaxies reside in dark matter haloes with masses greater than 3 × 10(11) solar masses

The extragalactic background light at far-infrared wavelengths comes from optically faint, dusty, star-forming galaxies in the Universe with star formation rates of a few hundred solar masses per year. These faint, submillimetre galaxies are challenging to study individually because of the relatively poor spatial resolution of far-infrared telescopes. Instead, their average properties can be studied using statistics such as the angular power spectrum of the background intensity variations. A previous attempt at measuring this power spectrum resulted in the suggestion that the clustering amplitude is below the level computed with a simple ansatz based on a halo model. Here we report excess clustering over the linear prediction at arcminute angular scales in the power spectrum of brightness fluctuations at 250, 350 and 500?μm. From this excess, we find that submillimetre galaxies are located in dark matter haloes with a minimum mass, M(min), such that log(10)[M(min)/M(⊙)] = 11.5(+0.7)(-0.2) at 350?μm, where M(⊙) is the solar mass. This minimum dark matter halo mass corresponds to the most efficient mass scale for star formation in the Universe, and is lower than that predicted by semi-analytical models for galaxy formation.     

A median redshift of 2.4 for galaxies bright at submillimetre wavelengths

A significant fraction of the energy emitted in the early Universe came from very luminous galaxies that are largely hidden at optical wavelengths (because of interstellar dust grains); this energy now forms part of the cosmic background radiation at wavelengths near 1 mm (ref. 1). Some submillimetre (submm) galaxies have been resolved from the background radiation, but they have been difficult to study because of instrumental limitations. This has impeded the determination of their redshifts (z), which is a crucial element in understanding their nature and evolution. Here we report spectroscopic redshifts for ten submm galaxies that were identified using high-resolution radio observations. The median redshift for our sample is 2.4, with a quartile range of 1.9-2.8. This population therefore coexists with the peak activity of quasars, suggesting a close relationship between the growth of massive black holes and luminous dusty galaxies. The space density of submm galaxies at redshifts over 2 is about 1,000 times greater than that of similarly luminous galaxies in the present-day Universe, so they represent an important component of star formation at high redshifts.