The ALMA-ALPINE [CII] survey

The star formation history and the dust emission of star-forming galaxies at 4.5 < z < 6.2^⋆

¹ Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, CNES, LAM, Marseille, France
e-mail: denis.burgarella@lam.fr
² National Centre for Nuclear Research, ul.Pasteura 7, 02-093 Warszawa, Poland
³ INAF – Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio di Bologna, Via Gobetti 93/3, 40129 Bologna, Italy
⁴ Centro de Astronomía (CITEVA), Universidad de Antofagasta, Avenida Angamos 601, Antofagasta, Chile
⁵ IPAC, California Institute of Technology, 1200 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
⁶ Department of Astronomy, University of Geneva, ch. des Maillettes 51, 1290 Versoix, Switzerland
⁷ National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 2-21-1, Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan
⁸ Research Institute for Science and Engineering, Waseda University, 3-4-1 Okubo, Shinjuku, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan
⁹ Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN), Jagtvej 128, 2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark
¹⁰ Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Lyngbyvej 2, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
¹¹ University of Massachusetts, 710 N. Pleasant St, LGRB-520, Amherst, MA 01003, USA
¹² European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 2, 85748 Garching bei München, Germany
¹³ Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica: Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio di Bologna, Via Gobetti 93/3, 40129 Bologna, Italy
¹⁴ Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
¹⁵ Instituto de Física y Astronomía, Universidad de Valparaíso, Avda. Gran Bretaña 1111, Valparaíso, Chile
¹⁶ Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, 19 J. J. Thomson Ave., Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK
¹⁷ Kavli Institute for Cosmology, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK
¹⁸ Institute of Astronomy, School of Science, The University of Tokyo, 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-0015, Japan
¹⁹ Research Center for the Early Universe, School of Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
²⁰ Department of Physics, University of California, Davis, One Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616, USA
²¹ Gemini Observatory, NSF’s NOIRLab, 670 N. A’ohoku Place, Hilo, HI 96720, USA
²² Department of Astronomy, University of Florida, 211 Bryant Space Sciences Center, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
²³ Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8582, Japan
²⁴ Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (WPI), The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8583, Japan
²⁵ Cornell University, Space Sciences Building, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
²⁶ Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università degli Studi di Bologna, Via P. Gobetti 93/2, 40129 Bologna, Italy
²⁷ Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università di Padova, Vicolo dell’Osservatorio 3, 35122 Padova, Italy
²⁸ INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova, Vicolo dell’Osservatorio 5, 35122 Padova, Italy
²⁹ Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie – IRAP, CNRS, Université de Toulouse, UPS-OMP, 14, avenue E. Belin, 31400 Toulouse, France
³⁰ University of Bologna – Department of Physics and Astronomy “Augusto Righi” (DIFA), Via Gobetti 93/2, 40129 Bologna, Italy
³¹ Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia Galileo Galilei Universitá degli Studi di Padova, Vicolo dell’Osservatorio 3, 35122 Padova, Italy
³² Institut Universitaire de France, IUF, Paris, France

Received: 30 October 2021
Accepted: 8 February 2022

Abstract

Star-forming galaxies are composed of various types of galaxies. However, the luminosity functions at z ≳ 4–5 suggest that most galaxies have a relatively low stellar mass (log M_star ∼ 10) and a low dust attenuation (A_FUV ∼ 1.0). The physical properties of these objects are quite homogeneous. We used an approach where we combined their rest-frame far-infrared and submillimeter emissions and utilized the universe and the redshift as a spectrograph to increase the amount of information in a collective way. From a subsample of 27 ALMA-detected galaxies at z > 4.5, we built an infrared spectral energy distribution composite template. It was used to fit, with CIGALE, the 105 galaxies (detections and upper limits) in the sample from the far-ultraviolet to the far-infrared. The derived physical parameters provide information to decipher the nature of the dust cycle and of the stellar populations in these galaxies. The derived IR composite template is consistent with the galaxies in the studied sample. A delayed star formation history with τ_main = 500 Myr is slightly favored by the statistical analysis as compared to a delayed with a final burst or a continuous star formation history. The position of the sample in the star formation rate (SFR) versus M_star diagram is consistent with previous papers. The redshift evolution of the log M_star versus A_FUV relation is in agreement with an evolution in redshift of this relation. This evolution is necessary to explain the cosmic evolution of the average dust attenuation of galaxies. Evolution is also observed in the L_dust/L_FUV (IRX) versus UV slope β_FUV diagram: younger galaxies have bluer β_FUV. We modeled the shift of galaxies in the IRX versus the β_FUV diagram with the mass-weighted age as a free parameter, and we provide an equation to make predictions. The large sample studied in this paper is generally consistent with models that assume rapid dust formation from supernovae and removal of dust by outflows and supernovae blasts. However, we find that high mass dusty star-forming galaxies cannot be explained by the models.