Warm Molecular Hydrogen in Nearby, Luminous Infrared Galaxies

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dc.contributor.authorPetric, Andreea O.
dc.contributor.authorArmus, Lee
dc.contributor.authorFlagey, Nicolas
dc.contributor.authorGuillard, Pierre
dc.contributor.authorHowell, Justin
dc.contributor.authorInami, Hanae
dc.contributor.authorCharmandaris, Vassillis
dc.contributor.authorEvanss, Aaron
dc.contributor.authorStierwalt, Sabrina
dc.contributor.authorDiaz-Santos, Tanio
dc.contributor.authorLu, Nanyao
dc.contributor.authorSpoon, Henrik
dc.contributor.authorMazzarella, Joe
dc.contributor.authorAppleton, Phil
dc.contributor.authorChan, Ben
dc.contributor.authorChu, Jason
dc.contributor.authorHand, Derek
dc.contributor.authorPrivon, George
dc.contributor.authorSanders, David
dc.contributor.authorSurace, Jason
dc.contributor.authorXu, Kevin
dc.contributor.authorZhao, Yinghe
dc.date.accessioned2025-01-23T21:20:18Z
dc.date.available2025-01-23T21:20:18Z
dc.date.issued2018
dc.description.abstractMid-infrared molecular hydrogen (H-2) emission is a powerful cooling agent in galaxy mergers and in radio galaxies; it is a potential key tracer of gas evolution and energy dissipation associated with mergers, star formation, and accretion onto supermassive black holes. We detect mid-IR H-2 line emission in at least one rotational transition in 91% of the 214 Luminous Infrared Galaxies (LIRGs) observed with Spitzer as part of the Great Observatories All-sky LIRG Survey. We use H-2 excitation diagrams to estimate the range of masses and temperatures of warm molecular gas in these galaxies. We find that LIRGs in which the IR emission originates mostly from the Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) have about 100 K higher H-2 mass-averaged excitation temperatures than LIRGs in which the IR emission originates mostly from star formation. Between 10% and 15% of LIRGs have H-2 emission lines that are sufficiently broad to be resolved or partially resolved by the high-resolution modules of Spitzer's Infrared Spectrograph (IRS). Those sources tend to be mergers and contain AGN. This suggests that a significant fraction of the H-2 line emission is powered by AGN activity through X-rays, cosmic rays, and turbulence. We find a statistically significant correlation between the kinetic energy in the H-2 gas and the H-2 to IR luminosity ratio. The sources with the largest warm gas kinetic energies are mergers. We speculate that mergers increase the production of bulk inflows leading to observable broad H-2 profiles and possibly denser gas.
dc.fuente.origenWOS
dc.identifier.doi10.3847/1538-3881/aaca35
dc.identifier.eissn1538-3881
dc.identifier.issn0004-6256
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/aaca35
dc.identifier.urihttps://repositorio.uc.cl/handle/11534/101209
dc.identifier.wosidWOS:000452546300001
dc.issue.numero6
dc.language.isoen
dc.revistaAstronomical journal
dc.rightsacceso restringido
dc.subjectgalaxies: active
dc.subjectgalaxies: interactions
dc.subjectgalaxies: ISM
dc.subjectgalaxies: starburst
dc.titleWarm Molecular Hydrogen in Nearby, Luminous Infrared Galaxies
dc.typeartículo
dc.volumen156
sipa.indexWOS
sipa.trazabilidadWOS;2025-01-12
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