OH + and H 2 O + absorption toward PKS 1830-211

Abstract

We report the detection of OH+ and H2O+ in the z = 0.89 absorber toward the lensed quasar PKS 1830-211. The abundance ratio of OH+ and H2O+ is used to quantify the molecular hydrogen fraction (fH2) and the cosmic-ray ionization rate of atomic hydrogen (ζH) along two lines of sight, located at ~ 2 kpc and ~ 4 kpc to either side of the absorber's center. The molecular fraction decreases outward, from ~ 0.04 to ~ 0.02, comparable to values measured in the Milky Way at similar galactocentric radii. For ζH, we find values of ~ 2 × 10-14 s-1 and ~ 3 × 10-15 s-1, respectively, which are slightly higher than in the Milky Way at comparable galactocentric radii, possibly due to a higher average star formation activity in the z = 0.89 absorber. The ALMA observations of OH+, H2O+, and other hydrides toward PKS 1830-211reveal the multi-phase composition of the absorbing gas. Taking the column density ratios along the southwest and northeast lines of sight as a proxy of molecular fraction, we classify the species ArH+, OH+, H2Cl+, H2O+, CH, and HF as tracing gases increasingly more molecular. Incidentally, our data allow us to improve the accuracy of H2O+ rest frequencies and thus refine the spectroscopic parameters.