The far-infrared, UV, and molecular gas relation in galaxies up to z = 2.5

Abstract

We use the infrared excess (IRX) FIR/UV luminosity ratio to study the relation between the effective UV attenuation (A IRX) and the UV spectral slope (β) in a sample of 450 1 < z < 2.5 galaxies. The FIR data are from very deep Herschel observations in the GOODS fields that allow us to detect galaxies with star formation rates (SFRs) typical of galaxies with log(M *) > 9.3. Thus, we are able to study galaxies on and even below the main SFR-stellar mass relation (main sequence). We find that main-sequence galaxies form a tight sequence in the IRX-β plane, which has a flatter slope than commonly used relations. This slope favors a Small-Magellanic-Cloud- like UV extinction curve, though the interpretation is model dependent. The scatter in the A IRX-β plane correlates with the position of the galaxies in the SFR-M * plane. Using a smaller sample of galaxies with CO gas masses, we study the relation between the UV attenuation and the molecular gas content. We find a very tight relation between the scatter in the IRX-β plane and the specific attenuation SA , a quantity that represents the attenuation contributed by the molecular gas mass per young star. S A is sensitive to both the geometrical arrangement of stars and dust and to the compactness of the star-forming regions. We use this empirical relation to derive a method for estimating molecular gas masses using only widely available integrated rest-frame UV and FIR photometry. The method produces gas masses with an accuracy between 0.12 and 0.16 dex in samples of normal galaxies between z ∼ 0 and z ∼ 1.5. Major mergers and submillimeter galaxies follow a different SA relation. © 2013. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved..