# Molecular Gas Depletion and Starbursts in Luminous Infrared Galaxy Mergers

## 1 INTRODUCTION

Luminous infrared galaxies (LIGs, $`L_{\mathrm{IR}}\stackrel{>}{}2\times 10^{11}\text{L}\text{}`$, $`H_0=75`$ km s<sup>-1</sup> Mpc<sup>-1</sup>), are the dominant population among objects with $`L_{\mathrm{bol}}\stackrel{>}{}2\times 10^{11}\text{L}\text{}`$ in the local universe (see the comprehensive review by Sanders & Mirabel 1996, also for a definition of $`L_{\mathrm{IR}}`$). Most LIGs are merging/interacting (e.g., Sanders 1992; Leech et al. 1994; Murphy et al. 1996) and molecular gas rich with a high star formation (SF) rate as most of the luminosity is radiated by dust in the far-IR. Sanders et al. (1988) suggested that the most extreme ultra-LIGs (ULIGs) with $`L_{\mathrm{IR}}\stackrel{>}{}10^{12}\text{L}\text{}`$ comparable with the bolometric luminosity of quasars (QSOs), are dust-enshrouded QSOs triggered by the interaction/merger of two gas-rich spirals. However, a starburst origin (e.g., Joseph & Wright 1985) even for ULIGs has also been suggested. Evidence in favor of a starburst includes the H<sub>2</sub> gas content, radio continuum morphology and ISO mid-IR spectroscopy (e.g., Solomon et al. 1997 (S97); Downes & Solomon 1998 (DS98); Condon et al. 1991; Genzel et al. 1998). The observed abundant supply of dense H<sub>2</sub> gas traced by HCN emission, usually found only in SF cores (Solomon et al. 1992; Gao 1996; Gao & Solomon 1999) shows that ULIGs are ideal stellar nurseries.

Although there have been extensive CO observations in LIGs/ULIGs including CO imaging (e.g., Scoville et al. 1991; 1997; DS98 ), there has been no systematic attempt to trace the H<sub>2</sub> gas properties during the galaxy-galaxy merger sequence starting with systems roughly separated by a galactic diameter. The purpose of this study is to investigate the connection between the progress of a merger and the H<sub>2</sub> gas responsible for the SF. There are many close mergers where the progenitors are not gas-rich galaxies; these may never become LIGs. All LIGs/ULIGs are H<sub>2</sub> gas rich (Sanders et al. 1991; Gao 1996; S97).

The ideal sample to trace a merger sequence should contain galaxies of various merging stages that initially started with roughly comparable molecular gas content. Since this is impossible, we select LIGs where we can identify the 2 progenitors from CCD images usually in the red or near-IR. By measuring the CO(1-0) luminosity as a function of the merger separation, the time dependence of the gas content can be traced statistically.

## 2 THE SAMPLE

We focus exclusively on mergers satisfying $`S_{\mathrm{sep}}\stackrel{<}{}(D_1+D_2)/2`$, where $`S_{\mathrm{sep}}`$ is the projected separation between the nuclei of the merging galaxies of the major diameters $`D_1`$ and $`D_2`$. In reality, we require the pairs have touching/overlapping optical disks/tails. We exclude late mergers of $`S_{\mathrm{sep}}\stackrel{<}{}2^{\prime \prime }`$ ($`1`$ kpc at an angular distance of $`100`$ Mpc) so that $`S_{\mathrm{sep}}`$ can be reliably measured. This also helps to distinguish genuine mergers from projection effects, exclude galaxies where there is confusion of the extranuclear starburst regions with galactic nuclei, and minimize other potential biases introduced by the seeing limit or severe dust obscuration. At larger distance, LIGs with $`S_{\mathrm{sep}}1`$ kpc similar to the nearest ULIGs Arp 220, Mrk 273 will be simply indistinguishable from the single-nucleus galaxies without sub-arcsec imaging. Even at moderate distances ($`200`$ Mpc), some previously accepted close doubles, e.g., Mrk 231 (Armus et al. 1994) and IRAS 12112+0305 (Sanders 1992) turn out to be singles as seen by HST (Surace et al. 1998; Sanders 1998, private communications).

Our sample selection is simple: all LIGs with $`L_{\mathrm{IR}}\stackrel{>}{}2\times 10^{11}\text{L}\text{},2^{\prime \prime }\stackrel{<}{}S_{\mathrm{sep}}\stackrel{<}{}(D_1+D_2)/2`$ are selected if they have both CO data and CCD images. A heterogeneous sample of 50 LIGs has been used (Table 1); 19 of them are ULIGs.

CO(1-0) observations have been conducted in $`30`$ LIGs of mostly mergers (Gao 1996). Most have been observed with the NRAO 12m and a representation is shown in Fig. 1 (details will be discussed in a future paper). This nearly completes the CO data for nearby LIG mergers in the Bright Galaxy Sample (BGS, Soifer et al. 1989; Sanders et al. 1995).

A volume-limited ($`cz\stackrel{<}{}12,000\text{km s}\text{-1}`$) nearly complete sample of 20 LIGs, mainly from the BGS, is highlighted in Table 1. Most LIGs but not ULIGs are in this sub-sample.

## 3 $`L_{\mathrm{CO}}`$$`S_{\mathrm{sep}}`$ CORRELATION

We have separated the sample into 31 LIGs with $`2\times 10^{11}<L_{\mathrm{IR}}\stackrel{<}{}10^{12}\text{L}\text{}`$ and 19 ULIGs with $`L_{\mathrm{IR}}>10^{12}`$L. The observed CO luminosities range over an order of magnitude $`log(L_{\mathrm{CO}}/L_l)=`$9.2–10.3, $`L_l`$=K km s<sup>-1</sup>pc<sup>2</sup> for the entire sample. This is at the high end of the distribution for normal molecular gas-rich galaxies. However for ULIGs the range is smaller with $`<log(L_{\mathrm{CO}}/L_l)>=9.92\pm 0.12`$ (S97).

The correlation between CO luminosity $`L_{\mathrm{CO}}`$ and the nuclei separation $`S_{\mathrm{sep}}`$ is evident in Fig. 2a. We compute correlation coefficients of $`\gamma =0.80`$ for 31 LIGs, and $`\gamma =0.78`$ for 20 volume-limited LIGs, with fits:

$$L_{\mathrm{CO}}=10^{9.0}S_{\mathrm{sep}}^{0.80\pm 0.18},L_{\mathrm{CO}}=10^{9.1}S_{\mathrm{sep}}^{0.82\pm 0.20}$$
(1)   
respectively. Clearly, this correlation indicates $`L_{\mathrm{CO}}`$ is decreasing as merging progresses to advanced stages. The system with the highest $`L_{\mathrm{CO}}`$ in the sample is Arp 302 which also has the largest separation. Even if Arp 302 is excluded the correlation remains the same. While the correlation for the entire heterogeneous sample is still obvious ($`\gamma =0.6`$) the correlation for ULIGs alone (open circles in Fig. 2) is not significant ($`\gamma =0.2`$). In view of the near constancy of $`L_{\mathrm{CO}}`$ for ULIGs (S97) this is not surprising.

There is no correlation between IR luminosity $`L_{\mathrm{IR}}`$ and separation $`S_{\mathrm{sep}}`$ (Fig. 2b) indicating the IR emission is not enhanced as the merger progresses, at least prior to reaching $`S_{\mathrm{sep}}\stackrel{<}{}2`$ kpc. As discussed above we have excluded close mergers/singles. Many of these are ULIGs. An anti-correlation of $`L_{\mathrm{IR}}`$ with $`S_{\mathrm{sep}}`$ appears to hold if small separation ULIGs are included, particularly 10 ULIGs in the BGS (Sanders et al. 1988).

There is a significant anti-correlation between $`L_{\mathrm{IR}}/M(\mathrm{H}_2)`$ (or $`L_{\mathrm{IR}}/L_{\mathrm{CO}}`$, a SF “efficiency” (SFE) measure of the global SF rate per solar mass of gas) and $`S_{\mathrm{sep}}`$ (Fig. 2c, $`\gamma =0.61`$ for 31 LIGs). Here we have used a standard conversion factor of $`4.7\text{M}\text{}/L_l`$ applicable to giant molecular clouds (GMCs) to obtain H<sub>2</sub> mass from $`L_{\mathrm{CO}}`$. It clearly suggests that the SF rate, normalized to the available molecular mass, or SFE, increases at small separations. This indicates an increased rate for the conversion of gas to stars, which is the primary criterion for a starburst.

We checked for possible selection effects by examining the dependence of the parameters on distance to the source. There is no strong dependence of the projected separation upon the distance even in the large heterogeneous sample, the correlation between $`L_{\mathrm{CO}}`$ and the distance is weak and is nonexistent for the nearby BGS LIGs.

## 4 IMPLICATIONS AND DISCUSSION

We conclude that there is a strong correlation between $`L_{\mathrm{CO}}`$ and $`S_{\mathrm{sep}}`$ for LIGs although almost no correlation for ULIGs. CO observations of widely separated interacting galaxies ($`S_{\mathrm{sep}}\stackrel{>}{}(D_1+D_2)/2`$, non-mergers) show no correlation between $`L_{\mathrm{CO}}`$ and $`S_{\mathrm{sep}}`$ (Combes et al. 1994). After merging begins $`S_{\mathrm{sep}}\stackrel{<}{}(D_1+D_2)/220`$ kpc, the molecular gas content is decreasing as merging advances. Since we may overestimate the H<sub>2</sub> mass in ULIGs and late mergers (S97; DS98) by using a constant conversion factor, the dependence of H<sub>2</sub> mass on separation may be even steeper than that in Eq. 1.

Mergers separated by a few kpc produce the same $`L_{\mathrm{IR}}`$ as mergers with $`S_{\mathrm{sep}}15`$ kpc with less H<sub>2</sub> gas (Fig. 2 & Eq. 1). It is not the increase in molecular gas that leads to the high $`L_{\mathrm{IR}}`$ but the increase in average gas surface density which produces a higher SFE. In more than a dozen early/intermediate stage mergers in this sample, CO imaging reveals that most of the gas is in the inner merging disks except for widely separated pairs not yet closely interacting, which have extended CO (Gao et al. 1997; 1998a; Lo, Gao & Gruendl 1997). Arp 302 (Lo et al. 1997), the widest pair ($`S_{\mathrm{sep}}`$=25 kpc), has two extended CO disks ($`>10`$ kpc) and one of them shows roughly an exponential disk with a scale length of $`7`$ kpc extending out to 20 kpc in diameter. NGC 6670 ($`S_{\mathrm{sep}}=15`$ kpc) shows central sources with $`\stackrel{>}{}1`$ kpc radii and strong CO disks out to $`5`$ kpc with weaker emission out to 15 kpc in both galaxies. Arp 238 ($`S_{\mathrm{sep}}`$=12 kpc) and Arp 55 ($`S_{\mathrm{sep}}`$=10 kpc), the intermediate stage mergers, show central $`1`$–2 kpc sources and extensions out to $`5`$–10 kpc in both pairs of disks. Late mergers like Arp 299 (Aalto et al. 1997) and NGC 6090 ($`S_{\mathrm{sep}}<5`$ kpc) show gas concentrations between the merging disks.

For a pair of gas-rich spirals initially separated at $`S_{\mathrm{sep}}^0\stackrel{<}{}20`$ kpc, merging at (orbital decay speed) $`V40\text{km s}\text{-1}`$, the time to reach $`S_{\mathrm{sep}}^{\mathrm{min}}\stackrel{>}{}2\mathrm{k}\mathrm{p}\mathrm{c}`$ is $`500\times (\frac{S_{\mathrm{sep}}^0S_{\mathrm{sep}}^{\mathrm{min}}}{20\mathrm{k}\mathrm{p}\mathrm{c}})(\frac{40\text{km s}\text{-1}}{V})`$ Myr. If the LIGs with different separations are interpreted as a sequence then, using a standard conversion factor and Eq. 1, the implied average SF (gas depletion) rate is

$$100\times A\times (\frac{V}{40\text{km s}\text{-1}})(\frac{20\mathrm{k}\mathrm{p}\mathrm{c}}{S_{\mathrm{sep}}^0})^{0.2}\text{M}\text{}/yr$$
(2)   
where $`A=(1(\frac{S_{\mathrm{sep}}^{\mathrm{min}}}{S_{\mathrm{sep}}^0})^{0.8})/(1\frac{S_{\mathrm{sep}}^{\mathrm{min}}}{S_{\mathrm{sep}}^0})\stackrel{<}{}1`$. Of course, the trend evident in Fig. 2a may not be a true time sequence since it is a snapshot of many LIGs at various separations. Nevertheless, this SF rate deduced from the observed depletion of H<sub>2</sub> gas is similar to that inferred from $`L_{\mathrm{IR}}`$ (under the assumption that the IR luminosity is from imbedded high mass stars): about 100 M/yr for $`L_{\mathrm{IR}}5\times 10^{11}\text{L}\text{}`$ (e.g., Sanders & Mirabel 1996).

At the extreme end of the merger sequence are Ultra-LIGs (ULIGs) with small separations or no evidence of 2 remaining nuclei, which have very compact gas concentrations and about 5 times more $`L_{\mathrm{IR}}`$ than LIGs. Most of the molecular gas in ULIGs is concentrated in the central 1 kpc and is not in normal GMCs; the translation of $`L_{\mathrm{CO}}`$ to H<sub>2</sub> mass is fundamentally different (S97; DS98) and the H<sub>2</sub> mass is lower than expected from use of a standard coversion factor. Nevertheless, ULIGs still have close to $`10^{10}\text{M}\text{}`$ H<sub>2</sub>. Even allowing for this, ULIGs do not follow the correlations we find for LIGs (Fig. 2). The difference may be due to the different physical parameters of the starbursts. The starbursts in ULIGs appear to take place predominantly in extreme starburst regions of $`200`$ pc size and $`L_{\mathrm{IR}}3\times 10^{11}\text{L}\text{}`$ (DS98) with substantial velocity structure characterized by rotation or bar-like motion. They are the primary sources of the millimeter continuum with more than 1,000 magnitudes of visual extinction. For example, Arp 220 has two extreme starburst regions. These may be the remnants of nuclei or condensations in the gas but they now are composed almost entirely of gas and young stars. AGNs might also contribute to $`L_{\mathrm{IR}}`$ in some ULIGs (e.g., Veilleux et al. 1997).

Mihos & Hernquist (1996) have predicted the SF rate and the gas depletion during a merger sequence in two extreme cases: galaxies with bulges and without (see their Fig. 5). The decrease in H<sub>2</sub> mass in our sample (Fig. 2a) is consistent with their model prediction (especially when ULIGs are excluded) for a diverse group of initial conditions and bulge/disk ratios. In the models only mergers with bulges have enough gas left for a final extreme burst as in ULIGs.

The models failed to predict gas concentration in the overlap region, either HI in early mergers, e.g., NGC 6670 (Wang et al. 1998) or H<sub>2</sub> in intermediate mergers, e.g., Arp 244 and Arp 299 (Gao et al. 1998b; Aalto et al. 1997). Although gas inflow into the center in late mergers is predicted (Mihos & Hernquist 1996; Barnes & Hernquist 1996), this is near the final merging ($`S_{\mathrm{sep}}\stackrel{<}{}`$ 3 kpc). Successful models should distinguish between diffuse HI and H<sub>2</sub> in GMCs and produce this feature when galaxies are still 5–15 kpc apart. SF in the overlap region is predicted in a model by the compression of pre-existing GMCs due to the heating of the atomic ISM by shocks (Jog & Solomon 1992). Pre-existing GMCs are clearly the source of SF even before the true merging of the disks as is evident in Arp 302.

## 5 CONCLUDING REMARKS

We show here that there is a strong correlation between CO luminosity, a measure of M(H<sub>2</sub>), and the projected separation for luminous infrared galaxies (LIGs). Although there is no correlation between the star formation (SF) rate ($`L_{\mathrm{IR}}`$) and separation, LIGs with smaller separation have a higher SF rate per solar mass of H<sub>2</sub>. This increase in SF “efficiency” is due to increased H<sub>2</sub> gas surface density. Advanced mergers have less H<sub>2</sub> mass (not more) than when the mergers started. This implies that the starburst is not fueled by a large inflow of a huge mass of diffuse HI gas from large galactic radii converting to H<sub>2</sub>, but rather that existing GMCs form stars throughout the merging process over a few hundred million years.

Although the correlations are robust for LIGs they do not exist for ultra-LIGs (ULIGs). The difference may be due to the different physical parameters and timescales of the starbursts. The starbursts in ULIGs appear to take place predominantly in extreme starburst regions with radii $`100`$ pc, $`10^9`$ MH<sub>2</sub>, $`L_{\mathrm{IR}}3\times 10^{11}\text{L}\text{}`$ and a very high SF efficiency (DS98). The dynamical timescales in extreme starbursts are characterized by only about a million years ($`V250\text{km s}\text{-1}`$ and size $`200`$ pc).

We thank D.C. Kim, D.B. Sanders and J.D. Goldader for the use of some optical images. Helpful suggestions and discussions with D.B. Sanders are gratefully acknowledged. We appreciate very much for the thorough review and thoughtful/helpful comments of the referee, T.W. Murphy, Jr. YG’s research at LAI is funded by NSF grant AST96-13999 and U. of Illinois.