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We present an analysis of the morphology and profiles of the dust continuum emission in 153 bright sub-millimetre galaxies (SMGs) detected with ALMA at signal-to-noise ratios of >8 in high-resolution 0.18 arcsec (∼1 kpc) 870  |$\mu$| m maps. We measure sizes, shapes, and light profiles for the rest-frame far-infrared emission from these luminous star-forming systems and derive a median effective radius (R e) of 0.10 ± 0.04 arcsec for our sample with a median flux of S 870 = 5.6 ± 0.2 mJy. We find that the apparent axial ratio (b / a) distribution of the SMGs peaks at b / a ∼ 0.63 ± 0.02 and is best described by triaxial morphologies, while their emission profiles are best fitted by a Sérsic model with n ≃ 1.0 ± 0.1, similar to exponential discs. This combination of triaxiality and n ∼ 1 Sérsic index are characteristic of bars and we suggest that the bulk of the 870  |$\mu$| m dust continuum emission in the central ∼2 kpc of these galaxies arises from bar-like structures. As such we caution against using the orientation of shape of the bright dust continuum emission at |$\eqsim$| resolution to assess either the orientation of any disc on the sky or tits inclination. By stacking our 870  |$\mu$| m maps we recover faint extended dust continuum emission on ∼4 kpc scales which contributes 13 ± 1 per cent of the total 870  |$\mu$| m emission. The scale of this extended emission is similar to that seen for the molecular gas and rest-frame optical light in these systems, suggesting that it represents an extended dust and gas disc at radii larger than the more active bar component. Including this component in our estimated size of the sources we derive a typical effective radius of ≃0.15 ± 0.05 arcsec or 1.2 ± 0.4 kpc. Our results suggest that kpc-scale bars are ubiquitous features of high star-formation rate systems at |$z$| ≫ 1, while these systems also contain fainter and more extended gas and stellar envelopes. We suggest that these features, seen some 10–12 Gyr ago, represent the formation phase of the earliest galactic-scale components: stellar bulges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present [C II] observations of 20 strongly lensed dusty star-forming galaxies at 2.1 < z < 5.7 using Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment and Herschel. The sources were selected on their 1.4 mm flux (S1.4 mm > 20 mJy) from the South Pole Telescope (SPT) survey, with far-infrared (FIR) luminosities determined from extensive photometric data. The [C II] line is robustly detected in 17 sources, all but one being spectrally resolved. 11 out of 20 sources observed in [C II] also have low-J CO detections from Australia Telescope Compact Array. A comparison with mid- and high-J CO lines from Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array reveals consistent [C II] and CO velocity profiles, suggesting that there is little differential lensing between these species. The [C II], low-J CO and FIR data allow us to constrain the properties of the interstellar medium. We find [C II] to CO(1-0) luminosity ratios in the SPT sample of 5200 ± 1800, with significantly less scatter than in other samples. This line ratio can be best described by a medium of [C II] and CO emitting gas with a higher [C II] than CO excitation temperature, high CO optical depth τCO(1-0) ≫ 1, and low to moderate [C II] optical depth τ[CII]≲ 1. The geometric structure of photodissociation regions allows for such conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present spatially resolved kinematics of 27 ALMA-identified dust-obscured star-forming galaxies (DSFGs) at z  ∼ 1.3–2.6, as traced by Hα emission using VLT/KMOS near-infrared integral field spectroscopy from the 'KMOS-ALMA Observations of Submillimetre Sources' (KAOSS) Large Programme. We derive Hα rotation curves and velocity dispersion profiles for the DSFGs, and find that among the 27 sources with bright, spatially extended Hα emission, 24 display evidence for disc-like kinematics. We measure a median inclination-corrected velocity at 2.2  R d of v rot = 190 ± 40 km s−1 and intrinsic velocity dispersion of σ0 = 87 ± 6 km s−1 for these disc-like sources. The kinematics yield median circular velocities of v circ = 230 ± 20 km s−1 and dynamical masses within 2 R e (∼ 7 kpc radius) of M dyn = (1.1 ± 0.2) × 1011 M⊙. Compared to less actively star-forming galaxies, KAOSS DSFGs are both faster rotating with higher intrinsic velocity dispersions, but have similar v rot/σ0 ratios, median v /σ0 = 2.5 ± 0.5. We suggest that the kinematics of the DSFGs are primarily rotation supported but with a non-negligible contribution from pressure support, which may be driven by star formation or mergers/interactions. We estimate the normalization of the stellar mass Tully–Fisher relation (sTFR) for the disc-like DSFGs and compare it with local studies, finding no evolution at fixed slope between z  ∼ 2 and z  ∼ 0. Finally, we show that the kinematic properties of the DSFG population are consistent with them evolving into massive early-type galaxies, the dominant z  ∼ 0 population at these masses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyse a robust sample of 30 near-infrared-faint (K AB > 25.3, 5σ) submillimetre galaxies (SMGs) selected from a 0.96 deg2 field to investigate their properties and the cause of their faintness in optical/near-infrared wavebands. Our analysis exploits precise identifications based on Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) 870- μ m continuum imaging, combined with very deep near-infrared imaging from the UKIDSS Ultra Deep Survey. We estimate that SMGs with K AB > 25.3 mag represent 15 ± 2 per cent of the total population brighter than S 870 = 3.6 mJy, with a potential surface density of ∼450 deg−2 above S 870 ≥ 1 mJy. As such, they pose a source of contamination in surveys for both high-redshift 'quiescent' galaxies and very high redshift Lyman-break galaxies. We show that these K -faint SMGs represent the tail of the broader submillimetre population, with comparable dust and stellar masses to K AB ≤ 25.3 mag SMGs, but lying at significantly higher redshifts (z = 3.44 ± 0.06 versus z = 2.36 ± 0.11) and having higher dust attenuation (AV = 5.2 ± 0.3 versus AV = 2.9 ± 0.1). We investigate the origin of the strong dust attenuation and find indications that these K -faint galaxies have smaller dust continuum sizes than the K AB ≤ 25.3 mag galaxies, as measured by ALMA, which suggests their high attenuation is related to their compact sizes. We identify a correlation of dust attenuation with star formation rate surface density (ΣSFR), with the K -faint SMGs representing the higher ΣSFR and highest AV galaxies. The concentrated, intense star formation activity in these systems is likely to be associated with the formation of spheroids in compact galaxies at high redshifts, but as a result of their high obscuration these galaxies are completely missed in ultraviolet, optical, and even near-infrared surveys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have used ALMA and NOEMA to study the molecular gas reservoirs in 61 ALMA-identified submillimetre galaxies (SMGs) in the COSMOS, UDS, and ECDFS fields. We detect 12CO (⁠|$J_{\rm up} =$| 2–5) emission lines in 50 sources, and [C  i ](3P1 − 3P0) emission in eight, at |$z =$| 1.2–4.8 and with a median redshift of 2.9 ± 0.2. By supplementing our data with literature sources, we construct a statistical CO spectral line energy distribution and find that the 12CO line luminosities in SMGs peak at J up ∼ 6, consistent with similar studies. We also test the correlations of the CO, [C  i ], and dust as tracers of the gas mass, finding the three to correlate well, although the CO and dust mass as estimated from the 3-mm continuum are preferable. We estimate that SMGs lie mostly on or just above the star-forming main sequence, with a median gas depletion timescale, t dep = M gas/SFR, of 210 ± 40 Myr for our sample. Additionally, t dep declines with redshift across z  ∼ 1–5, while the molecular gas fraction, μgas = M gas/ M *, increases across the same redshift range. Finally, we demonstrate that the distribution of total baryonic mass and dynamical line width, M baryon–σ, for our SMGs is consistent with that followed by early-type galaxies in the Coma cluster, providing strong support to the suggestion that SMGs are progenitors of massive local spheroidal galaxies. On the basis of this, we suggest that the SMG populations above and below an 870- μ m flux limit of S 870 ∼ 5 mJy may correspond to the division between slow and fast rotators seen in local early-type galaxies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyse the physical properties of a large, homogeneously selected sample of ALMA-located sub-millimetre galaxies (SMGs). This survey, AS2UDS, identified 707 SMGs across the ∼1 deg2 field, including ∼17 per cent, which are undetected at K ≳ 25.7 mag. We interpret their ultraviolet-to-radio data using magphys and determine a median redshift of z  = 2.61 ± 0.08 (1 σ range of z = 1.8–3.4) with just ∼6 per cent at z > 4. Our survey provides a sample of massive dusty galaxies at z ≳ 1, with median dust and stellar masses of M d = (6.8 ± 0.3) × 108 M⊙ (thus, gas masses of ∼1011 M⊙) and M * = (1.26 ± 0.05) × 1011 M⊙. We find no evolution in dust temperature at a constant far-infrared luminosity across z  ∼ 1.5–4. The gas mass function of our sample increases to z  ∼ 2–3 and then declines at z > 3. The space density and masses of SMGs suggest that almost all galaxies with M * ≳ 3 × 1011 M⊙ have passed through an SMG-like phase. The redshift distribution is well fit by a model combining evolution of the gas fraction in haloes with the growth of halo mass past a critical threshold of M h ∼ 6 × 1012 M⊙, thus SMGs may represent the highly efficient collapse of gas-rich massive haloes. We show that SMGs are broadly consistent with simple homologous systems in the far-infrared, consistent with a centrally illuminated starburst. Our study provides strong support for an evolutionary link between the active, gas-rich SMG population at z > 1 and the formation of massive, bulge-dominated galaxies across the history of the Universe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyse 870  |$\mu$| m Atacama Large Millimetre Array (ALMA) dust continuum detections of 41 canonically selected |$z$| ≃ 3 Lyman-break galaxies (LBGs), as well as 209 ALMA-undetected LBGs, in follow-up of SCUBA-2 mapping of the UKIDSS Ultra Deep Survey (UDS) field. We find that our ALMA-bright LBGs lie significantly off the local IRX-beta relation and have relatively bluer rest-frame UV slopes (as parametrized by β), given their high values of the 'infrared excess' (IRX ≡ L IR/ L UV), relative to the average 'local' IRX-β relation. We attribute this finding in part to the young ages of the underlying stellar populations but we find that the main reason behind the unusually blue UV slopes are the relatively shallow slopes of the corresponding dust attenuation curves. We show that, when stellar masses, M *, are being established via SED fitting, it is absolutely crucial to allow the attenuation curves to vary (rather than fixing it on Calzetti-like law), where we find that the inappropriate curves may underestimate the resulting stellar masses by a factor of ≃2–3× on average. In addition, we find these LBGs to have relatively high specific star-formation rates (sSFRs), dominated by the dust component, as quantified via the fraction of obscured star formation |$(f_{\rm obs}\equiv {\rm SFR_{\rm IR}/{\rm SFR}_{\rm UV+IR}})$|⁠. We conclude that the ALMA-bright LBGs are, by selection, massive galaxies undergoing a burst of a star formation (large sSFRs, driven, for example, by secular or merger processes), with a likely geometrical disconnection of the dust and stars, responsible for producing shallow dust attenuation curves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the catalogue and basic properties of sources in AS2UDS, an 870- |$\mu$| m continuum survey with the Atacama Large Millimetre/sub-millimetre Array (ALMA) of 716 single-dish sub-millimetre sources detected in the UKIDSS/UDS field by the SCUBA-2 Cosmology Legacy Survey. In our sensitive ALMA follow-up observations, we detect 708 sub-millimetre galaxies (SMGs) at >4.3σ significance across the ∼1°-diameter field. We combine our precise ALMA positions with the extensive multiwavelength coverage in the UDS field which yields spectral energy distributions for our SMGs and a median redshift of z phot =  2.61 ± 0.09. This large sample reveals a statistically significant trend of increasing sub-millimetre flux with redshift suggestive of galaxy downsizing. 101 ALMA maps do not show a > 4.3σ SMG, but we demonstrate from stacking Herschel SPIRE observations at these positions, that the vast majority of these blank maps correspond to real single-dish sub-millimetre sources. We further show that these blank maps contain an excess of galaxies at z phot =  1.5–4 compared to random fields, similar to the redshift range of the ALMA-detected SMGs. In addition, we combine X-ray and mid-infrared active galaxy nuclei activity (AGN) indicators to yield a likely range for the AGN fraction of 8–28  per cent in our sample. Finally, we compare the redshifts of this population of high-redshift, strongly star-forming galaxies with the inferred formation redshifts of massive, passive galaxies being found out to z ∼  2, finding reasonable agreement – in support of an evolutionary connection between these two classes of massive galaxy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have initiated a survey using the newly commissioned X-shooter spectrograph to target candidate relatively metal-rich damped Lyα absorbers (DLAs). Our rationale is that high-metallicity DLAs due to the luminosity-metallicity relation likely will have the most luminous galaxy counterparts. In addition, the spectral coverage of X-shooter allows us to search for not only Lyα emission, but also rest-frame optical emission lines. We have chosen DLAs where the strongest rest-frame optical lines ([O ], [O ], Hβ and Hα) fall in the near-infrared atmospheric transmission bands. In this first paper resulting from the survey, we report on the discovery of the galaxy counterpart of the DLA towards the quasar Q 0946. This DLA is amongst the most metal-rich DLAs studied so far at comparable redshifts and there is evidence for substantial depletion of refractory elements on to dust grains. We measure metallicities from Zn , Si , Ni , Mn and Fe of and , respectively. The galaxy is detected in the Lyα, [O ]λλ4959, 5007 and Hα emission lines at an impact parameter of about 0.8 arcsec (6 kpc at ). Based on the Hα line, we infer a star formation rate of 10 M yr, which is a lower limit due to the possibility of slit loss. Compared to the recently determined Hα luminosity function for galaxies, the DLA-galaxy counterpart has a luminosity of . The emission-line ratios are 4.0 (Lyα/Hα) and 1.2 ([O ]/Hα). In particular, the Lyα line shows clear evidence for resonant scattering effects, namely an asymmetric, redshifted (relative to the systemic redshift) component and a much weaker blueshifted component. The fact that the blueshifted component is relatively weak indicates the presence of a galactic wind. The properties of the galaxy counterpart of this DLA are consistent with the prediction that metal-rich DLAs are associated with the most luminous of the DLA-galaxy counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]