Star Formation and ISM Properties in the Host Galaxies of Three Far-infrared Luminous Quasars at z ∼ 6

Abstract

We present Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array observations of the CO (2-1) line emission toward three far-infrared luminous quasars at z similar to 6: SDSS J231038.88+ 185519.7 and SDSS J012958.51-003539.7 with similar to 0.'' 6 resolution and SDSS J205406.42-000514.8 with similar to 2.'' 1 resolution. All three sources are detected in the CO (2-1) line emission-one source is marginally resolved, and the other two appear as point sources. Measurements of the CO (2-1) line emission allow us to calculate the molecular gas mass even without a CO excitation model. The inferred molecular gas masses are (0.8-4.3) x 10(10) M-circle dot. The widths and redshifts derived from the CO (2-1) line are consistent with previous CO (6-5) and [C II] measurements. We also report continuum measurements using Herschel for SDSS J231038.88+ 185519.7 and SDSS J012958.51-003539.7, and for SDSS J231038.88 + 185519.7 data obtained at similar to 140 and similar to 300 GHz using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. In the case of SDSS J231038.88+ 185519.7, we present a detailed analysis of the spectral energy distribution and derive the dust temperature (similar to 40 K), the dust mass (similar to 10(9) M-circle dot), the far-infrared luminosity (8-1000 mu m; similar to 10(13) L-circle dot), and the star formation rate (2400-2700 M-circle dot yr(-1)). Finally, an analysis of the photodissociation regions associated with the three high-redshift quasars indicates that the interstellar medium in these sources has similar properties to local starburst galaxies.