Do post-starburst galaxies host compact molecular gas reservoirs?

Abstract

We analysed the high-resolution (up to ∼0.2 arcsec) ALMA CO (2-1) and 1.3 mm dust continuum data of eight gas-rich post-starburst galaxies (PSBs) in the local Universe, six of which had been studied by a recent work. In contrast to this study reporting the detections of extraordinarily compact (i.e. unresolved) reservoirs of molecular gas in the six PSBs, our visibility-plane analysis resolves the CO (2-1) emission in all eight PSBs with effective radii (Re, CO) of 0.8-0.4+0.9 kpc, typically consisting of gaseous components at both circumnuclear and extended disc scales. With this new analysis, we find that the CO sizes of gas-rich PSBs are compact with respect to their stellar sizes (median ratio =0.43-0.21+0.27), but comparable to the sizes of the gas discs seen in local luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs) and early-type galaxies. We also find that the CO-to-stellar size ratio of gas-rich PSBs is potentially correlated with the gas depletion time-scale, placing them as transitional objects between LIRGs and early-type galaxies from an evolutionary perspective. Finally, the star formation efficiency of the observed PSBs appear consistent with those of star-forming galaxies on the Kennicutt-Schmidt relation, showing no sign of suppressed star formation from turbulent heating. © 2022 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society.