A Large Molecular Gas Reservoir in the Protocluster SPT2349−56 at <i>z</i> = 4.3

Abstract We present Atacama Compact Array (ACA) Band-3 observations of the protocluster SPT2349−56, an extreme system hosting &gt;10 ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs; L IR ≳ 10 12 L ⊙ ) in a 200 kpc diameter region at z = 4.3, to study its integrated molecular gas content via CO(4–3) and the long-wavelength dust continuum. The ∼30 hr integration represents one of the longest exposures yet taken on a single pointing with the ACA 7 m. The low-resolution ACA data (21 <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mover> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>.</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mtext>″</mml:mtext> </mml:mrow> </mml:mover> </mml:math> 0 × 12 <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mover> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>.</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mtext>″</mml:mtext> </mml:mrow> </mml:mover> </mml:math> 2) reveal a 75% excess CO(4–3) flux compared to the sum of individual sources detected in higher-resolution Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) data (1 <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mover> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>.</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mtext>″</mml:mtext> </mml:mrow> </mml:mover> </mml:math> 0 × 0 <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mover> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>.</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mtext>″</mml:mtext> </mml:mrow> </mml:mover> </mml:math> 8). Our work also reveals a similar result by tapering the ALMA data to 10″. In contrast, the 3.2 mm dust continuum shows little discrepancy between ACA and ALMA. A single-dish [C ii ] spectrum obtained by APEX/FLASH supports the ACA CO(4–3) result, revealing a large excess in [C ii ] emission relative to ALMA. The missing flux is unlikely due to undetected faint sources but instead suggests that high-resolution ALMA observations might miss extended and low-surface-brightness gas. Such emission could originate from the circumgalactic medium or the preheated protointracluster medium (proto-ICM). If this molecular gas reservoir replenishes the star formation fuel, the overall depletion timescale will exceed 400 Myr, reducing the requirement for the simultaneous ULIRG activity in SPT2349−56. Our results highlight the role of an extended gas reservoir in sustaining a high star formation rate in SPT2349−56 and potentially establishing the ICM during the transition phase to a mature cluster.