Deep kiloparsec view of the molecular gas in a massive star-forming galaxy at cosmic noon

We present deep (∼20 hr), high-angular resolution Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations of the CO (4 − 3) and [CI] (1 − 0) transitions, along with the rest-frame 630 μm dust continuum, in BX610–a massive, main-sequence galaxy at the peak epoch of cosmic star formation (z = 2.21). Combined with deep Very Large Telescope (VLT) SINFONI observations of the Hα line, we characterize the molecular gas and star formation activity on kiloparsec scales. Our analysis reveals that the excitation of the molecular gas, as traced by the $ L{\prime}_\mathrm{CO~(4{-}3)} \big/ L{\prime}_\mathrm{[CI]~(1{-}0)} $ line luminosity ratio, decreases with increasing galactocentric radius. While the line luminosity ratios in the outskirts are similar to those typically found in main-sequence galaxies at z ∼ 1, the ratios in the central regions of BX610 are comparable to those observed in local starbursts. There is also a giant extra-nuclear star-forming clump in the southwest of BX610 that exhibits high star formation activity, molecular gas abundance, and molecular gas excitation. Furthermore, the central region of BX610 is rich in molecular gas (Mmol/M⋆ ≈ 1); however, at the current level of star formation activity, such molecular gas is expected to be depleted in ∼450 Myr. This, along with recent evidence for rapid inflow toward the center, suggests that BX610 may be experiencing an evolutionary phase often referred to as wet compaction, which is expected to lead to central gas depletion and subsequent inside-out quenching of star formation activity.