J/A+A/695/A163ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/695/A163doi:10.26093/cds/vizier/bc-nq/lbgdCDSBollo V.Peroux C.Zwaan M.Hamanowicz A.Chen J.Weng S.,Lagos C. del P.Bravo M.Ivison R.J.Biggs A.2026-07-03T06:36:32Z2025-03-18T11:01:22ZCDS support team

CDS, Observatoire de Strasbourg, 11 rue de l'Universite, F-67000 Strasbourg, France

cds-question@unistra.frgalaxiesmolecular-cloudsinterstellar-mediumco-line-emissionCold molecular gas, largely traced by CO emission, is the primary fuel for star formation, making it essential for understanding galaxy evolution. ALMA has made significant progress in the study of the cosmic evolution of cold molecular gas. Here, we exploit the ALMACAL survey to address issues relating to small sample sizes and cosmic variance, utilising calibration data from ALMA to compile a statistically significant and essentially unbiased sample of CO-selected galaxies. By employing a novel statistical approach to emission-line classification using semi-analytical models, we place strong constraints on the CO luminosity function and the cosmic evolution of molecular gas mass density back to z~6. The cosmic molecular gas mass density increases with redshift, peaking around z~1.5, then slowly declines towards higher redshifts by ~1dex. Our findings confirm the key role of molecular gas in fueling star formation. We provide new insights into the redshift evolution of baryonic components in the Universe. The ratio of molecular gas-to-stellar mass density is consistent with the so-called 'bathtub model' of baryons, indicating a continuous replenishment of gas. The cosmic gas depletion timescale, estimated on a global scale, is shown to be fairly constant at all redshifts. We emphasise the importance of surveys using multiple small fields rather than a single contiguous area to mitigate the effects of cosmic variance.2025A&A...695A.163Bhttps://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/695/A163CatalogResearchIsServedByTAP VizieR generic serviceIsServedByConesearch servicerelated-toJ/MNRAS/478/1512 : ALMA calibrator continuum observations cataloghttps://cds.unistra.fr/vizier-org/licences_vizier.htmlhttps://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/A+A/695/A163https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/A+A/695/A163http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/A+A/695/A163https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/A+A/695/A163https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/A+A/695/A163http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/A+A/695/A163GETtext/xml+votablehttps://tapvizier.cds.unistra.fr/TAPVizieR/tapCone search capability for table J/A+A/695/A163/tablea1 (Physical properties of the ALMACAL-22 detections)https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/conesearch/J/A+A/695/A163/tablea1?https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/conesearch/J/A+A/695/A163/tablea1?http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/conesearch/J/A+A/695/A163/tablea1?GETtext/xml+votable180.050000true7.5729-42.41290.0055555555555555566/579 911 4695 12842 16676 17351 17662 17665 17718 17734 18035 18378 19190 22396 23121 25302 25818 26491 26873 27206 27243 27579 28258 29074 29270 29522 31451 31894 34104 34461 35475 35925 36665 38763 41460 41543 42482 44247 46055 46251 46337 48023https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/moc/J/A+A/695/A163?format=asciiRadiodefaultJ/A+A/695/A163/tablea1Physical properties of the ALMACAL-22 detectionsComplSample completeness factor%arith.factor;src.sample;arith.ratiodoubleE_FluxPositive error on fluxmJy.km/sstat.error;stat.maxdoubleRelReliability of detection%meta.code.qualdouble_RAPositions from Bonato et al., 2018, Cat. J/MNRAS/478/1512 (right ascension part)degpos.eq.ra;meta.mainrecnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintPapIVDisplay the data of Paper IV, Bonato et al., 2018, Cat. J/MNRAS/478/1512meta.ref.urlcharNameObject name (JHHMM+DDMM)meta.id;meta.maincharNIDObject identifiermeta.idintFreqObserved frequencyGHzem.freqdoubleFluxMedian flux densitymJy.km/sphot.flux.density;stat.mediandoublee_FluxNegative error on fluxmJy.km/sstat.error;phot.fluxdoubleFWHMMedian full-width at half maximumkm/sspect.line.width;stat.mediandoublee_FWHMNegative error on FWHMkm/sstat.error;phys.angSizedoubleE_FWHMPositive error on FWHMkm/sstat.error;stat.maxdoubleS/NSignal-to-noise ratiostat.snrfloat_DEPositions from Bonato et al., 2018, Cat. J/MNRAS/478/1512 (declination part)degpos.eq.dec;meta.main