J/ApJ/945/L19ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/945/L19doi:10.26093/cds/vizier.19459019CDSSun J.Leroy A.K.Ostriker E.C.Meidt S.Rosolowsky E.Schinnerer E.,Wilson C.D.Utomo D.Belfiore F.Blanc G.A.Emsellem E.Faesi C.,Groves B.Hughes A.Koch E.W.Kreckel K.Liu D.Pan H.-A.Pety J.,Querejeta M.Razza A.Saito T.Sardone A.Usero A.Williams T.G.,Bigiel F.Bolatto A.D.Chevance M.Dale D.A.Gensior J.,Glover S.C.O.Grasha K.Henshaw J.D.Jimenez-Donaire M.J.,Klessen R.S.Kruijssen J.M.D.Murphy E.J.Neumann L.Teng Y.-H.,Thilker D.A.2025-04-01T20:09:34Z2025-03-24T08:11:13ZCDS support team

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

cds-question@unistra.frgalaxiesinterstellar-mediumstar-forming-regionsmolecular-physicsco-line-emissioninfrared-astronomyWe measure empirical relationships between the local star formation rate (SFR) and properties of the star-forming molecular gas on 1.5kpc scales across 80 nearby galaxies. These relationships, commonly referred to as "star formation laws," aim at predicting the local SFR surface density from various combinations of molecular gas surface density, galactic orbital time, molecular cloud free fall time, and the interstellar medium dynamical equilibrium pressure. Leveraging a multiwavelength database built for the Physics at High Angular Resolution in Nearby Galaxies (PHANGS) survey, we measure these quantities consistently across all galaxies and quantify systematic uncertainties stemming from choices of SFR calibrations and the CO-to-H2 conversion factors. The star formation laws we examine show 0.3-0.4dex of intrinsic scatter, among which the molecular Kennicutt-Schmidt relation shows a ~10% larger scatter than the other three. The slope of this relation ranges {beta}~0.9-1.2, implying that the molecular gas depletion time remains roughly constant across the environments probed in our sample. The other relations have shallower slopes ({beta}~0.6-1.0), suggesting that the star formation efficiency per orbital time, the star formation efficiency per free fall time, and the pressure-to-SFR surface density ratio (i.e., the feedback yield) vary systematically with local molecular gas and SFR surface densities. Last but not least, the shapes of the star formation laws depend sensitively on methodological choices. Different choices of SFR calibrations can introduce systematic uncertainties of at least 10%-15% in the star formation law slopes and 0.15-0.25dex in their normalization, while the CO-to-H2 conversion factors can additionally produce uncertainties of 20%-25% for the slope and 0.10-0.20dex for the normalization.2023ApJ...945L..19Shttps://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/ApJ/945/L19CatalogResearchIsServedByTAP VizieR generic serviceIsServedByConesearch servicerelated-toJ/AJ/136/2782 : Star formation efficiency in nearby galaxies (Leroy+, 2008)J/AJ/136/2563 : HI Nearby Galaxy Survey, THINGS (Walter+, 2008)J/ApJ/846/71 : M51 ISM structures from the CO maps of PAWS (Leroy+, 2017)J/MNRAS/478/1611 : Local Volume H I Survey (LVHIS) (Koribalski+, 2018)J/ApJ/860/172 : Cloud-scale molecular gas data in 15 galaxies (Sun+, 2018)J/ApJ/872/16 : Integrated star formation law revisited (de los Reyes+, 2019)J/ApJS/244/24 : z=0 Multiwavelength Galaxy Synthesis (z0MGS). I. (Leroy+, 2019)J/ApJ/882/5 : ALMA data for 5 luminous & ultralum. IR gal. (Wilson+, 2019)J/ApJ/897/122 : Rotational velocities for PHANGS sample of gal. (Lang+, 2020)J/ApJ/892/148 : Molecular ISM in nearby star-forming galaxies (Sun+, 2020)J/ApJ/901/L8 : Molecular gas data of 70 PHANGS-ALMA galaxies (Sun+, 2020)J/ApJ/908/61 : Integrated Star Formation Law revisited. II. (Kennicutt+, 2021)J/ApJS/257/43 : PHANGS-ALMA: arcsecond CO(2-1) imaging of gal. (Leroy+, 2021)J/ApJ/927/149 : Low-J CO line ratios for 152 CO map pairs (Leroy+, 2022)http://www.canfar.net/storage/vault/list/phangs/RELEASES/Sun_etal_2022 : PHANGShttps://cds.unistra.fr/vizier-org/licences_vizier.htmlhttps://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/ApJ/945/L19https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/ApJ/945/L19http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/ApJ/945/L19https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/ApJ/945/L19https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/ApJ/945/L19http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/ApJ/945/L19GETtext/xml+votablehttps://tapvizier.cds.unistra.fr/TAPVizieR/tapCone search capability for table J/ApJ/945/L19/galaxies (List of the 80 nearby galaxies; table added by CDS)https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/945/L19/galaxies?https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/945/L19/galaxies?http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/945/L19/galaxies?GETtext/xml+votable180.050000true213.291275-65.33901940.005555555555555556Cone search capability for table J/ApJ/945/L19/tablea1 (Catalog of all measurements used in this work; see Appendix A)https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/945/L19/tablea1?https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/945/L19/tablea1?http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/945/L19/tablea1?GETtext/xml+votable180.050000true213.29124-65.339150.0055555555555555566/4149 4511 16441 16655 16664 16666 17747 17753 18398 19611 20526 20929 22751 24912 25135 25762 25788 25790 26119 26271 26303 26338 26472 27030 27514 27643 27728 27735 27765 27861 27917 27937-27938 27942 27944 27949 28015 28033 28035 28046 28167 28200 28208 28220-28221 28264 28304 28306 33077 33176 33228 33654 33954 33958 34272 34343 34382 34404 34493 34495 34531 34910 35536 35993 36134 36261 36987 36990 38390 38653 38655 38832 40328 40461 40472 41586 42016 43262 43325 43339 43881 44011 44027 45748 46481 46495 46519 46549https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/moc/J/ApJ/945/L19?format=asciiInfraredRadiodefaultJ/ApJ/945/L19/galaxiesList of the 80 nearby galaxies; table added by CDSSimbadSimbad column added by the CDSmeta.ref.urlcharNEDNED column added by the CDSmeta.ref.urlcharLEDAmeta.ref.urlcharrecnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintNameGalaxy namemeta.id;meta.maincharprimaryPHANGSDisplay data from Sun+ 2020, J/ApJ/901/L8; Groves+ 2023, J/MNRAS/520/4902 and/or Leroy+ 2021, J/ApJS/257/43meta.ref.urlintnullableNmNumber of measurements for this galaxymeta.numberintnullable_RARight Ascension (J2000) from SIMBAD (not part of the original data)degpos.eq.ra;meta.main_DEDeclination (J2000) from SIMBAD (not part of the original data)degpos.eq.dec;meta.mainJ/ApJ/945/L19/tablea1Catalog of all measurements used in this work; see Appendix ANameGalaxy name (gal_name)meta.id;meta.maincharrecnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintRAJ2000Aperture center degree of Right Ascension (J2000)degpos.eq.ra;meta.mainDEJ2000[-74/22] Aperture center degree of Declination (J2000)degpos.eq.dec;meta.mainP-DE-S20[0/10080000]? ISM dynamical equilibrium pressure; S20 {alpha}_CO_ (1)phys.pressuredoublenullableSigSFRHaW4c[0/0.7]? SFR surface density; Ha+22um (Sigma_SFR_HaW4recal)solMass.yr**-1.kpc**-2phys.SFR;em.line.Halpha;em.IR.15-30umdoublenullablee_SigSFRHaW4c[9.7e-06/0.007]? Uncertainty in SigSFRHaW4c (e_Sigma_SFR_HaW4recal)solMass.yr**-1.kpc**-2stat.error;phys.SFR;em.IRfloatnullableSigSFRFUVW4c[0/0.6]? SFR surface density; FUV+22um (Sigma_SFR_FUVW4recal)solMass.yr**-1.kpc**-2phys.SFR;em.UV.100-200nm;em.IR.15-30umdoublenullablee_SigSFRFUVW4c[6e-06/0.0005]? Uncertainty in SigSFRFUVW4c (e_Sigma-SFR-FUVW4recal)solMass.yr**-1.kpc**-2stat.error;phys.SFRfloatnullableSigSFRHacor[5.8e-05/0.6]? SFR surface density; AV-corrected Ha (Sigma-SFR-Hacorr)solMass.yr**-1.kpc**-2phys.SFR;em.line.Halpha;arith.diffdoublenullablee_SigSFRHacor[4e-07/6e-05]? Uncertainty in SigSFR-Hac (e_Sigma-SFR-Hacorr)solMass.yr**-1.kpc**-2stat.error;phys.SFR;em.line.HalphafloatnullableSigMol-S20[0/772] Molecular gas surface density; S20 {alpha}_CO_ (Sigma-mol-S20) (1)solMass.pc**-2phys.densitydoublee_SigMol-S20[0.018/1] Uncertainty in SigMol-S20 (e_Sigma-mol-S20)solMass.pc**-2stat.error;phys.densityfloatSigMol-MW[0/1263] Molecular gas surface density; Galactic {alpha}_CO_ (Sigma-mol-MW)solMass.pc**-2phys.densitydoublee_SigMol-MW[0.01/1.7] Uncertainty in SigMol-MW (e_Sigma-mol-MW)solMass.pc**-2stat.error;phys.densityfloatSigMol-B13[0/166.3]? Molecular gas surface density; B13 {alpha}_CO_ (Sigma-mol-B13) (1)solMass.pc**-2phys.densitydoublenullablee_SigMol-B13[0.009/0.6]? Uncertainty in SigMol-B13 (e_Sigma-mol-B13)solMass.pc**-2stat.error;phys.densityfloatnullableSigMol-G20[0/258.1]? Molecular gas surface density; G20 {alpha}_CO_ (Sigma-mol-G20) (1)solMass.pc**-2phys.densitydoublenullablee_SigMol-G20[0.016/0.7]? Uncertainty in SigMol-G20 (e_Sigma-mol-G20)solMass.pc**-2stat.error;phys.densityfloatnullableSigMol-torb-S20[0/6]? Molecular gas surface density per orbital time; S20 {alpha}_CO_ (Sigma_mol_per_t_orb_S20) (1)solMass.yr**-1.kpc**-2phys.densitydoublenullablee_SigMol-torb-S20[9e-05/5.1]? Uncertainty in SigMol-torb-S20 (e_Sigma_mol_per_t_orb_S20)solMass.yr**-1.kpc**-2stat.error;phys.densityfloatnullableSigMol-torb-MW[0/9.5]? Molecular gas surface density per orbital time; Galactic {alpha}_CO_ (Sigma_mol_per_t_orb_MW)solMass.yr**-1.kpc**-2phys.densitydoublenullablee_SigMol-torb-MW[5.8e-05/8.1]? Uncertainty in SigMol-torb-MW (e_Sigma_mol_per_t_orb_MW)solMass.yr**-1.kpc**-2stat.error;phys.densityfloatnullableSigMol-torb-B13[0/1.6]? Molecular gas surface density per orbital time; B13 {alpha}_CO_ (Sigma_mol_per_t_orb_B13) (1)solMass.yr**-1.kpc**-2phys.densitydoublenullablee_SigMol-torb-B13[6.6e-05/0.2]? Uncertainty in SigMol-torb-B13 (e_Sigma_mol_per_t_orb_B13)solMass.yr**-1.kpc**-2stat.error;phys.densityfloatnullableSigMol-torb-G20[0/2.1]? Molecular gas surface density per orbital time; G20 {alpha}_CO_ (Sigma_mol_per_t_orb_G20) (1)solMass.yr**-1.kpc**-2phys.densitydoublenullablee_SigMol-torb-G20[0.0001/1.8]? Uncertainty in SigMol-torb-G20 (e_Sigma_mol_per_t_orb_G20)solMass.yr**-1.kpc**-2stat.error;phys.densityfloatnullableSigMol-tff-S20[0/544.1]? Molecular gas surface density per free-fall time; S20 {alpha}_CO_ (Sigma_mol_per_t_ff_S20) (1)solMass.yr**-1.kpc**-2phys.densitydoublenullablee_SigMol-tff-S20[0.0004/0.8]? Uncertainty in SigMol-tff-S20 (e_Sigma_mol_per_t_ff_S20)solMass.yr**-1.kpc**-2stat.error;phys.densityfloatnullableSigMol-tff-MW[0/891]? Molecular gas surface density per free-fall time; Galactic {alpha}_CO_ (Sigma_mol_per_t_ff_MW)solMass.yr**-1.kpc**-2phys.densitydoublenullablee_SigMol-tff-MW[0.0003/1.2]? Uncertainty in SigMol-tff-MW (e_Sigma_mol_per_t_ff_MW)solMass.yr**-1.kpc**-2stat.error;phys.densityfloatnullableSigMol-tff-B13[0/106]? Molecular gas surface density per free-fall time; B13 {alpha}_CO_ (Sigma_mol_per_t_ff_B13) (1)solMass.yr**-1.kpc**-2phys.densitydoublenullablee_SigMol-tff-B13[0.00039/0.22]? Uncertainty in SigMoltff-B13 (e_Sigma_mol_per_t_ff_B13)solMass.yr**-1.kpc**-2stat.error;phys.densityfloatnullableSigMol-tff-G20[0/182]? Molecular gas surface density per free-fall time; G20 {alpha}_CO_ (Sigma_mol_per_t_ff_G20) (1)solMass.yr**-1.kpc**-2phys.densitydoublenullablee_SigMol-tff-G20[0.00047/0.3]? Uncertainty in SigMol-tff-G20 (e_Sigma_mol_per_t_ff_G20)solMass.yr**-1.kpc**-2stat.error;phys.densityfloatnullablee_P-DE-S20[20/18000]? Uncertainty in P-DE-S20stat.error;phys.pressurefloatnullableP-DE-MW[0/23760000]? ISM dynamical equilibrium pressure; Galactic {alpha}_CO_phys.pressuredoublenullablee_P-DE-MW[12/40000]? Uncertainty in P-DE-MWstat.error;phys.pressurefloatnullableP-DE-B13[0/1552000]? ISM dynamical equilibrium pressure; B13 {alpha}_CO_ (1)phys.pressuredoublenullablee_P-DE-B13[18/6900]? Uncertainty in P-DE-B13stat.error;phys.pressurefloatnullableP-DE-G20[0/1556000]? ISM dynamical equilibrium pressure; G20 {alpha}_CO_ (1)phys.pressuredoublenullablee_P-DE-G20[23/8500]? Uncertainty in P-DE-G20stat.error;phys.pressurefloatnullable