Evidence for a gas-rich major merger in a proto-cluster at z=2.5

Abstract

Gas-rich major mergers in high-redshift proto-clusters are important events, perhaps leading to the creation of the slowly rotating remnants seen in the cores of clusters in the present day. Here, we present a deep Jansky Very Large Array observation of CO J = 1-0 emission line in a proto-cluster at z = 2.5, USS1558-003. The target field is an extremely dense region, where 20 H-alpha emitters (HAEs) are clustering. We have successfully detected the CO emission line from three HAEs and discovered a close pair of red and blue CO-emitting HAEs. Given their close proximity (~30 kpc), small velocity offset (~300 km/s), and similar stellar masses, they could be in the early phase of a gas-rich major merger. For the red HAE, we derive a total infrared luminosity of L(IR)=5.1e12 Lsun using MIPS 24 um and radio continuum images. The L(IR)/L'(CO) ratio is significantly enhanced compared to local spirals and high-redshift disks with a similar CO luminosity, which is indicative of a starburst mode. We find the gas depletion timescale is shorter than that of normal star-forming galaxies regardless of adopted CO-H2 conversion factors. The identification of such a rare event suggests that gas-rich major mergers frequently take place in proto-clusters at z > 2 and may involve the formation processes of slow rotators seen in local massive clusters.