Building on the Archives: Connecting the CN/CO Intensity Ratio with Global Galaxy Properties in Nearby U/LIRGs

• DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/adb310
• Publication Date: 2025-03-04T06:26:20Z
• Authors: Blake Ledger; Christine D. Wilson; Osvald Klimi; Núria Torres-Albà; Toshiki Saito

Abstract We use the CN/CO intensity ratio to obtain the dense gas fraction, f dense, for a sample of 16 ultraluminous and luminous infrared (IR) galaxies and compare f dense with a suite of global galaxy properties. We find a significant correlation between f dense and star formation rate calculated using both IR luminosities and radio continuum, although there is significant scatter in each relation. We find no trend between global or peak f dense and merger stage. We find no correlation between global f dense and X-ray luminosity; however, the correlation becomes significant when we measure f dense at the location of peak X-ray emission. Our interpretation is that the dense gas is co-localized with strong X-ray emission from active galactic nuclei or strong central star formation.