English

The ${}^{13}\mathrm{CO}(2{-}1)/^{12}\mathrm{CO}(2{-}1)$ Line Ratio from 100 Molecular Clouds in the Large Magellanic Cloud

Astrophysics of Galaxies 2026-05-19 v1

Abstract

We analyze the line ratio of the 13^{13}CO (2-1) to 12^{12}CO (2-1) rotational transitions observed from new ALMA observations of 100 Giant Molecular Clouds (GMCs) that span the Large Magellanic Cloud. We measure a median line ratio of 13CO(21)/12CO(21)=0.078^{13}\mathrm{CO}(2{-}1)/^{12}\mathrm{CO}(2{-}1) = 0.078 with 68%68\% of the sample falling between 0.058 and 0.107. A regression analysis confirms a nearly linear relationship across two orders of magnitude in line luminosity. Moreover, we find that the inclusion of (LFIR)(L_{\text{FIR}}) from Young Stellar Objects as a predictor variable of the line ratio significantly improves the quality of the fit, with clouds hosting IR-bright YSOs having relatively brighter 13^{13}CO emission. This analysis indicates that active star forming molecular clouds have different internal conditions than more quiescent clouds.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2605.17024,
  title  = {The ${}^{13}\mathrm{CO}(2{-}1)/^{12}\mathrm{CO}(2{-}1)$ Line Ratio from 100 Molecular Clouds in the Large Magellanic Cloud},
  author = {Dia Kalra and Erik Rosolowsky and Adam Leroy and Remy Indebetouw},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2605.17024},
  year   = {2026}
}