Related papers: Lighting the dark molecular gas: H$_{2}$ as a dire…
We determine the cosmic abundance of molecular hydrogen (H2) in the local universe from the xCOLD GASS survey. To constrain the H2 mass function at low masses and correct for the effect of the lower stellar mass limit of 10^9 Msun in the…
We present the first results of an analysis of the properties of the molecular gas in the nuclear regions (r < 300 pc) of a sample of six nearby galaxies, based on new high spatial resolution observations obtained in the K-band with the…
Determining the efficiency with which gas is converted into stars in galaxies requires an accurate determination of the total reservoir of molecular gas mass. However, despite being the most abundant molecule in the Universe, H$_2$ is…
We revisit the mass ratio Rmol between molecular hydrogen (H2) and atomic hydrogen (HI) in different galaxies from a phenomenological and theoretical viewpoint. First, the local H2-mass function (MF) is estimated from the local…
We review here the main direct or indirect ways to detect the possible presence of large amounts of cold molecular hydrogen in the outer parts of disk galaxies, an hypothesis that we have recently developed. Direct ways range from H2…
A growing body of evidence has been supporting the existence of so-called "dark molecular gas" (DMG), which is invisible in the most common tracer of molecular gas, i.e., CO rotational emission. DMG is believed to be the main gas component…
Absorption-selected galaxies offer an effective way to study low-mass galaxies at high redshift. However, the physical properties of the underlying galaxy population remains uncertain. In particular, the multiphase circum-galactic medium is…
We present $^{12}$CO(J=1--0) line observations of 22 low-luminosity spiral galaxies in the Virgo cluster. These data, together with 244 others available in the literature, allow us to build a large sample that we use to study the molecular…
Knowledge of the molecular component of the ISM is fundamental to understand star formation. The H2 component appears to dominate the gas mass in the inner parts of galaxies, while the HI component dominates in the outer parts. Observation…
The use of specific tracers of the dense molecular gas phase can help to explore the feedback of activity on the interstellar medium (ISM) in galaxies. This information is a key to any quantitative assessment of the efficiency of the star…
We have studied the dynamics and masses of a sample of ten nearby luminous and ultraluminous infrared galaxies (LIRGS and ULIRGs), using 2.3 micron CO absorption line spectroscopy and near-infrared H- and Ks-band imaging. By combining…
We report the detection of the CO J=1-0 emission line in three near-infrared selected star-forming galaxies at z~1.5 with the Very Large Array (VLA) and the Green Bank telescope (GBT). These observations directly trace the bulk of molecular…
We present a comparison of the molecular gas properties in the outflow vs. in the ambient medium of the local prototype radio-loud and ultraluminous-infrared galaxy 4C12.50 (IRAS13451+1232), using new data from the IRAM Plateau de Bure…
I examine the possibility that the Cold Neutral Medium of the interstellar medium in galaxies contains a molecular gas phase that may represent a significant and even the dominant amount of its mass in metal-poor regions. In spiral galaxies…
Ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) show on average three times more emission in the rotational transitions of molecular hydrogen than expected based on their star formation rates. Using Spitzer archival data we investigate the origin…
We present IRAM-30m Telescope $^{12}$CO and $^{13}$CO observations of a sample of 55 luminous and ultraluminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs and ULIRGs) in the local universe. This sample is a subset of the Great Observatory All-Sky LIRG Survey…
Molecular outflows contributing to the matter cycle of star forming galaxies are now observed in small and large systems at low and high redshift. Their physical origin is still unclear. In most theoretical studies only warm ionised/neutral…
In this work we conclude the analysis of our CO line survey of Luminous Infrared Galaxies (LIRGs: L_{IR}>=10^{11}L_{sol}) in the local Universe (Paper\,I), by focusing on the influence of their average ISM properties on the total molecular…
One key piece of information missing from high redshift galaxy surveys is the galaxies' cold gas contents. We present a new method to indirectly determine cold gas surface densities and integrated gas masses from galaxy star formation rates…
The amount of cold, molecular gas in high-redshift galaxies is typically inferred from proxies of molecular hydrogen (H$_2$), such as carbon monoxide (CO) or neutral atomic carbon ([CI]) and molecular gas mass conversion factors. The use of…