Herschel-ATLAS: Properties of dusty massive galaxies at low and high redshifts

Abstract

We present a comparison of the physical properties of a rest-frame $250\mu$m selected sample of massive, dusty galaxies from $0<z<5.3$. Our sample comprises 29 high-redshift submillimetre galaxies (SMGs) from the literature, and 843 dusty galaxies at $z<0.5$ from the Herschel-ATLAS, selected to have a similar stellar mass to the SMGs. The $z>1$ SMGs have an average SFR of $390^{+80}_{-70}\,$M$_\odot$yr$^{-1}$ which is 120 times that of the low-redshift sample matched in stellar mass to the SMGs (SFR$=3.3\pm{0.2}$ M$_\odot$yr$^{-1}$). The SMGs harbour a substantial mass of dust ($1.2^{+0.3}_{-0.2}\times{10}^9\,$M$_\odot$), compared to $(1.6\pm0.1)\times{10}^8\,$M$_\odot$ for low-redshift dusty galaxies. At low redshifts the dust luminosity is dominated by the diffuse ISM, whereas a large fraction of the dust luminosity in SMGs originates from star-forming regions. At the same dust mass SMGs are offset towards a higher SFR compared to the low-redshift H-ATLAS galaxies. This is not only due to the higher gas fraction in SMGs but also because they are undergoing a more efficient mode of star formation, which is consistent with their bursty star-formation histories. The offset in SFR between SMGs and low-redshift galaxies is similar to that found in CO studies, suggesting that dust mass is as good a tracer of molecular gas as CO.