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Aims. We present the detailed characterisation of a sample of 56 sources serendipitously detected in ALMA band 7 as part of the ALMA Large Program to INvestigate CII at Early Times (ALPINE). These sources, detected in COSMOS and ECDFS, have been used to derive the total infrared luminosity function (LF) and to estimate the cosmic star formation rate density (SFRD) up to z ≃ 6. Methods. We looked for counterparts of the ALMA sources in all the available multi-wavelength (from HST to VLA) and photometric redshift catalogues. We also made use of deeper UltraVISTA and Spitzer source lists and maps to identify optically dark sources with no matches in the public catalogues. We used the sources with estimated redshifts to derive the 250 μm rest-frame and total infrared (8–1000 μm) LFs from z ≃ 0.5 to 6. Results. Our ALMA blind survey (860 μm flux density range: ∼0.3–12.5 mJy) allows us to further push the study of the nature and evolution of dusty galaxies at high-z, identifying luminous and massive sources to redshifts and faint luminosities never probed before by any far-infrared surveys. The ALPINE data are the first ones to sample the faint end of the infrared LF, showing little evolution from z ≃ 2.5 to z ≃ 6, and a "flat" slope up to the highest redshifts (i.e. 4.5 <  z <  6). The SFRD obtained by integrating the luminosity function remains almost constant between z ≃ 2 and z ≃ 6, and significantly higher than the optical or ultra-violet derivations, showing a significant contribution of dusty galaxies and obscured star formation at high-z. About 14% of all the ALPINE serendipitous continuum sources are found to be optically and near-infrared (near-IR) dark (to a depth Ks ∼ 24.9 mag). Six show a counterpart only in the mid-IR and no HST or near-IR identification, while two are detected as [C II] emitters at z ≃ 5. The six HST+near-IR dark galaxies with mid-IR counterparts are found to contribute about 17% of the total SFRD at z ≃ 5 and to dominate the high-mass end of the stellar mass function at z >  3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The molecular gas content of normal galaxies at z >  4 is poorly constrained because the commonly used molecular gas tracers become hard to detect at these high redshifts. We use the [C II] 158 μm luminosity, which was recently proposed as a molecular gas tracer, to estimate the molecular gas content in a large sample of main sequence star-forming galaxies at z = 4.4 − 5.9, with a median stellar mass of 109.7 M⊙, drawn from the ALMA Large Program to INvestigate [C II] at Early times survey. The agreement between the molecular gas masses derived from [C II] luminosities, dynamical masses, and rest-frame 850 μm luminosities extrapolated from the rest-frame 158 μm continuum supports [C II] as a reliable tracer of molecular gas in our sample. We find a continuous decline of the molecular gas depletion timescale from z = 0 to z = 5.9, which reaches a mean value of (4.6 ± 0.8) × 108 yr at z ∼ 5.5, only a factor of between two and three shorter than in present-day galaxies. This suggests a mild enhancement of the star formation efficiency toward high redshifts. Our estimates also show that the previously reported rise in the molecular gas fraction flattens off above z ∼ 3.7 to achieve a mean value of 63%±3% over z = 4.4 − 5.9. This redshift evolution of the gas fraction is in line with that of the specific star formation rate. We use multi-epoch abundance-matching to follow the gas fraction evolution across cosmic time of progenitors of z = 0 Milky Way-like galaxies in ∼1013 M⊙ halos and of more massive z = 0 galaxies in ∼1014 M⊙ halos. Interestingly, the former progenitors show a monotonic increase of the gas fraction with redshift, while the latter show a steep rise from z = 0 to z ∼ 2 followed by a constant gas fraction from z ∼ 2 to z = 5.9. We discuss three possible effects, namely outflows, a pause in gas supply, and over-efficient star formation, which may jointly contribute to the gas fraction plateau of the latter massive galaxies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present dust attenuation properties of spectroscopically confirmed star forming galaxies on the main sequence at a redshift of ∼4.4 − 5.8. Our analyses are based on the far infrared continuum observations of 118 galaxies at rest-frame 158 μm obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) Large Program to INvestigate [CII] at Early times (ALPINE). We study the connection between the ultraviolet (UV) spectral slope (β), stellar mass (M⋆), and infrared excess (IRX = LIR/LUV). Twenty-three galaxies are individually detected in the continuum at > 3.5σ significance. We perform a stacking analysis using both detections and nondetections to study the average dust attenuation properties at z ∼ 4.4 − 5.8. The individual detections and stacks show that the IRX–β relation at z ∼ 5 is consistent with a steeper dust attenuation curve than typically found at lower redshifts (z <  4). The attenuation curve is similar to or even steeper than that of the extinction curve of the Small Magellanic Cloud. This systematic change of the IRX–β relation as a function of redshift suggests an evolution of dust attenuation properties at z >  4. Similarly, we find that our galaxies have lower IRX values, up to 1 dex on average, at a fixed mass compared to previously studied IRX–M⋆ relations at z ≲ 4, albeit with significant scatter. This implies a lower obscured fraction of star formation than at lower redshifts. Our results suggest that dust properties of UV-selected star forming galaxies at z ≳ 4 are characterised by (i) a steeper attenuation curve than at z ≲ 4, and (ii) a rapidly decreasing dust obscured fraction of star formation as a function of redshift. Nevertheless, even among this UV-selected sample, massive galaxies (log M⋆/M⊙ >  10) at z ∼ 5 − 6 already exhibit an obscured fraction of star formation of ∼45%, indicating a rapid build-up of dust during the epoch of reionization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) Large Program to INvestigate [CII] at Early times (ALPINE) targets the [CII] 158 μm line and the far-infrared continuum in 118 spectroscopically confirmed star-forming galaxies between z = 4.4 and z = 5.9. It represents the first large [CII] statistical sample built in this redshift range. We present details regarding the data processing and the construction of the catalogs. We detected 23 of our targets in the continuum. To derive accurate infrared luminosities and obscured star formation rates (SFRs), we measured the conversion factor from the ALMA 158 μm rest-frame dust continuum luminosity to the total infrared luminosity (LIR) after constraining the dust spectral energy distribution by stacking a photometric sample similar to ALPINE in ancillary single-dish far-infrared data. We found that our continuum detections have a median LIR of 4.4 × 1011L⊙. We also detected 57 additional continuum sources in our ALMA pointings. They are at a lower redshift than the ALPINE targets, with a mean photometric redshift of 2.5 ± 0.2. We measured the 850 μm number counts between 0.35 and 3.5 mJy, thus improving the current interferometric constraints in this flux density range. We found a slope break in the number counts around 3 mJy with a shallower slope below this value. More than 40% of the cosmic infrared background is emitted by sources brighter than 0.35 mJy. Finally, we detected the [CII] line in 75 of our targets. Their median [CII] luminosity is 4.8 × 108L⊙ and their median full width at half maximum is 252 km s−1. After measuring the mean obscured SFR in various [CII] luminosity bins by stacking ALPINE continuum data, we find a good agreement between our data and the local and predicted SFR–L[CII] relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the detection of [C  ii ] λ158  |$\mu$| m emission from a system of three closely separated sources in the Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) field at z ∼ 4.56 , as part of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) Large Program to INvestigate C  ii at Early times (ALPINE). The two most luminous sources are closely associated, both spatially (1.6 arcsec ∼ 11 kpc) and in velocity (∼100 km s−1), while the third source is slightly more distant (2.8 arcsec ∼ 18 kpc, ∼300 km s−1). The second most luminous source features a slight velocity gradient, while no significant velocity gradient is seen in the other two sources. Using the observed [C  ii ] luminosities, we derive a total log |$_{10}(\rm SFR_{[C\,{\small II}]}\, [M_{\odot }\, yr^{-1}])=2.8\pm 0.2$|⁠ , which may be split into contributions of 59, 31, and 10 per cent from the central, east, and west sources, respectively. Comparison of these [C  ii ] detections to recent zoom-in cosmological simulations suggests an ongoing major merger. We are thus witnessing a system in a major phase of mass build-up by merging, including an ongoing major merger and an upcoming minor merger, which is expected to end up in a single massive galaxy by z ∼ 2.5. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]