A radio-to-mm census of star-forming galaxies in protocluster 4C23.56 at
  z=2.5 : Gas mass and its fraction revealed with ALMA
  We investigate gas contents of star-forming galaxies associated with
protocluster 4C23.56 at z = 2.49 by using the redshifted CO(3-2) and 1.1 mm
dust continuum with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. The
observations unveil seven CO detections out of 22 targeted H$\alpha$ emitters
(HAEs) and four out of 19 in 1.1 mm dust continuum. They have high stellar mass
($M_{\star}>4\times 10^{10}$ $M_{\odot}$) and exhibit a specific star-formation
rate typical of main-sequence star forming galaxies at $z\sim2.5$. Different
gas mass estimators from CO(3-2) and 1.1 mm yield consistent values for
simultaneous detections. The gas mass ($M_{\rm gas}$) and gas fraction ($f_{\rm
gas}$) are comparable to those of field galaxies, with $M_{\rm gas}=[0.3,
1.8]\times10^{11} \times (\alpha_{\rm CO}/(4.36\times A(Z)$)) M$_{\odot}$,
where $\alpha_{\rm CO}$ is the CO-to-H$_2$ conversion factor and $A(Z)$ the
additional correction factor for the metallicity dependence of $\alpha_{\rm
CO}$, and $\langle f_{\rm gas}\rangle = 0.53 \pm 0.07$ from CO(3-2). Our
measurements place a constraint on the cosmic gas density of high-$z$
protoclusters, indicating the protocluster is characterized by a gas density
higher than that of the general fields by an order of magnitude. We found $\rho
(H_2)\sim 5 \times 10^9 \,M_{\odot}\,{\rm Mpc^{-3}}$ with the CO(3-2)
detections. The five ALMA CO detections occur in the region of highest galaxy
surface density, where the density positively correlates with global
star-forming efficiency (SFE) and stellar mass. Such correlations imply a
potentially critical role of environment on early galaxy evolution at high-z
protoclusters, although future observations are necessary for confirmation.
