The "EMIR Multiline Probe of the ISM Regulating Galaxy Evolution" (EMPIRE) survey is the first wide-area multi-line mapping survey targeting tracers of dense gas across the entire molecular disks of 9 nearby star-forming galaxies.

Using the IRAM-30m telescope, EMPIRE provides, for the first time, resolved (1-2kpc resolution) maps of a suite of density-sensitive transitions in the 3mm atmospheric window, including HCN (1-0), HCO+ (1-0) and HNC (1-0).

Core goals of EMPIRE are: 1) to constrain the gas density distribution and explore how it depends on galactic environment, and 2) constrain how the star formation efficiency per unit gas mass depends on the density distribution in the gas, within and among galaxy disks.

EMIR Multiline Probe of the ISM Regulating Galaxy Evolution