Abstract
Dense gas is the direct fuel for star formation, but measuring it has long been difficult at
z
≥ 2, especially in unlensed star-forming main-sequence galaxies. In this work, we report the first detection of HNC (J = 5–4) and CN (N = 4–3) emission in a massive unlensed main-sequence galaxy, BX610, at
z
= 2.21. The velocity integrated emission of HNC(5–4)+CN(4–3) is concentrated in the galactic centre, coincident with the region of ongoing intense star formation. Based on line decomposition, we measure a line flux ratio HNC(5-4)∕CN(4-3) of 1.05 ± 0.23, similar to that of lensed starburst galaxies at comparable redshifts but lower than that of quasar host galaxies. The low HNC/CN ratio disfavours the presence of a strongly buried AGN in BX610, consistent with optical line diagnostics. The radiative transfer analysis favours the presence of dense gas with a density of (2-4) × 10
6
cm
−3
and a kinetic temperature of 50–80 K. The derived abundance ratio between
N
(HNC) and
N
(CN) favours dense gas clouds near photodissociation regions, as commonly seen in typical starburst environments. The inferred dense-gas line luminosity closely follows the scaling relation between far-IR and dense-gas line luminosities established for local luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs). Our observations support the view that star formation in cosmic noon galaxies is primarily controlled by the availability of dense gas, which could be enhanced in central galactic regions with efficient cold gas inflows as observed in BX610 along the inner spiral arms and a possible stellar bar.