Abstract

Aims. The aim of this study is to investigate the molecular gas content of strongly magnified low-mass star-forming galaxies (SFGs) around the cosmic noon period (z similar to 2) through observations of carbon monoxide (CO) emission lines and dust continuum emission, both of which serve as tracers of molecular gas (H-2). Methods. We observed 12 strongly lensed arcs with the Atacama Compact Array (ACA) to detect CO mid-J rotational transitions and dust continuum. Thanks to the strong lensing, we were able to probe the previously understudied low-mass regime. With a compiled set of observations, we recalibrated empirical relations between star formation rate density (Sigma(SFR)) and the CO line ratios. We derived galaxy properties using spectral energy distribution fitting (SED). We also performed galaxy stacking to combine faint signals. In all cases, molecular gas masses were estimated using both tracers. Results. We detected CO emission in 3 of the 12 arcs and dust continuum emission in another 3. The obtained H-2 masses indicate that most of these galaxies (M-* < 10(10.7) M-circle dot) have lower molecular gas fractions and shorter depletion times compared to expectations from established scaling relations at these redshifts. We explored several possible explanations for this gas deficit, including uncertainties in mass estimates, effects of low-metallicity environments, larger atomic gas reservoirs in low-mass systems, and the possibility that these represent low-mass analogs of main sequence starburst (MS SBs) galaxies that are undergoing sustained star formation due to gas compaction despite low overall gas fractions. Conclusions. We conclude that these mass and metallicity regimes present a molecular gas deficit. Our results suggest that this deficit is likely due to a significant amount of atomic gas, which our stacking indicates is about 91% of the total gas. However, this estimation might be an upper limit, as the possibility remains that our galaxies contain CO-dark gas.