The BGPS. X. Dense molecular gas

HCO^+^ is very sub-thermally populated and the 3-2 transitions are optically thick toward most BGPS clumps. The median observed line width is 3.3 km/s consistent with supersonic turbulence within BGPS clumps. We find strong correlations between dense molecular gas integrated intensities and 1.1 mm peak flux and the gas kinetic temperature derived from previously published NH_3_observations.

These intensity correlations are driven by the sensitivity of the 3-2 transitions to excitation conditions rather than by variations in molecular column density or abundance. We identify a subset of 113 sources with stronger N_2_H^+^ than HCO^+^ integrated intensity, but we find no correlations between the N_2_H^+^/HCO^+^ ratio and 1.1 mm continuum flux density, gas kinetic temperature, or line width. Self-absorbed profiles are rare (1.3%).