An alma survey of submillimeter galaxies in the extended Chandra deep field-south: The agn fraction and X-ray properties of submillimeter galaxies

Journal Article · Sun Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 2013 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/778/2/179· OSTI ID:22341908

Wang, S. X.; Brandt, W. N.; Luo, B. ^[1]; Smail, I.; Alexander, D. M.; Danielson, A. L. R.; Karim, A.; Simpson, J. M.; Swinbank, A. M. ^[2]; Hodge, J. A.; Walter, F. ^[3]; Lehmer, B. D. ^[4]; Wardlow, J. L. ^[5]; Xue, Y. Q. ^[6]; Chapman, S. C. ^[7]; Coppin, K. E. K. ^[8]; Dannerbauer, H. ^[9]; De Breuck, C. ^[10]; Menten, K. M. ^[11]

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1. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 525 Davey Lab, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States)
2. Institute for Computational Cosmology, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE (United Kingdom)
3. Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy, Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg (Germany)
4. The Johns Hopkins University, Homewood Campus, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States)
5. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697 (United States)
6. Key Laboratory for Research in Galaxies and Cosmology, Center for Astrophysics, Department of Astronomy, University of Science and Technology of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui 230026 (China)
7. Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA (United Kingdom)
8. Centre for Astrophysics, Science and Technology Research Institute, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield AL10 9AB (United Kingdom)
9. Universität Wien, Institute für Astrophysik, Türkenschanzstraße 17, 1180 Wien (Austria)
10. European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild Straße 2, D-85748 Garching (Germany)
11. Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, D-53121 Bonn (Germany)

The large gas and dust reservoirs of submillimeter galaxies (SMGs) could potentially provide ample fuel to trigger an active galactic nucleus (AGN), but previous studies of the AGN fraction in SMGs have been controversial largely due to the inhomogeneity and limited angular resolution of the available submillimeter surveys. Here we set improved constraints on the AGN fraction and X-ray properties of the SMGs with Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and Chandra observations in the Extended Chandra Deep Field-South (E-CDF-S). This study is the first among similar works to have unambiguously identified the X-ray counterparts of SMGs; this is accomplished using the fully submillimeter-identified, statistically reliable SMG catalog with 99 SMGs from the ALMA LABOCA E-CDF-S Submillimeter Survey. We found 10 X-ray sources associated with SMGs (median redshift z = 2.3), of which eight were identified as AGNs using several techniques that enable cross-checking. The other two X-ray detected SMGs have levels of X-ray emission that can be plausibly explained by their star formation activity. Six of the eight SMG-AGNs are moderately/highly absorbed, with N {sub H} > 10{sup 23} cm{sup –2}. An analysis of the AGN fraction, taking into account the spatial variation of X-ray sensitivity, yields an AGN fraction of 17{sub −6}{sup +16}% for AGNs with rest-frame 0.5-8 keV absorption-corrected luminosity ≥7.8 × 10{sup 42} erg s{sup –1}; we provide estimated AGN fractions as a function of X-ray flux and luminosity. ALMA's high angular resolution also enables direct X-ray stacking at the precise positions of SMGs for the first time, and we found four potential SMG-AGNs in our stacking sample.

• OSTI ID: 22341908
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 778; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
ABSORPTION
CATALOGS
DUSTS
EMISSION
FERMILAB COLLIDER DETECTOR
KEV RANGE
LIMITING VALUES
LUMINOSITY
RED SHIFT
RESOLUTION
SENSITIVITY
STARS
X RADIATION
X-RAY GALAXIES
X-RAY SOURCES