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The Discovery of Gas-Rich, Dusty Starbursts in Luminous Reddened Quasars at $z\sim2.5$ with ALMA

Published version
Peer-reviewed

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Authors

Carilli, CL 
Wagg, J 
McMahon, RG 

Abstract

We present ALMA observations of cold dust and molecular gas in four high-luminosity, heavily reddened (AV∼2.5−6 mag) Type 1 quasars at z∼2.5 with virial MBH∼1010M, to test whether dusty, massive quasars represent the evolutionary link between submillimetre bright galaxies (SMGs) and unobscured quasars. All four quasars are detected in both the dust continuum and in the 12CO(3-2) line. The mean dust mass is 6$\times10^{8}M\odot$ assuming a typical high redshift quasar spectral energy distribution (T=41K, β=1.95 or T=47K, β=1.6). The implied star formation rates are very high - $\gtrsim1000M\odot$ yr−1 in all cases. Gas masses estimated from the CO line luminosities cover $\sim1−5\times10^{10}(\alpha_{\rm{CO}} / 0.8)M_\odot$ and the gas depletion timescales are very short - ∼5−20Myr. A range of gas-to-dust ratios is observed in the sample. We resolve the molecular gas in one quasar - ULASJ2315$+0143(z=2.561$) - which shows a strong velocity gradient over $\sim20kpc.Thevelocityfieldisconsistentwitharotationallysupportedgasdiskbutotherscenarios,e.g.mergers,cannotberuledoutatthecurrentresolutionofthesedata.InanotherquasarULASJ1234+0907(z=2.503$) - we detected molecular line emission from two millimetre bright galaxies within 200 kpc of the quasar, suggesting that this quasar resides in a significant over-density. The high detection rate of both cold dust and molecular gas in these sources, suggests that reddened quasars could correspond to an early phase in massive galaxy formation associated with large gas reservoirs and significant star formation.

Description

Keywords

astro-ph.GA, astro-ph.GA

Journal Title

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0035-8711
1365-2966

Volume Title

465

Publisher

Oxford University Press
Sponsorship
Science and Technology Facilities Council (ST/K000985/1)
Science and Technology Facilities Council (ST/N000927/1)
Science and Technology Facilities Council (ST/M005305/1)
MB acknowledges funding from the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) via an Ernest Rutherford Fellowship. GJ is grateful for support from NRAO through the Grote Reber Doctoral Fellowship Program. RGM and PCH acknowledge funding from STFC via the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge Consolidated Grant. SA-Z acknowledges support from Peterhouse, Cambridge.