The evolutionary connection between QSOs and SMGs: molecular gas in far-infrared luminous QSOs at z ~ 2.5
We present IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer observations of the 12CO(3-2) emission from two far-infrared luminous QSOs at z ~ 2.5 selected from the Herschel-ATLAS survey. These far-infrared bright QSOs were selected to have supermassive black holes (SMBHs) with masses similar to those thought to reside in sub-millimetre galaxies (SMGs) at z ~ 2.5; making them ideal candidates as systems in transition from an ultraluminous infrared galaxy phase to a sub-mm faint, unobscured, QSO. We detect 12CO(3-2) emission from both QSOs and we compare their baryonic, dynamical and SMBH masses to those of SMGs at the same epoch. We find that these far-infrared bright QSOs have similar dynamical but lower gas masses than SMGs. In particular we find that far-infrared bright QSOs have ~50+-23% less warm/dense gas than SMGs, which combined with previous results showing the QSOs lack the extended, cool reservoir of gas seen in SMGs, suggests that they are at a different evolutionary stage. This is consistent with the hypothesis that far-infrared bright QSOs represent a short (~1Myr) but ubiquitous phase in the transformation of dust obscured, gas-rich, starburst-dominated SMGs into unobscured, gas-poor, QSOs.
Item Type | Article |
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Date Deposited | 26 Jul 2024 11:49 |
Last Modified | 26 Jul 2024 11:49 |
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Read more research from the creator(s):
- Simpson, J.M.
- Smail, Ian
- Swinbank, A. M.
- Alexander, D. M.
- Auld, R.
- Baes, M.
- Bonfield, D.G.
- Clements, D. L.
- Cooray, A.
- Coppin, Kristen
- Danielson, A. L. R.
- Dariush, A.
- Dunne, L.
- de Zotti, G.
- Harrison, C. M.
- Hopwood, R.
- Hoyos, C.
- Ibar, E.
- Ivison, R. J.
- Jarvis, M.J.
- Lapi, A.
- Maddox, S. J.
- Page, M. J.
- Riechers, D. A.
- Valiante, E.
- van der Werf, P.
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