http://arxiv.org/abs/1711.10615
Gas-rich galaxy major mergers have been proposed to funnel a significant amount of matter in the galactic scale toward the nuclear regions, triggering powerful AGN and starburst activities. However, there are few direct observational evidences supporting a merger-driven scenario, especially at $z>3$. During ALMA Cycle 3, we carry out a pilot study of CO$(4-3)$ line observations of three {\it WISE}-selected hyper-luminous, dust-obscured QSOs. These selected QSOs have been suggested to be located at or close to both peaks of SMBH accretion and starburst activities, which are both likely triggered by gas-rich major mergers. All three quasar hosts are clearly detected both in continuum and in CO$(4-3)$ line emission. Among all three QSOs, at least two CO line components have been resolved in the image and/or in the spectrum, having small angular ($\le 0.4″$) and velocity separations ($350\sim560$\,km\,s$^{-1}$). The derived gas mass ratio is greater than 1:4, with the total gas mass ranging form $10^{10}$ to $10^{11}$ M$_\odot$. Our results suggest that advanced gas-rich major mergers are possibly main mechanisms for feeding the SMBH accretion and triggering the extreme starburst in hyper-luminous, dust-obscured QSOs.
L. Fan, K. Knudsen, J. Fogasy, et. al.
Thu, 30 Nov 17
4/77
Comments: 7 pages, 3 figures and 2 tables. Submitted
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