ALMA detected overdensity of sub-mm sources around WISE/NVSS-selected z~2 dusty quasars

TL;DR

This study uses ALMA observations to reveal a significant overdensity of sub-millimeter sources around z~2 dusty quasars, indicating these quasars are markers of high-density cosmic regions.

Contribution

First detailed ALMA imaging of the environments of hyper-luminous dusty quasars at z~2, showing they reside in overdense regions with enhanced sub-mm source counts.

Findings

17 out of 49 quasars have nearby sub-mm galaxies within 150 kpc.

Total of 23 additional sub-mm sources detected, indicating overdensity.

Source counts are about 10 times higher than in typical regions.

Abstract

We study the environments of 49 WISE/NVSS-selected dusty, hyper-luminous, z~2 quasars using the Atacama Large Millimeter/Sub-millimeter Array (ALMA) 345GHz images. We find that 17 of the 49 WISE/NVSS sources show additional sub-mm galaxies within the ALMA primary beam, probing scales within ~150 kpc. We find a total of 23 additional sub-mm sources, four of which in the field of a single WISE/NVSS source. The measured 870 um source counts are ~10 times expectations for unbiased regions, suggesting such hyper-luminous dusty quasars are excellent at probing high-density peaks.