Deep Submillimeter and Radio Observations in the SSA22 Field. III. Multiwavelength Identifications and Properties of the 850 $\mu$m-selected Submillimeter Galaxies

TL;DR

This study provides a comprehensive multiwavelength analysis of 850 μm-selected submillimeter galaxies in SSA22, revealing their properties, distribution, and role as tracers of cosmic structure at high redshift.

Contribution

It offers the first detailed multiwavelength characterization of SMGs in SSA22, including their redshift distribution, luminosities, masses, and clustering, highlighting their significance in cosmic structure formation.

Findings

Median redshift z=2.00, optically faint galaxies at z~2.20

SMGs' comoving density increases by a factor of 6 at z<4

Majority are ULIRGs with median L_IR of 2.25×10^12 L_sun

Abstract

We present a multiwavelength analysis of 850 $\mu$m-selected SMGs (deblended S$_{\rm 850}\gtrsim$ 1mJy) in the SSA22 field, where our deepest JCMT/SCUBA-2 observations reach a sensitivity of $\sigma_{850}\sim$ 0.80mJy beam$^{-1}$. Using multiple identification methods, we have identified 248 deblended SMG candidates for 192 SCUBA-2 sources. The average multiplicity of SCUBA-2 sources is $\sim$26%, with brighter sources exhibiting higher multiplicity. After applying quality cuts based on SED fitting reliability, our final sample comprises 221 SMGs associated with 186 SCUBA-2 sources. The SSA22 SMGs have a median infrared luminosity of (2.25$\pm$0.25) $\times$10$^{12}$ L$_{\odot}$, with $\sim$ 63% ($\sim$ 8%) of the sample classified as ULIRGs (HLIRGs). The median redshift of the sample is $z = 2.00 \pm 0.08$, while optically faint galaxies exhibit higher median redshift ($\sim 2.20 \pm 0.17$). The comoving volume density of SMGs increases by a factor of $\sim 6$ at $z \lesssim 4$, plateauing at $\sim$ 1.78-3.16 $\times$ 10$^{-5}$ cMpc$^{-3}$ over $z \sim$ 1-3 (including the overdensity). The significant overdensity of SMGs within large-scale structures demonstrates their reliability as tracers of cosmic structure formation at high redshift. The median stellar mass and SFR of our SMG sample are $(1.55 \pm 0.22) \times 10^{11}$ M$_\odot$ and $166 \pm 25$ M$_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$, respectively. We observe a clear ``downsizing" signature: after cosmic noon ($z \lesssim 2$), massive SMGs exhaust their gas reservoirs and transition to quiescence, while lower-mass SMGs continue forming stars and dominate the cosmic SFR density. The sample has a median dust mass of (1.95 $\pm$ 0.14) $\times$ 10$^{9}$ M$_{\odot}$. The dust fraction ($ M_{\text{dust}}/M_{\text{star}}$) has a median value of (1.4 $\pm$ 0.2) $\times$ 10$^{-2}$. The median $A_V$ of SMGs is 3.09$\pm$0.07mag.