Probing Heavily Obscured AGN in Major Galaxy Mergers Using the mm-X-ray Correlation

TL;DR

This paper investigates whether millimeter-wave and X-ray luminosity correlations can identify heavily obscured active galactic nuclei in galaxy mergers, offering a new method to detect hidden SMBH growth.

Contribution

It demonstrates that the mm-X-ray luminosity correlation can help identify obscured AGN and dual AGN in local luminous infrared galaxies, providing a new diagnostic tool.

Findings

Confirmed dual AGN are near the mm-X-ray correlation within 3 sigma.

The correlation can help distinguish AGN activity from star formation.

Millimeter emission is a promising complementary diagnostic for obscured SMBH growth.

Abstract

The study of heavily obscured supermassive black hole (SMBH) growth in late-stage galaxy mergers is challenging: column densities $N_{\mathrm{H}}>10^{24},\mathrm{cm}^{-2}$ can block most nuclear emission, leaving significant gaps in the SMBH growth census. Millimeter-wave continuum emission offers a potential window into this obscured phase, as it can trace Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) activity through mechanisms less affected by dust extinction. In this work, we test whether the observed correlation between millimeter ($\sim200,\mathrm{GHz}$) and hard X-ray (14 - 150,keV) luminosities can be used to plausibly identify hidden AGN in local (Ultra)Luminous Infrared Galaxies (U)LIRGs, including systems hosting confirmed dual AGN. We identify three sources -- one confirmed AGN and two strong candidates -- presenting significant evidence of AGN activity. The confirmed dual AGN lie within $\sim3\sigma$ of the mm--X-ray correlation, suggesting this relation can be used to identify hidden pairs. By combining the position of each source relative to this correlation with independent star formation rate constraints, we propose a method to disentangle AGN and star formation contributions for sources with measured column densities. While our analysis is based on a small, heterogeneous local sample and relies on empirical scaling relations, these results indicate that millimeter continuum emission may provide a useful complementary diagnostic for obscured SMBH growth. ALMA observations at high angular resolutions are particularly valuable for this approach, while future facilities such as the ngVLA will be essential to test its robustness in larger and more distant samples.