# Radio Identification of Sub-mm Sources in the Hubble Deep Field

## 1 Introduction

The data used to make a quantitative estimate of the global star-formation history typically consist of optical multi-color imaging combined with comprehensive spectroscopy (Lilly et al. 1996). These data are then used to infer the distances of individual galaxies and (with the aid of stellar synthesis models) determine their intrinsic spectral energy distributions. In this manner active star-formation rates can be calculated (Madau et al. 1996, Connelly et al. 1997). The primary limitation of this technique is its sensitivity to dust obscuration, the effects of which in evolving galaxy populations are both uncertain and controversial (Madau et al. 1996, Calzetti 1997, Meuer et al. 1997).

An alternative method for the study of star-forming galaxies is to observe directly the reprocessed UV light emitted by the dust. Depending on the dust temperature (30 K - 60 K), this emission peaks between 50-100 $`\mu `$m (restframe) and in many galaxies comprises the bulk of the bolometric luminosity. Additionally, the thermal far infrared radiation (FIR) is not subject to further obscuration, so uncertain extinction corrections are avoided. At high redshifts, the FIR emission will be shifted into the sub-mm band. A consequence of the steep Rayleigh-Jeans tail of the thermal dust emission coupled with a positive dust emissivity index, $`\alpha `$ (where the emissivity, $`ϵ\nu ^\alpha `$) is to bring higher flux into the sub-mm band so the cosmological dimming effect is offset. Thus a starburst galaxy of a given luminosity should have essentially the same observed flux density between $`z`$ = 1 and 10 (Blain et al. 1993).

Closely related to the FIR emission in starburst galaxies is the radio continuum. In normal galaxies (i.e., without a powerful AGN), the centimeter radio luminosity is dominated by diffuse synchrotron emission believed to be produced by relativistic electrons accelerated in supernovae remnants. At shorter wavelengths free-free emission from HII regions may contribute substantially. Although the radio emission is linked to active star-formation by different physical mechanisms than that of the FIR, there is a tight correlation between the FIR and radio luminosity of a starburst (Helou et al. 1985, Condon et al. 1991). Radio observations are only sensitive to recent starburst activity in a galaxy (and the formation of its O and B stellar populations) since the thermal and synchrotron radiation dissipate on physical time scales of $`10^710^8`$ yr. In this sense the radio luminosity of a starburst is a true measure of the instantaneous rate of star-formation in a galaxy, uncontaminated by older stellar populations. Because galaxies and the inter-galactic medium are transparant at centimeter wavelengths, radio emission is a sensitive measure of star-formation in distant galaxies. The current deep Very Large Array (VLA) radio surveys with sensitivites of a few microjansky are capable of detecting star-forming galaxies to $`z`$1.5 (Richards et al. 1998).

An 850 $`\mu `$m survey of the HDF with the SCUBA detector on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) detected five sources in a confusion limited image (Hughes et al. 1998) with 15″ resolution. Tentative optical identifications are all with putative starbursts at $`z`$ $`\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{_>}{^{}}`$1 and with star-formation rates (SFR) of 400-1200 $`M_{}`$ yr<sup>-1</sup> (we assume $`h`$ = 0.5, $`q_o`$ = 0.5) In this letter we compare our deep radio images of the Hubble Deep Field with the SCUBA images and suggest alternate optical counterparts to the sub-mm sources.

## 2 Radio Observations

A 5.4′ (FWHM) field containing the HDF has been imaged at 8.5 GHz with the VLA with an rms sensitivity of 1.8 $`\mu `$Jy. The observing technique and data reduction are discussed in Richards et al. (1998). We collected 40 additional hours of data at 8.5 GHz in June 1997. The new combined image has a rms sensitivity near the field center of about 1.6 $`\mu `$Jy with a resolution of 3.5″.

During November 1996, we obtained 42 hours of VLA data in its A-array on the HDF at 1.4 GHz. The subsequent 1.4 GHz image of the HDF has an effective resolution of 1.9″ and an rms sensitivity of 7.5 $`\mu `$Jy with a firm detection limit of 40 $`\mu `$Jy. A total of 381 radio sources at 1.4 GHz have been catalogued within 20′ of the HDF and are reported on elsewhere (Richards 1998). Within the Hubble Deep Field, there are nine radio sources detected in complete samples at either 1.4 GHz and/or 8.5 GHz, while an additional seven 8.5 GHz sources comprise a supplementary sample as described by Richards et al. (1998). The 8.5 and 1.4 GHz images of the HDF are available at the world-wide web site: www.cv.nrao.edu/ jkempner/vla-hdf/.

## 3 Association of Sub-mm and Radio Sources

We inspected our radio images to determine if any of the SCUBA sources have possible radio counterparts. Our first step was to align the radio and SCUBA position frames. The VLA coordinate grid is within 0.1″ of the J2000/FK5 reference frame at both 8.5 and 1.4 GHz (Richards et al. 1998). In order to tie the JCMT coordinate grid to this system, we have assumed that the radio and sub-mm sources are associated with the same galaxy, as discussed in the introduction.

The relative rms positional errors for the sub-mm sources should be of order 1-2″ (based on the 15″ SCUBA beam size and the signal to noise ratio of individual detections), howver the uncertain effects of source confusion in the sub-mm images likely makes this an underestimate. In addition, the absolute registration of the SCUBA image is unknown a priori, although Hughes et al. (1998) quote a value of 0.5″, while Smail et al. (1998) report typical values of 3″ for their SCUBA images. Thus we chose to search for any radio object either in the 1.4 GHz complete sample or in the 8.5 GHz catalog of Richards et al. (1998) within a 10″ error circle around each of the sub-mm source positions. Possible radio associations were apparent for HDF850.1 (3651+1226 and 3651+1221), HDF850.2 (3656+1207), and HDF850.4 (3649+1313). Two of these radio sources were detected at both 1.4 and 8.5 GHz as part of independent and complete samples (3651+1221 and 3649+1313). These two radio sources in particular also have high signifigance ISO 15 $`\mu `$m counterparts (Aussel et al. 1998) indicating these systems may contain substantial amounts of dust and hence be luminous FIR galaxies. Based on the association of 3651+1221 and 3649+1313 with HDF850.1 and HDF850.4, respectively, we suggest a SCUBA coordinate frame shift of 4.8″ west and 3.8″ south.

The position shifts, within 1.2″ in the (VLA+ISO) vs. SCUBA positions for both HDF850.1 and HDF850.4, suggests that the VLA/ISO/SCUBA source alignment is not accidental. However this large registration offset of $``$6″ is much greater than the 0.5″ registraion accuracy quoted in Hughes et al. (1998). Either the radio/ISO emission is not associated withe the same galaxies as the SCUBA sources, or the SCUBA observations have a large registration error.

## 4 Optical Identification of Radio/Sub-mm Sources

Since the radio source positions are much more accurate (0.1-0.2″) than the sub-mm positions and as the HDF contains a high surface density of optical objects (typically 20 per SCUBA beam), we now use the radio data to make the secure identifications with optical counterparts. Table 1 presents plausible radio counterparts to the sub-mm sources of Hughes et al. (1998). The first line gives the position of the SCUBA source after translation to the radio coordinate frame with plausible radio counterparts and their suggested optical identification given in following lines.

HDF850.1 : We present in Figure 1, the 1.4 GHz overlay of the Hubble Deep Field centered on the shifted SCUBA position. The precise 1.4 GHz radio position suggests the optical identification is with the faint low-surface brightness object to the immediate north of the brighter foreground disk system. Richards et al. (1998) suggested that this optical feature might be associated with the $`z=0.299`$ galaxy 3-659.1. However, we note the presence of a separate low surface brightness galaxy at $`z`$ = 1.72 (3-633.1; Fernandez-Soto et al. 1998) located approximately 2″ to the northwest.

If radio source 3651+1221 is the most obscured part of a larger galaxy 3-633.1 at $`z`$ = 1.72 (Fernandez-Soto et al. 1998), the implied radio luminosity (L<sub>1.4</sub> = 10<sup>25</sup> W/Hz) is substantially higher than that of the most extreme local starbursts (e.g., ARP 220) and suggests that this object may contain an AGN.

HDF850.2 : Based on the optical/radio positional coincidence, this 3.5 $`\sigma `$ radio source has a 90% reliability of being associated with a I=23.7 distorted galaxy (Barger et al. 1998), according to the analysis of Richards et al. (1998). We identify the 850 $`\mu `$m detection with this galaxy of unknown redshift. The $`UGR`$ band photometry (Hogg 1997) on this galaxy suggests that it is likely at $`z<3`$. Figure 2 shows the 1.4 GHz overlay of the optical field.

HDF850.3 : The radio data does little to clarify the identification of the sub-mm source in this field. Figure 3 shows a 4 $`\sigma `$ radio source located 4″ from the position of the 850 $`\mu `$m detection. However, before the shift the SCUBA source position is in good agreement with the position of the bright disk system 1-34.0, which is also included in the supplemental ISO catalog of Aussel et al. (1998). This galaxy also has a weak 3$`\sigma `$ radio detection. The 0.485 redshift of this object implies a star-formation rate of 80 $`M_{}`$ yr<sup>-1</sup> from the radio luminosity (Salpeter initial mass function integrated over 0.1-100 $`M_{}`$ ), although the presence of an AGN cannot be ruled out. At present the data cannot discriminate between these two possible radio/sub-mm associations.

HDF850.4 : The radio source 3649+1313 is associated with the spiral galaxy 2-264.1 at a redshift of 0.475. ISO sources from the complete catalogs of Aussel et al. (1998) and Rowan-Robinson et al. (1997) have been assoicated with this radio source. This galaxy is likely part of the larger structure at 0.475 which contains 16 galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts (Cohen et al. 1996). At least one of these galaxies (2-264.2) lies at a small projected distance (less than 30 kpc) and suggests dynamic interactions may be triggering the radio/sub-mm activity. Although the SCUBA detection may be a blend of emission from several galaxies in this crowded field (see Figure 4), the radio emission is clearly confined to the central galaxy 2-264.1. Richards et al. (1998) estimate a SFR = 150 $`M_{}`$ yr<sup>-1</sup>.

Can the SCUBA source HDF850.4 plausibly be associated instead with the HDF optical galaxy 2-399.0 as claimed by Hughes et al.? If we take those authors’ estimate of the FIR luminosity log<sub>10</sub>L<sub>60μm</sub> = 12.47 $`L_{}`$ for this galaxy, the FIR-radio relation (Condon et al. 1991) predicts an observed 1.4 GHz flux density of about 300 $`\mu `$Jy, clearly in excess of our upper limit of 23 $`\mu `$Jy (3 $`\sigma `$). We find the identification of SCUBA source HDF850.4 with HDF galaxy 2-399 to be dubious and instead identify HDF850.4 with 2-264.1.

HDF850.5 : There is no 1.4 GHz radio emission apparent to the 2 $`\sigma `$ limit of 15 $`\mu `$Jy in this field. Optically there are only two plausible identifications for the 850 $`\mu `$m source, HDF galaxies 2-395.0 and 2-349.0 (see Figure 5). The redshift of 2-395.0 is 0.72 (Fernandez-Soto et al. 1998). The radio flux limit on this galaxy can exclude a SFR $``$ 60 $`M_{}`$ /yr. The other possible identification (2-349.0) is at an unknown redshift. The non-detection of this sub-mm source at radio or optical wavelengths coupled with the fact that this is the weakest source in the Hughes et al. (1998) catalog suggests this source may be spurious. We also note that this sub-mm source is located only 12$`\mathrm{}`$ from sub-mm detection HDF850.4 and hence may suffer from confusion.

## 5 Conclusions

Of the five 850 $`\mu `$m sources in the HDF, two are solidly detected at radio wavelengths, while two are probable detections. Two of these identifications are possibly with $`z`$ 0.5 starbursts (HDF850.3 and HDF850.4). The other two detections (HDF850.1 and HDF850.2) must have redshifts less than 1.5 or be contaminated by AGN based on radio luminosity arguments. This radio analysis suggests the claim, based on sub-mm observations alone, that the optical surveys underestimate the $`z>2`$ global star-formation rate are premature. On the other hand, the $`z<1`$ star-formation history may have been underestimated if a significant fraction of the sub-mm population lies at relatively low redshift.

In the absence of high resolution sub-mm imaging capability, it is necessary to rely on plausible radio counterparts of sub-mm sources in order to provide the astrometric accuracy needed to make the proper optical identifications. Only complete redshift samples of the sub-mm population coupled with diagnostic spectroscopy and high resolution radio data will allow for calculation of the epoch dependent sub-mm luminosity function and its implication for the star-formation history of the universe.

###### Acknowledgements.

We thank our collaborators K. Kellermann, E. Fomalont, B. Partridge, R. Windhorst, and D. Haarsma for a critical reading of an earlier version of this work. We appreciate useful conversations with J. Condon and A. Barger. Support for part of this work was provided by NASA through grant AR-6337.\*-96A from the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS5-2655, and by NSF grant AST 93-20049. Aussel, H. et al. A& A, in press, 1998 Barger em et al. 1998, AJ, submitted Blain, A. W. & Longair, M. S. 1993, MNRAS, 264, 509 Calzetti, D. 1997, AJ, 113 Cohen, J. G. et al. 1996, ApJL, 471, 5 Condon, J. J., Anderson, M. L. & Helou, G. 1991, ApJ, 376, 95 Connelly, A. J., Szalay, A. S., Dickinson, M., SubbaRao, M. V., & Brunner, R. J. 1997, ApJL, 486, 11 Fernandez-Soto, A., Lanzetta, K. M., & Yahill, A. 1998, AJ, submitted Helou, G., Soifer, B. T.,& Rowan-Robinson, M. 1985, ApJL, 298, 11 Hogg, D. 1998, Ph.D. thesis (Caltech) Hughes et al. 1998, Nature, 393, 241 Lilly, S. J., Le Fevre,O., Hammer, F., Crampton, D. 1996, ApJL, 460, 1 Lowenthal, J., et al. 1997, ApJ, 481, 673. Madau, P. et al. 1996, MNRAS, 283, 1388 Meurer, G. R., Heckman, T., Lehnert, M. D., Leitherer, C. & Lowenthal, J. 1997, AJ, 114, 54 Richards, E. A. 1998, in preparation Richards, E. A., Kellermann, K. I., Fomalont, E. B., Windhorst, R. A. & Partridge, R. B. 1998, AJ, 116, 1039 Rowan-Robinson, M. et al. 1997, MNRAS, 289, 490 Williams et al. 1996, AJ, 112, 1335      

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