# Evidence for Multiple Mergers among Ultraluminous IR Galaxies (ULIRGs): Remnants of Compact Groups? 1footnote 11footnote 1 Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. under NASA contract No. NAS5-26555.

## 1. Introduction

In the 1980’s, two samples of galaxies were identified that subsequently became the subjects of vigorous research activity. One of these was the sample of compact groups identified by Hickson (1982; see Hickson 1997 for a review; hereafter, we call these CGs). The other was the sample of ultraluminous IR galaxies (ULIRGs) identified in the IRAS all-sky survey (Sanders et al. 1988; see Sanders & Mirabel 1996 for a review). The high IR luminosity ($`L`$\[8–1000$`\mu `$m\] $`>10^{12}L_{}`$) of ULIRGs is commonly thought to arise from dust absorption and IR re-emission of the intense but obscured starburst+AGN radiation field. While it was known early on that ULIRGs nearly always show evidence for interactions (collisions/mergers), many investigators have debated the interaction fraction among ULIRGs. Published values range from $``$100 (Duc, Mirabel, & Maza 1997; Borne et al. 1999a, 1999b) down to $``$50 (Auriere et al. 1996). Under the assumption that mergers of gas-rich galaxies stimulate the ULIRG phase, several theoretical studies have modeled the dynamical events leading to the ultra-starburst event (Mihos & Hernquist 1996, and references therein; hereafter MH). In spite of this intense research activity, scant attention has been given to identifying the complete set of progenitor systems that may produce the ULIRGs seen in the local universe. While there are numerous examples of merger remnants and strongly interacting pairs of galaxies at low redshift, there is only one bona fide ULIRG with $`cz<10^4`$ km s<sup>-1</sup> (Arp 220). Hence it is unreasonable to believe that merging pairs of spirals alone can account for the dynamical diversity of the ULIRG population. There must be some other class of progenitors. As hypothesized by Xia et al. (1999), a possible progenitor sample is the set of CGs.

We undertake, in §2, a comparative analysis of ULIRG and CG properties in the light of several new results. We then present a short description of our observations in §3, our sample of multiple–merger candidates in §4, and a discussion of a possible CG–ULIRG connection in §5.

## 2. ULIRGs and Compact Groups: Common Features

One of the remarkable attributes of ULIRGs is their unique “once-in-a-galactic-lifetime” IR-ultraluminous status (MH). A galaxy may enjoy this status only once since the very property that defines the high-IR luminosity phase (i.e., the intense dust-absorbed and re-radiated radiation field) will likely blow out the dust from the galaxy. Furthermore, the intense starburst phase that characterizes the overwhelming majority of ULIRGs (Genzel et al. 1998) will likely consume the available gas supply or otherwise render the gas unavailable for future star formation (MH). These physical processes consequently prevent the onset of a subsequent dust-obscured super-starburst phase. The ULIRG phase is thus transitory, with a somewhat uncertain life span (duty cycle) for detectability and classification as a ULIRG. The duration of the phase is probably $``$$`10^8`$ yr (Devriendt, Guiderdoni, & Sadat 1999). As a result, ULIRGs are identified at a special phase in their dynamical history.

CGs may also be caught in a special state. Their dynamical timescales were originally considered to be quite short (0.01–0.1 $`H_0^1`$), implying a strong merging instability (Barnes 1985, 1989; Mamon 1987). Subsequent simulations that embedded the CG within a common massive halo significantly increased the merger timescale to $``$$`H_0^1`$ (Governato, Tozzi, & Cavaliere 1996; Athanassoula, Makino, & Bosma 1997). The common massive halo is consistent with current hierarchical merging scenarios (Kolatt et al. 1999). If the actual merging timescales are somewhere between these extremes, then CGs (like ULIRGs) are also transitory and will ultimately evolve out of the CG sample through the merger and coalescence of their constituent group members, as indicated in the numerical investigations of multiple mergers within a CG setting by Weil & Hernquist (1994, 1996).

Xia et al. (1999) suggested that ULIRGs are the dynamical descendents of CGs. The implied multiple–merger scenario was investigated in the case of Arp 220 by Taniguchi & Shioya (1998), who proposed multiple mergers as the origin for most ULIRGs. To test whether “evolved CGs” become ULIRGs, we compare the relative space densities and dynamical ages of ULIRGs and CGs. For a redshift survey-selected CG sample, Barton et al. (1996) give $`\mathrm{\Phi }=1.4\times 10^4h^3=4.8\times 10^5`$ Mpc<sup>-3</sup>. (For this paper, we assume $`H_0`$ = 100$`h`$ km s<sup>-1</sup> Mpc<sup>-1</sup>, $`h`$=0.7, and $`q_o=\frac{1}{2}`$.) For the IRAS 1-Jy ULIRG sample, Kim & Sanders (1998) give $`\mathrm{\Phi }=1.8\times 10^7(h/75)^3=1.5\times 10^7`$ Mpc<sup>-3</sup> (summed over all luminosity bins), with strong evolution proportional to $`(1+z)^n`$, where $`n=7.6\pm 3.2`$. Taken literally, the ratio of space densities is $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$(CGs):$`\mathrm{\Phi }`$(ULIRGs) = 32:1, similar to the ratio of life spans for the two populations (few Gyr : 100 Myr), assuming the longer CG dynamical age. This is therefore consistent with the notion that ULIRGs evolve out of the CG population. Of course, more detailed plausibility arguments are required to validate such a notion, such as comparing the gas content, X-ray and IR emission properties, galaxy morphological mix, total mass, and the wider environment of CGs to the corresponding properties of ULIRGs. Further investigations along these lines would likely be very illuminating.

Given the potentially short life spans of both ULIRGs and CGs, it is curious that we see very many of either. The best interpretation of this is that these are the surviving members (the tail of the distribution) of evolving populations. CGs may be continuously replenished through the dynamical evolution of loose groups (Diaferio, Geller, & Ramella 1994; Ramella et al. 1994), with the ones that we see today being the tail of the hierarchical evolution of large-scale structure, which favors the formation of small-scale structures early in the Universe. Similarly, what few ULIRGs we see at low redshift are likely the tail of a previously rich distribution of ULIRGs, as evidenced by their strong redshift evolution (Kim & Sanders 1998). Given the above discussions, it is thus not surprising that: (a) a significant population of ultraluminous dusty starbursting galaxies at high redshifts ($`z`$$``$1–5, peaking at $`z`$$`<`$3) has been identified as counterparts of the Submillimeter Common-User Bolometer Array (SCUBA) submm sources and as the contributors to the IR background (Dwek et al. 1998; Hughes et al. 1998; Barger et al. 1998; Smail et al. 1998; Blain et al. 1999; Trentham, Blain, & Goldader 1999); and that (b) this same epoch ($`z`$$``$3) witnesses the hierarchical merging of dense configurations of sub-halo galactic-scale fragments within massive halos (Somerville, Primack, & Faber 1998; Kolatt et al. 1999). Such fragments within massive halos are consistent with recent theoretical models of CGs (Athanassoula et al. 1997), and the ultraluminous dusty starburst SCUBA sources are consistent with ULIRGs — the connection between ULIRGs and CGs thus seems nearly certain in the cosmological setting.

## 3. Hubble Space Telescope Imaging Observations

Hubble Space Telescope (HST) images were obtained with the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) camera in the F814W $`I`$-band filter for a large sample of ULIRGs (Borne et al. 1997a, 1997b, 1999a, 1999b). For each target in our survey, we obtained two 400 s images in order to remove the effects of cosmic-ray radiation events in the CCDs. The angular scale is 0.0996<sup>′′</sup> per pixel (Trauger et al. 1994). Our comprehensive WFPC2 Snapshot Atlas paper (Borne et al. 2000, in preparation) will provide a thorough description of each of the more than 120 ULIRGs in our HST survey.

## 4. Multiple-Merger Candidates

With the high angular resolution ($``$0.1–0.2<sup>′′</sup>) of HST, some ULIRGs that were previously classified as “non-interacting” now show secondary nuclei at their centers and additional tidal features (see examples in Borne et al. 1999a, 1999b). It thus appears that the fraction of ULIRGs showing evidence for interaction is very nearly 100%. Our HST images indicate in some cases that the mergers are well developed with single nuclei and full coalescence, while others show clear evidence for two or more nuclei, while the rest of the sample can best be described as compact groupings of $``$2 distinct galaxies. It is not obvious from this that there is a well-defined point during such interactions at which the ULIRG phase develops, nor is it clear what the duration of the ultraluminous phase should be. One possible explanation for this dynamical diversity is the multiple–merger model. In this scenario, the existence of double active galactic nuclei/starburst nuclei is taken as evidence of more than one merger, following the creation of the current starburst nuclei from a prior set of mergers (Taniguchi & Shioya 1998) — the currently observed merger would be at least the third merger in the evolutionary sequence. Figure 1 presents images of nine ULIRGs from our HST sample that appear to have evolved from multiple mergers. The evidence for this includes the presence of either more than two distinct and well separated remnant nuclei or more than two component galaxies, often with an unusually complex system of tidal tails and loops that suggest multiple dynamical origins of the tidal features, as seen in the simulations of Weil & Hernquist (1994, 1996). A connection between the ULIRG and CG populations is therefore supported by these HST observations. Table 1 lists our multiple-merger ULIRG candidates. For a nearly complete subsample of 99 ULIRGs in the redshift range $`0.05<z<0.20`$, we identify at least 20 either as on-going mergers in a group ($`N_{\mathrm{gal}}>2`$) or as remnants of multiple ($``$2) mergers.

The most serious concern with the multiple-merger hypothesis is the ubiquitous presence of multiple condensations (in optical images of ULIRGs) that emerge through a complex dust obscuration pattern. To minimize this effect, cases with multiple knots in the core were specifically excluded. Only those cases that clearly reveal separate optically luminous galactic components were selected. In addition, objects were selected if they had very complex tidal features (several tails), which may indicate multiple mergers (independent of any core condensations or nuclear dust obscuration). These selection criteria reduced the fraction of multiple-merger candidates to only 20% of ULIRGs. If questionable cases with multiple knots were also included, then the “multiple-merger fraction” would be more like 80%. It is imperative that radio and IR imaging be obtained in order to test the multiple-merger classification for the objects in our sample (Table 1).

Another “feature” of some ULIRGs is that they are in that category simply because several galaxies appear in the large IRAS beam and thus conspire to produce a high IR flux. No single object or interacting pair in those systems is really a ULIRG. It is expected that some higher-redshift CGs (compared to local CGs) would occupy one IRAS beam and hence be classified as ULIRGs. These particular systems may be “once and future ULIRGs”.

## 5. Discussion: The CG–ULIRG Connection

We have used the HST to study a large sample of ULIRGs. The images are consistent with a multiple–merger origin for a significant fraction of the sample, whose rich variety of morphologies almost certainly relates to diverse interaction histories. However, morphology alone cannot confirm the hypothesis. We are therefore conducting a detailed photometric and surface brightness analysis of nearly 30 ULIRGs with both I-band and H-band (HST NICMOS) imaging to test whether the nuclei that we see are in fact galactic nuclei or super-starburst knots (Colina et al. 2000, in preparation; Bushouse et al. 2000, in preparation). Our preliminary results confirm that the observed cores are galactic nuclei.

ULIRGs and CGs may share a common evolutionary path. We find two morphological classes among our ULIRGs that are consistent with a multiple–merger origin and hence support the hypothesis that CGs are the progenitors for some ULIRGs. These classes are: (1) ULIRGs with multiple remnant nuclei in their core, sometimes accompanied by a complex system of tidal tails; and (2) ULIRGs that are in fact dense groupings of interacting (eventually merging) galaxies. These classes are assigned in Table 1. Borne et al. (1999b) find an equal likelihood for a ULIRG to be a recent merger (single) as to be involved in an on-going collision (multiple) and find very little variation in the mean $`L_{\mathrm{IR}}`$ between these two categories. This would be consistent with a series of mergers taking place in a typical ULIRG, producing a sustained super-starburst — the timing of each burst is strongly determined by the orbital orientation (prograde or retrograde) and the internal structure of the merging galaxies (bulge or no-bulge), as investigated in detail by MH. Consequently, deducing the phase of interaction for individual ULIRGs will be quite complicated: Which merger are we now witnessing? Is it the first, the second, or the N-th? While our observations conclusively show that some ULIRGs are the result of multiple mergers, more observational and theoretical investigations are required to validate the multiple–merger model for the sample, to estimate better the multiple–merger fraction, to verify a CG–ULIRG connection, and to elucidate the dynamical origin, state, and fate of these remarkable objects.

Support for this work was provided by NASA through grant number GO-06346.01-95A from the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by AURA, Inc., under NASA contract NAS5-26555. K.D.B. thanks Raytheon for providing financial support during his Sabbatical Leave and thanks the STScI for sponsoring his Sabbatical Visit. We thank our STScI program coordinator Andy Lubenow and contact scientist Keith Noll for assistance in implementing the HST program, and we thank the referee for helpful comments.