A MINI X-RAY SURVEY OF SUB-DAMPED LYMAN-ALPHA ABSORPTION SYSTEMS: SEARCHING FOR ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI FORMED IN PROTOGALAXIES

Abstract

A significant fraction of the sub-damped Lyman-alpha (sub-DLA) absorption systems in quasar spectra appear to be metal-rich, including many with even super-solar element abundances. This raises the question whether some sub-DLAs may harbor active galactic nuclei (AGNs), since supersolar metallicities are observed in AGNs. Here, we investigate this question based on a mini-survey of 21 quasars known to contain sub-DLAs in their spectra. The X-ray observations were performed with the Chandra X-ray Observatory. In cases of no detection, we estimated upper limits for the X-ray luminosities of possible AGNs at the redshifts of the sub-DLAs. In six cases, we find possible X-ray emission within ~1'' of the background quasar, which is consistent with the presence of a nearby X-ray source. If these nearby X-ray sources are at the redshifts of the sub-DLAs, then their estimated 0.2-10?keV luminosities range between 0.8 ? 1044 h ?2 and 4.2 ? 1044 h ?2?erg?s?1, thus ruling out a normal late-type galaxy origin, and suggesting that the emission originates in a galactic nucleus near the center of a protogalaxy. The projected distances of these possible nearby X-ray sources from the background quasars lie in the range of 3-7?h ?1?kpc, which is consistent with our hypothesis that they represent AGNs centered on the sub-DLAs. Deeper follow-up X-ray and optical observations are required to confirm the marginal detections of X-rays from these sub-DLA galaxies.