An Evolutionary Model for Submillimeter Galaxies

[abridged]We calculate multi-wavelength spectral energy distributions (SEDs)(spanning optical to millimeter wavelengths) from simulations of major galaxymergers with black hole feedback which produce submillimeter bright galaxies(SMGs), using a self-consistent three-dimensional radiative transfer code. Wereproduce correlations for local AGN observed in Spitzer Space Telescope's IRACbands, and make definitive predictions for infrared X-ray correlations thatshould be testable by combining observations by Spitzer and the upcomingHerschel mission with X-ray surveys. Our dynamical approach allows us todirectly correlate observed clustering in the data as seen in IRAC color-colorplots with the relative amount of time the system spends in a region ofcolor-color space. We also find that this clustering is positively correlatedwith the stars dominating in their contribution to the total bolometricluminosity. We present photo albums spanning the lifetime of SMGs, from theirinfancy in the pre-merger phase to the final stage as an elliptical galaxy, asseen in the observed $3.6 \micron$ and $450 \micron$ band to visuallyillustrate some of the morphological differences between mergers of differingorbital inclination and progenitor redshift. We find that SMGs are a broaderclass of systems than starbursts or quasars. We introduce a simple, heuristicclassification scheme on the basis of the $L_{\rm IR}/L_{\rm x}$ ratios ofthese galaxies, which may be interpreted qualitatively as an evolutionaryscheme, as these galaxies evolve in $L_{\rm IR}/L_{\rm x}$ while transitingfrom the pre-merger stage, through the quasar phase, to a merger remnant.