The co-evolution of black hole growth and star formation from a cross-correlation analysis between quasars and the cosmic infrared background

We present the first cross-correlation measurement between Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Type 1 quasars and the cosmic infrared background (CIB) measured by Herschel. The distribution of the quasars at 0.15<z<3.5 covers the redshift range where we expect most of the CIB to originate. We detect the sub-mm emission of the quasars, which dominates on small scales, as well as correlated emission from dusty star-forming galaxies (DSFGs) dominant on larger scales. The mean sub-mm flux densities of the DR7 quasars (median redshift <z>=1.4) is $11.1_{-1.4}^{+1.6}$, $7.1_{-1.3}^{+1.6}$ and $3.6_{-1.0}^{+1.4}$ mJy at 250, 350 and 500 microns, respectively, while the mean sub-mm flux densities of the DR9 quasars (<z>=2.5) is $5.7_{-0.6}^{+0.7}$, $5.0_{-0.7}^{+0.8}$ and $1.8_{-0.4}^{+0.5}$ mJy. We find that the correlated sub-mm emission includes both the emission from satellite DSFGs in the same halo as the central quasar and the emission from DSFGs in separate halos (correlated with the quasar-hosting halo). The amplitude of the one-halo term is ~10 times smaller than the sub-mm emission of the quasars, implying the the satellites have a lower star-formation rate than the quasars. The satellite fraction for the DR7 quasars is $0.008_{-0.005}^{+0.008}$ and the host halo mass scale for the central and satellite quasars is ${10}^{12.36\pm 0.87}$ M${}_{\odot }$ and ${10}^{13.60\pm 0.38}$ M${}_{\odot }$, respectively. The satellite fraction of the DR9 quasars is $0.065_{-0.031}^{+0.021}$ and the host halo mass scale for the central and satellite quasars is ${10}^{12.29\pm 0.62}$ M${}_{\odot }$ and ${10}^{12.82\pm 0.39}$ M${}_{\odot }$, respectively. Thus, the typical halo environment of the SDSS Type 1 quasars is found to be similar to that of DSFGs, which supports the generally accepted view that dusty starburst and quasar activity are evolutionarily linked.