A survey of molecular gas in luminous sub-millimetre galaxies

We present the results from a survey of (CO)-C-12 emission in 40 luminous sub-millimetre galaxies (SMGs), with 850-mu m fluxes of S-850 mu m = 4-20 mJy, conducted with the Plateau de Bure Interferometer. We detect (CO)-C-12 emission in 32 SMGs at z similar to 1.2-4.1, including 16 SMGs not previously published. Using multiple (CO)-C-12 line (J(up) = 2-7) observations, we derive a median spectral line energy distribution for luminous SMGs. We report the discovery of a fundamental relationship between (CO)-C-12 FWHM and (CO)-C-12 line luminosity in high-redshift starbursts, which we interpret as a natural consequence of the baryon-dominated dynamics within the regions probed by our observations. We use far-infrared luminosities to assess the star formation efficiency in our SMGs, finding that the slope of the L-CO'-L-FIR relation is close to linear. We derive molecular gas masses, finding a mean gas mass of (5.3 +/- 1.0) x 10(10) M-circle dot. Combining these with dynamical masses, we determine the redshift evolution of the gas content of SMGs, finding that they do not appear to be significantly more gas rich than less vigorously star-forming galaxies at high redshifts. Finally, we collate X-ray observations, and study the interdependence of gas and dynamical properties of SMGs with their AGN activity and supermassive black holemasses (M-BH), finding that SMGs lie significantly below the local M-BH-sigma relation.