L_FIR_ and L_CO_ for 247 extragalactic systems

The continuum-subtracted line emitter is spatially offset from the quasar nucleus by 0.33arcsec (2.82kpc in projection). This spatial offset has a significance of >8{sigma} and, together with a previously published -400km/s velocity offset measured in the J=2-->1 CO line relative to the systemic redshift of the quasar, rules out a circumnuclear starburst or molecular gas ring and suggests that the quasar host galaxy is either undergoing a major merger with a gas-rich galaxy or is otherwise a highly disrupted system.

If the merger scenario is correct, then the event may be in its early stages, acting as the trigger for both the young radio jets in the quasar and a starburst in the merging galaxy. The total molecular gas mass in the spatially offset line emitter as measured from the ground-state CO line MH_2_=3.7(+/-0.4)x10^10^ ({alpha}CO/0.8)M_{sun}_. Assuming that the line emitter can be modelled as a rotating disc, an inclination-dependent upper limit is derived for its dynamical mass M_dyn_sin^2^(i)<3.2x10^9^M_{sun}_, suggesting that for MH2 to remain less than M_dyn_ the inclination angle must be i<16{deg}.