2009AJ....138..895W

We present Expanded Very Large Array (EVLA) and Arecibo observations of two lensed submillimeter galaxies at z ∼ 2.5, in order to search for redshifted 22.235 GHz water megamaser emission. Both SMM J14011+0252 and SMM J16359+6612 have multi-wavelength characteristics consistent with ongoing starburst activity, as well as CO line emission indicating the presence of warm molecular gas. Our observations do not reveal any evidence for H₂ O megamaser emission in either target, while the lensing allows us to obtain deep limits to the H₂ O line luminosities, (3σ) in the case of SMM J14011+0252, and for SMM J16359+6612, assuming line widths of 80 km/s. Our search for, and subsequent nondetection of, H₂ O megamaser emission in two strongly lensed starburst galaxies rich in gas and dust suggests that such megamaser emission is not likely to be common within the unlensed population of high-redshift starburst galaxies. We use the recent detection of strong H₂ O megamaser emission in the lensed quasar, MG J0414+0534 at z = 2.64 to make predictions for future EVLA C-band surveys of H₂ O megamaser emission in submillimeter galaxies hosting active galactic nuclei.