We present the first analysis of the all-sky Swift BAT ultra hard X-ray ( 14-195 keV ) data for a targeted list of objects .
We find the BAT data can be studied at 3 \times fainter limits than in previous blind detection catalogs based on prior knowledge of source positions and using smaller energy ranges for source detection .
We determine the AGN fraction in 134 nearby ( z < 0.05 ) luminous infrared galaxies ( LIRGS ) from the GOALS sample .
We find that LIRGs have a higher detection frequency than galaxies matched in stellar mass and redshift at 14-195 keV and 24-35 keV .
In agreement with work at other wavelengths , the AGN detection fraction increases strongly at high IR luminosity with half of high luminosity LIRGs ( 50 % , 6/12 , \log L _ { IR } / L _ { \sun } > 11.8 ) detected .
The BAT AGN classification shows 97 % ( 37/38 ) agreement with Chandra and XMM AGN classification using hardness ratios or detection of a iron K-alpha line .
This confirms our statistical analysis and supports the use of the Swift BAT all-sky survey to study fainter populations of any category of sources in the ultra hard X-ray band .
BAT AGN in LIRGs tend to show higher column densities with 40 \pm 9 % showing 14-195 keV/2-10 keV hardness flux ratios suggestive of high or Compton-thick column densities ( \log N _ { H } > 24 cm ^ { -2 } ) , compared to only 12 \pm 5 % of non-LIRG BAT AGN .
We also find that using specific energy ranges of the BAT detector can yield additional sources over total band detections with 24 % ( 5/21 ) of detections in LIRGs at 24-35 keV not detected at 14-195 keV .