Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Shu Wang
Linhua Jiang
Yue Shen
Luis C. Ho
Marianne Vestergaard
Eduardo Banados
Chris J. Willott
Jin Wu
Siwei Zou
Jinyi Yang
Feige Wang
Xiaohui Fan
Xue-Bing Wu
Abstract： Broad line regions (BLRs) in high-redshift quasars provide crucial
information of chemical enrichment in the early universe. Here we present a
study of BLR metallicities in 33 quasars at redshift $5.7
Peer Review Status:
Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Yuanqi Liu
Ran Wang
Emmanuel Momjian
Yingkang Zhang
Tao An
Xiaolong Yang
Jeff Wagg
Eduardo Banados
Alain Omont
Abstract： High-resolution imaging is crucial for exploring the origin and mechanism of radio emission in quasars, especially at high redshifts. We present 1.5 GHz Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) images of the radio continuum emission from the radio-intermediate quasar (RIQ) J2242+0334 at $z = 5.9$. This object was previously detected at both 1.5 GHz and 3 GHz with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) as a point source. However, there is no clear detection in the VLBA images at both the full resolution of 10.7 milliarcsecond (mas) $\times$ 4.5 mas (61.7 pc $\times$ 26.0 pc) and a tapered resolution of 26 mas $\times$ 21 mas (150 pc $\times$ 121 pc). This suggests that the radio emission from the quasar is diffuse on mas scales with surface brightness fainter than the $3\sigma$ detection limit of 40.5 $\mu \rm Jy \ beam^{-1}$ in the full resolution image. The radio emission in the RIQ J2242+0334 is likely to be wind-like (i.e., diffuse) rather than in the form of collimated jets. This is different from the previous radio detections of the most luminous quasars at $z \sim$6 which are usually dominated by compact, high brightness temperature radio sources. Meanwhile, compared with RIQs at low redshifts, the case of J2242+0334 suggests that not all RIQs are beamed radio-quiet quasars. This optically faint RIQ provides an important and unique example to investigate the radio activity in the less powerful active galactic nuclei at the earliest cosmic epoch.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Abstract： Quasars at cosmic dawn provide powerful probes of the formation and growth of the earliest supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in the universe, their connections to galaxy and structure formation, and the evolution of the intergalactic medium (IGM) at the epoch of reionization (EoR). Hundreds of quasars have been discovered in the first billion years of cosmic history, with the quasar redshift frontier extended to z~7.6. Observations of quasars at cosmic dawn show that: (1) The number density of luminous quasars declines exponentially at z>5, suggesting that the earliest quasars emerge at z~10; the lack of strong evolution in their average spectral energy distribution indicates a rapid buildup of the AGN environment. (2) Billion-solar-mass BHs already exist at z>7.5; they must form and grow in less than 700 Myr, by a combination of massive early BH seeds with highly efficient and sustained accretion. (3) The rapid quasar growth is accompanied by strong star formation and feedback activity in their host galaxies, which show diverse morphological and kinetic properties, with typical dynamical mass of lower than that implied by the local BH/galaxy scaling relations. (4) HI absorption in quasar spectra probes the tail end of cosmic reionization at z~5.3-6, and indicates the EoR midpoint at 6.9 < z < 7.6 with large spatial fluctuations in IGM ionization. Observations of heavy element absorption lines suggest that the circumgalactic medium also experiences evolution in its ionization structure and metal enrichment during the EoR.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Yuanqi Liu
Ran Wang
Emmanuel Momjian
Yingkang Zhang
Tao An
Xiaolong Yang
Jeff Wagg
Eduardo Banados
Alain Omont
Abstract： High-resolution imaging is crucial for exploring the origin and mechanism of radio emission in quasars, especially at high redshifts. We present 1.5 GHz Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) images of the radio continuum emission from the radio-intermediate quasar (RIQ) J2242+0334 at $z = 5.9$. This object was previously detected at both 1.5 GHz and 3 GHz with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) as a point source. However, there is no clear detection in the VLBA images at both the full resolution of 10.7 milliarcsecond (mas) $\times$ 4.5 mas (61.7 pc $\times$ 26.0 pc) and a tapered resolution of 26 mas $\times$ 21 mas (150 pc $\times$ 121 pc). This suggests that the radio emission from the quasar is diffuse on mas scales with surface brightness fainter than the $3\sigma$ detection limit of 40.5 $\mu \rm Jy \ beam^{-1}$ in the full resolution image. The radio emission in the RIQ J2242+0334 is likely to be wind-like (i.e., diffuse) rather than in the form of collimated jets. This is different from the previous radio detections of the most luminous quasars at $z \sim$6 which are usually dominated by compact, high brightness temperature radio sources. Meanwhile, compared with RIQs at low redshifts, the case of J2242+0334 suggests that not all RIQs are beamed radio-quiet quasars. This optically faint RIQ provides an important and unique example to investigate the radio activity in the less powerful active galactic nuclei at the earliest cosmic epoch.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Eduardo Banados
Jan-Torge Schindler
Bram P. Venemans
Thomas Connor
Roberto Decarli
Emanuele Paolo Farina
Chiara Mazzucchelli
Romain A. Meyer
Daniel Stern
Fabian Walter
Xiaohui Fan
Joseph F. Hennawi
Yana Khusanova
Nidia Morrell
Riccardo Nanni
Gael Noirot
Antonio Pensabene
Hans-Walter Rix
Joseph Simon
Gijs A. Verdoes Kleijn
Abstract： The identification of bright quasars at z>6 enables detailed studies of
supermassive black holes, massive galaxies, structure formation, and the state
of the intergalactic medium within the first billion years after the Big Bang.
We present the spectroscopic confirmation of 55 quasars at redshifts 5.6
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Jinyi Yang
Feige Wang
Xiaohui Fan
Aaron J. Barth
Joseph F. Hennawi
Riccardo Nanni
Fuyan Bian
Frederick B. Davies
Emanuele P. Farina
Jan-Torge Schindler
Eduardo Banados
Roberto Decarli
Anna-Christina Eilers
Richard Green
Hengxiao Guo
Linhua Jiang
Jiang-Tao Li
Bram Venemans
Fabian Walter
Xue-Bing Wu
Abstract： We report the results of near-infrared spectroscopic observations of 37 quasars in the redshift range $6.3< z\le7.64$, including 32 quasars at $z>6.5$, forming the largest quasar near-infrared spectral sample at this redshift. The spectra, taken with Keck, Gemini, VLT, and Magellan, allow investigations of central black hole mass and quasar rest-frame ultraviolet spectral properties. The black hole masses derived from the MgII emission lines are in the range $(0.3-3.6)\times10^{9}\,M_{\odot}$, which requires massive seed black holes with masses $\gtrsim10^{3-4}\,M_{\odot}$, assuming Eddington accretion since $z=30$. The Eddington ratio distribution peaks at $\lambda_{\rm Edd}\sim0.8$ and has a mean of 1.08, suggesting high accretion rates for these quasars. The CIV - MgII emission line velocity differences in our sample show an increase of CIV blueshift towards higher redshift, but the evolutionary trend observed from this sample is weaker than the previous results from smaller samples at similar redshift. The FeII/MgII flux ratios derived for these quasars up to $z=7.6$, compared with previous measurements at different redshifts, do not show any evidence of strong redshift evolution, suggesting metal-enriched environments in these quasars. Using this quasar sample, we create a quasar composite spectrum for $z>6.5$ quasars and find no significant redshift evolution of quasar broad emission lines and continuum slope, except for a blueshift of the CIV line. Our sample yields a strong broad absorption line quasar fraction of $\sim$24%, higher than the fractions in lower redshift quasar samples, although this could be affected by small sample statistics and selection effects.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Roberto Decarli
Antonio Pensabene
Tanio Diaz-Santos
Carl Ferkinhoff
Michael A. Strauss
Bram P. Venemans
Fabian Walter
Eduardo Banados
Frank Bertoldi
Xiaohui Fan
Emanuele Paolo Farina
Dominik A. Riechers
Hans-Walter Rix
Ran Wang
Abstract： Characterizing the physical conditions (density, temperature, ionization state, metallicity, etc) of the interstellar medium is critical to our understanding of the formation and evolution of galaxies. Here we present a multi-line study of the interstellar medium in the host galaxy of a quasar at z~6.4, i.e., when the universe was 840 Myr old. This galaxy is one of the most active and massive objects emerging from the dark ages, and therefore represents a benchmark for models of the early formation of massive galaxies. We used the Atacama Large Millimeter Array to target an ensemble of tracers of ionized, neutral, and molecular gas, namely the fine-structure lines: [OIII] 88$\mu$m, [NII] 122$\mu$m, [CII] 158$\mu$m, and [CI] 370$\mu$m and the rotational transitions of CO(7-6), CO(15-14), CO(16-15), and CO(19-18); OH 163.1$\mu$m and 163.4$\mu$m; and H$_2$O 3(0,3)-2(1,2), 3(3,1)-4(0,4), 3(3,1)-3(2,2), 4(0,4)-3(1,3), 4(3,2)-4(2,3). All the targeted fine-structure lines are detected, as are half of the targeted molecular transitions. By combining the associated line luminosities, the constraints on the dust temperature from the underlying continuum emission, and predictions from photoionization models of the interstellar medium, we find that the ionized phase accounts for about one third of the total gaseous mass budget, and is responsible for half of the total [CII] emission. It is characterized by high density (n~180 cm$^{-3}$), typical of HII regions. The spectral energy distribution of the photoionizing radiation is comparable to that emitted by B-type stars. Star formation also appears to drive the excitation of the molecular medium. We find marginal evidence for outflow-related shocks in the dense molecular phase, but not in other gas phases. This study showcases the power of multi-line investigations in unveiling the properties of the star-forming medium in galaxies at cosmic dawn.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
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