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Register a new userThe space densities and emissivities of AGNs at $z> 4$
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The study of the space density of bright AGNs at $z>4$ has been subject to extensive effort given its importance for the estimate of the cosmological ionizing emissivity and growth of supermassive black holes. In this context we have recently derived high space densities of AGNs at $zsim 4$ and $-25<M_{1450}<-23$ in the COSMOS field from a spectroscopically complete sample. In the present paper we attempt to extend the knowledge of the AGN space density at fainter magnitudes ($-22.5<M_{1450}<-18.5$) in the $4<z<6.1$ redshift interval by means of a multiwavelength sample of galaxies in the CANDELS GOODS-South, GOODS-North and EGS fields. We use an updated criterion to extract faint AGNs from a population of NIR (rest-frame UV) selected galaxies at photometric $z>4$ showing X-ray detection in deep Chandra images available for the three CANDELS fields. We have collected a photometric sample of 32 AGN candidates in the selected redshift interval, six of which having spectroscopic redshifts. Including our COSMOS sample as well as other bright QSO samples allows a first guess on the shape of the UV luminosity function at $zsim 4.5$. The resulting emissivity and photoionization rate appear consistent with that derived from the photoionization level of the intergalactic medium at $zsim 4.5$. An extrapolation to $zsim 5.6$ suggests an important AGN contribution to the IGM ionization if there are no significant changes in the shape of the UV luminosity function.
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Finding the sources responsible for the hydrogen reionization is one of the most pressing issues in cosmology. Bright QSOs are known to ionize their surrounding neighborhood, but they are too few to ensure the required HI ionizing background. A significant contribution by faint AGNs, however, could solve the problem, as recently advocated on the basis of a relatively large space density of faint active nuclei at z>4. We have carried out an exploratory spectroscopic program to measure the HI ionizing emission of 16 faint AGNs spanning a broad U-I color interval, with I~21-23 and 3.6<z<4.2. These AGNs are three magnitudes fainter than the typical SDSS QSOs (M1450<~-26) which are known to ionize their surrounding IGM at z>~4. The LyC escape fraction has been detected with S/N ratio of ~10-120 and is between 44 and 100% for all the observed faint AGNs, with a mean value of 74% at 3.6<z<4.2 and -25.1<M1450<-23.3, in agreement with the value found in the literature for much brighter QSOs (M1450<~-26) at the same redshifts. The LyC escape fraction of our faint AGNs does not show any dependence on the absolute luminosities or on the observed U-I colors. Assuming that the LyC escape fraction remains close to ~75% down to M1450~-18, we find that the AGN population can provide between 16 and 73% (depending on the adopted luminosity function) of the whole ionizing UV background at z~4, measured through the Lyman forest. This contribution increases to 25-100% if other determinations of the ionizing UV background are adopted. Extrapolating these results to z~5-7, there are possible indications that bright QSOs and faint AGNs can provide a significant contribution to the reionization of the Universe, if their space density is high at M1450~-23.
Identifying the source population of ionizing radiation, responsible for the reionization of the universe, is currently a hotly debated subject with conflicting results. Studies of faint, high-redshift star-forming galaxies, in most cases, fail to detect enough escaping ionizing radiation to sustain the process. Recently, the capacity of bright quasi-stellar objects to ionize their surrounding medium has been confirmed also for faint active galactic nuclei (AGNs), which were found to display an escaping fraction of ~74% at z~4. Such levels of escaping radiation could sustain the required UV background, given the number density of faint AGNs is adequate. Thus, it is mandatory to accurately measure the luminosity function of faint AGNs (L~L*) in the same redshift range. For this reason we have conducted a spectroscopic survey, using the wide field spectrograph IMACS at the 6.5m Baade Telescope, to determine the nature of our sample of faint AGN candidates in the COSMOS field. This sample was assembled using photometric redshifts, color, and X-ray information. We ended up with 16 spectroscopically confirmed AGNs at 3.6<z<4.2 down to a magnitude of i$_{AB}$=23.0 for an area of 1.73 deg$^{2}$. This leads to an AGN space density of ~1.6$times10^{-6} Mpc^{-3}$ (corrected) at z~4 for an absolute magnitude of M$_{1450}$=-23.5. This is higher than previous measurements and seems to indicate that AGNs could make a substantial contribution to the ionizing background at z~4. Assuming that AGN physical parameters remain unchanged at higher redshifts and fainter luminosities, these sources could be regarded as the main drivers of cosmic reionization.
The recent discovery of high redshift dusty galaxies implies a rapid dust enrichment of their interstellar medium (ISM). To interpret these observations, we run a cosmological simulation in a 30$h^{-1}$ cMpc/size volume down to $z approx 4$. We use the hydrodynamical code dustyGadget, which accounts for the production of dust by stellar populations and its evolution in the ISM. We find that the cosmic dust density parameter ($Omega_{rm d}$) is mainly driven by stellar dust at $z gtrsim 10$, so that mass- and metallicity-dependent yields are required to assess the dust content in the first galaxies. At $z lesssim 9$ the growth of grains in the ISM of evolved systems (Log$(M_{star}/M_{odot})>8.5$) significantly increases their dust mass, in agreement with observations in the redshift range $4 lesssim z < 8$. Our simulation shows that the variety of high redshift galaxies observed with ALMA can naturally be accounted for by modeling the grain-growth timescale as a function of the physical conditions in the gas cold phase. In addition, the trends of dust-to-metal (DTM) and dust-to-gas (${cal D}$) ratios are compatible with the available data. A qualitative investigation of the inhomogeneous dust distribution in a representative massive halo at $z approx 4$ shows that dust is found from the central galaxy up to the closest satellites along polluted filaments with $rm Log({cal D}) leq -2.4$, but sharply declines at distances $d gtrsim 30$ kpc along many lines of sight, where $rm Log({cal D}) lesssim -4.0$.
Until recently, only a handful of dusty, star-forming galaxies (DSFGs) were known at $z>4$, most of them significantly amplified by gravitational lensing. Here, we have increased the number of such DSFGs substantially, selecting galaxies from the uniquely wide 250-, 350- and 500-$mu$m Herschel-ATLAS imaging survey on the basis of their extremely red far-infrared colors and faint 350- and 500-$mu$m flux densities - ergo they are expected to be largely unlensed, luminous, rare and very distant. The addition of ground-based continuum photometry at longer wavelengths from the JCMT and APEX allows us to identify the dust peak in their SEDs, better constraining their redshifts. We select the SED templates best able to determine photometric redshifts using a sample of 69 high-redshift, lensed DSFGs, then perform checks to assess the impact of the CMB on our technique, and to quantify the systematic uncertainty associated with our photometric redshifts, $sigma=0.14,(1+z)$, using a sample of 25 galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts, each consistent with our color selection. For Herschel-selected ultrared galaxies with typical colors of $S_{500}/S_{250}sim 2.2$ and $S_{500}/S_{350}sim 1.3$ and flux densities, $S_{500}sim 50,$mJy, we determine a median redshift, $hat{z}_{rm phot}=3.66$, an interquartile redshift range, 3.30$-$4.27, with a median rest-frame 8$-$1000-$mu$m luminosity, $hat{L}_{rm IR}$, of $1.3times 10^{13},$L$_odot$. A third lie at $z>4$, suggesting a space density, $rho_{z>4}$, of $approx 6 times 10^{-7},$Mpc$^{-3}$. Our sample contains the most luminous known star-forming galaxies, and the most over-dense cluster of starbursting proto-ellipticals yet found.
We present a study of the infrared properties for a sample of seven spectroscopically confirmed submillimeter galaxies at $z>$4.0. By combining ground-based near-infrared, Spitzer IRAC and MIPS, Herschel SPIRE, and ground-based submillimeter/millimeter photometry, we construct their Spectral Energy Distributions (SED) and a composite model to fit the SEDs. The model includes a stellar emission component at $lambda_{rm rest} <$ 3.5$ mu$m; a hot dust component peaking at $lambda_{rest} sim$ 5$,mu$m; and cold dust component which becomes significant for $lambda_{rm rest} >$ 50$,mu$m. Six objects in the sample are detected at 250 and 350$ mu$m. The dust temperatures for the sources in this sample are in the range of 40$-$80 K, and their $L_{rm FIR}$ $sim$ 10$^{13}$ L$_{odot}$ qualifies them as Hyper$-$Luminous Infrared Galaxies (HyperLIRGs). The mean FIR-radio index for this sample is around $< q > = 2.2$ indicating no radio excess in their radio emission. Most sources in the sample have 24$ mu$m detections corresponding to a rest-frame 4.5$ mu$m luminosity of Log$_{10}$(L$_{4.5}$ / L$_{odot}$) = 11 $sim$ 11.5. Their L$_{rm 4.5}$/$L_{rm FIR}$ ratios are very similar to those of starburst dominated submillimeter galaxies at $z sim$ 2. The $L_{rm CO}-L_{rm FIR}$ relation for this sample is consistent with that determined for local ULIRGs and SMGs at $z sim$ 2. We conclude that submillimeter galaxies at $z >$ 4 are hotter and more luminous in the FIR, but otherwise very similar to those at $z sim$ 2. None of these sources show any sign of the strong QSO phase being triggered.
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