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Register a new userThe WISSH QSOs project IX. Cold gas content and environment of luminous QSOs at z~2.4-4.7
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Sources at the brightest end of QSO luminosity function during the peak epoch of star formation and black hole accretion (z~2-4, i.e. Cosmic noon) are privileged sites to study the feeding & feedback cycle of massive galaxies. We perform the first systematic study of cold gas properties in the most luminous QSOs, by characterising their host-galaxies and environment. We analyse ALMA, NOEMA and JVLA observations of FIR continuum, CO and [CII] emission lines in eight QSOs ($L_{rm Bol}>3times10^{47}$ erg/s) from the WISSH sample at z~2.4-4.7. We report a 100% emission line detection rate and a 80% detection rate in continuum emission, and we find CO emission to be consistent with the steepest CO ladders observed so far. Sub-mm data reveal presence of (one or more) bright companion galaxies around 80% of WISSH QSOs, at projected distances of 6-130 kpc. We observe a variety of sizes for the molecular gas reservoirs (1.7-10 kpc), associated with rotating disks with disturbed kinematics. WISSH QSOs typically show lower CO luminosity and higher star formation efficiency than FIR matched, z~0-3 main-sequence galaxies, implying that, given the observed SFR ~170-1100 $M_odot$/yr, molecular gas is converted into stars on <50 Myr. Most targets show extreme dynamical to black-hole mass ratios $M_{rm dyn}/M_{rm BH}sim3-10$, two orders of magnitude smaller than local relations. The molecular gas fraction in WISSH hosts is lower by a factor of ~10-100 than in star forming galaxies with similar $M_*$. WISSH QSOs undergo an intense growth phase of both the central SMBH and host-galaxy. They pinpoint high-density sites where giant galaxies assemble and mergers play a major role in the build-up of the final host-galaxy mass. The observed low molecular gas fraction and short depletion timescale are likely due to AGN feedback, as traced by fast AGN-driven ionised outflows in all our targets.
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We present IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer observations of the 12CO(3-2) emission from two far-infrared luminous QSOs at z ~ 2.5 selected from the Herschel-ATLAS survey. These far-infrared bright QSOs were selected to have supermassive black holes (SMBHs) with masses similar to those thought to reside in sub-millimetre galaxies (SMGs) at z ~ 2.5; making them ideal candidates as systems in transition from an ultraluminous infrared galaxy phase to a sub-mm faint, unobscured, QSO. We detect 12CO(3-2) emission from both QSOs and we compare their baryonic, dynamical and SMBH masses to those of SMGs at the same epoch. We find that these far-infrared bright QSOs have similar dynamical but lower gas masses than SMGs. In particular we find that far-infrared bright QSOs have ~50+-23% less warm/dense gas than SMGs, which combined with previous results showing the QSOs lack the extended, cool reservoir of gas seen in SMGs, suggests that they are at a different evolutionary stage. This is consistent with the hypothesis that far-infrared bright QSOs represent a short (~1Myr) but ubiquitous phase in the transformation of dust obscured, gas-rich, starburst-dominated SMGs into unobscured, gas-poor, QSOs.
We present a detailed study of a X -ray selected sample of 5 submillimeter bright QSOs at $zsim2$, where the highest rates of star formation (SF) and further growth of black holes (BH) occur. Therefore, this sample is a great laboratory to investigate the co-evolution of star formation and AGN. We present here the analysis of the spectral energy distributions (SED) of the 5 QSOS, including new data from Herschel PACS and SPIRE. Both AGN components (direct and reprocessed) and like Star Formation (SF) are needed to model its SED. From the SED and their UV-optical spectra we have estimated the mass of the black hole ($M_{BH} = 10^9 - 10^{10} M_{SUN}$) and bolometric luminosities of AGN ($L_{BOL} = (0.8-20) times 10^{13} L_{SUN}$). These objects show very high luminosities in the far infrared range (at the H/ULIRG levels) and very high rates of SF (SFR = 400-1400 $M_{SUN}$/y). Known their current SFR and their BH masses, we deduce that their host galaxies must be already very massive, or would not have time to get to the local relation between BH mass and bulge. Finally, we found evidence of a possible correlation between the column density of ionized gas detected in X-rays ($NH_{ion}$) and SFR, which would provide a link between AGN and SF processes.
We present single-dish CO(1-0) and CO(2-1) observations for 14 low-redshift quasi-stellar objects (QSOs). In combination with optical integral field spectroscopy we study how the cold gas content relates to the star formation rate (SFR) and black hole accretion rate. CO(1-0) is detected in 8 of 14 targets and CO(2-1) is detected in 7 out of 11 cases. The majority of disc-dominated QSOs reveal gas fractions and depletion times well matching normal star forming systems. Two gas-rich major mergers show clear starburst signatures with higher than average gas fractions and shorter depletion times. Bulge-dominated QSO hosts are mainly undetected in CO(1-0) which corresponds, on average, to lower gas fractions than in disc-dominated counterparts. Their SFRs however imply shorter than average depletion times and higher star formation efficiencies. Negative QSO feedback through removal of cold gas seems to play a negligible role in our sample. We find a trend between black hole accretion rate and total molecular gas content for disc-dominated QSOs when combined with literature samples. We interpret this as an upper envelope for nuclear activity which is well represented by a scaling relation between the total and circum-nuclear gas reservoir accessible for accretion. Bulge-dominated QSOs significantly differ from that scaling relation and appear uncorrelated with the total molecular gas content. This could be explained either by a more compact gas reservoir, blow out of the gas envelope through outflows, or a different ISM phase composition.
We study the cluster environment for a sample of 21 radio loud AGN from the 3CR catalog at z>1, 12 radio galaxies and 9 quasars with HST images in the optical and IR. We use two different approaches to determine cluster candidates. We identify the early type galaxies (ETGs) in every field by modeling each of the sources within a 40 radius of the targets with a Sersic profile. Using a simple passive evolution model, we derive the expected location of the ETGs on the red sequence (RS) in the color-magnitude diagram for each of the fields of our sources. For seven targets, the model coincides with the position of the ETGs. A second approach involves a search for over densities. We compare the object densities of the sample as a whole and individually against control fields taken from the GOODS-S region of 3D-HST survey. With this method we determine the fields of 10 targets to be cluster candidates. Four cluster candidates are found by both methods. The two methods disagree in some cases, depending on the specific properties of each field. For the most distant radio galaxy in the 3CR catalog (3C257 at z = 2.47), we identify a population of bluer ETGs that lie on the expected location of the RS model for that redshift. This appears to be the general behavior of ETGs in our fields and it is possibly a signature of the evolution of such galaxies. Our results are consistent with half of the z > 1 radio galaxies being located in dense, rapidly evolving environments.
We outline our recently started program to investigate the galaxy environment of QSOs, in particular of radio-quiet objects at intermediate redshifts.
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