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Register a new userHigh-redshift quasars and their host galaxies I: kinematical and dynamical properties and their tracers
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Observations of high-redshift quasars provide information on the massive black holes (MBHs) powering them and the galaxies hosting them. Current observations of $z gtrsim 6$ hosts, at sub-mm wavelengths, trace the properties of cold gas, and these are used to compare with the correlations between MBHs and galaxies characterising the $z=0$ population. The relations at $z=0$, however, rely on stellar-based tracers of the galaxy properties. We perform a very-high resolution cosmological zoom-in simulation of a $z=7$ quasar including state-of-the-art non-equilibrium chemistry, MBH formation, growth and feedback, to assess the evolution of the galaxy host and the central MBH, and compare the results with recent ALMA observations of high-redshift quasars. We measure both the stellar-based quantities used to establish the $z=0$ correlations, as well as the gas-based quantities available in $z gtrsim 6$ observations, adopting the same assumptions and techniques used in observational studies. The high-redshift studies argued that MBHs at high redshift deviate from the local MBH-galaxy correlations. In our analysis of the single galaxy we evolve, we find that the high-redshift population sits on the same correlations as the local one, when using the same tracers used at $z=0$. When using the gas-based tracers, however, MBHs appear to be over-massive. The discrepancy between local and high-redshift MBHs seems caused by the different tracers employed, and necessary assumptions, and not by an intrinsic difference. Better calibration of the tracers, higher resolution data and availability of facilities that can probe the stellar population will be crucial to assess precisely and accurately high-redshift quasar hosts.
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Observations of $z gtrsim 6$ quasars provide information on the early phases of the most massive black holes (MBHs) and galaxies. Current observations at sub-mm wavelengths trace cold and warm gas, and future observations will extend information to other gas phases and the stellar properties. The goal of this study is to examine the gas life cycle in a $z gtrsim 6$ quasar: from accretion from the halo to the galaxy and all the way into the MBH, to how star formation and the MBH itself affect the gas properties. Using a very-high resolution cosmological zoom-in simulation of a $z=7$ quasar including state-of-the-art non-equilibrium chemistry, MBH formation, growth and feedback, we investigate the distribution of the different gas phases in the interstellar medium across cosmic time. We assess the morphological evolution of the quasar host using different tracers (star- or gas-based) and the thermodynamic distribution of the MBH accretion-driven outflows, finding that obscuration in the disc is mainly due to molecular gas, with the atomic component contributing at larger scales and/or above/below the disc plane. Moreover, our results also show that molecular outflows, if present, are more likely the result of gas being lifted near the MBH than production within the wind because of thermal instabilities. Finally, we also discuss how different gas phases can be employed to dynamically constrain the MBH mass, and argue that resolutions below $sim 100$ pc yield unreliable estimates because of the strong contribution of the nuclear stellar component to the potential at larger scales.
The most heavily-obscured, luminous quasars might represent a specific phase of the evolution of actively accreting supermassive black holes and their host galaxies, possibly related to mergers. We investigated a sample of the most luminous quasars at $zapprox 1-3$ in the GOODS fields, selected in the mid-infrared band through detailed spectral energy distribution (SED) decomposition. The vast majority of these quasars (~80%) are obscured in the X-ray band and ~30% of them to such an extent, that they are undetected in some of the deepest (2 and 4 Ms) Chandra X-ray data. Although no clear relation is found between the star-formation rate of the host galaxies and the X-ray obscuration, we find a higher incidence of heavily-obscured quasars in disturbed/merging galaxies compared to the unobscured ones, thus possibly representing an earlier stage of evolution, after which the system is relaxing and becoming unobscured.
The discovery of luminous quasars at redshifts up to 7.5 demonstrates the existence of several billion M_sun supermassive black holes (SMBHs) less than a billion years after the Big Bang. They are accompanied by intense star formation in their host galaxies, pinpointing sites of massive galaxy assembly in the early universe, while their absorption spectra reveal an increasing neutral intergalactic medium (IGM) at the epoch of reionization. Extrapolating from the rapid evolution of the quasar density at z=5-7, we expect that there is only one luminous quasar powered by a billion M_sun SMBH in the entire observable universe at z~9. In the next decade, new wide-field, deep near-infrared (NIR) sky surveys will push the redshift frontier to the first luminous quasars at z~9-10; the combination with new deep X-ray surveys will probe fainter quasar populations that trace earlier phases of SMBH growth. The identification of these record-breaking quasars, and the measurements of their BH masses and accretion properties require sensitive spectroscopic observations with next generation of ground-based and space telescopes at NIR wavelengths. High-resolution integral-field spectroscopy at NIR, and observations at millimeter and radio wavelengths, will together provide a panchromatic view of the quasar host galaxies and their galactic environment at cosmic dawn, connecting SMBH growth with the rise of the earliest massive galaxies. Systematic surveys and multiwavelength follow-up observations of the earliest luminous quasars will strongly constrain the seeding and growth of the first SMBHs in the universe, and provide the best lines of sight to study the history of reionization.
We present Hubble Space Telescope 1.4-1.6 micron images of the hosts of ten extremely red quasars (ERQs) and six type 2 quasar candidates at z=2-3. ERQs, whose bolometric luminosities range between 10^47 and 10^48 erg/sec, show spectroscopic signs of powerful ionized winds, whereas type 2 quasar candidates are less luminous and show only mild outflows. After performing careful subtraction of the quasar light, we clearly detect almost all host galaxies. The median rest-frame B-band luminosity of the ERQ hosts in our sample is 10^11.2 L_Sun, or 4 L* at this redshift. Two of the ten hosts of ERQs are in ongoing mergers. The hosts of the type 2 quasar candidates are 0.6 dex less luminous, with 2/6 in likely ongoing mergers. Intriguingly, despite some signs of interaction and presence of low-mass companions, our objects do not show nearly as much major merger activity as do high-redshift radio-loud galaxies and quasars. In the absence of an overt connection to major ongoing gas-rich merger activity, our observations are consistent with a model in which the near-Eddington accretion and strong feedback of ERQs are associated with relatively late stages of mergers resulting in early-type remnants. These results are in some tension with theoretical expectations of galaxy formation models, in which rapid black hole growth occurs within a short time of a major merger. Type 2 quasar candidates are less luminous, so they may instead be powered by internal galactic processes.
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