The ionizing continuum from active galactic nuclei is fundamental for interpreting their broad emission lines and understanding their impact on the surrounding gas. Furthermore, it provides hints on ...how matter accretes on to supermassive black holes. Using Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Camera 3, we have constructed the first stacked ultraviolet (rest-frame wavelengths 600–2500 Å) spectrum of 53 luminous quasars at z ≃ 2.4, with a state-of-the-art correction for the intervening Lyman forest and Lyman continuum absorption. The continuum slope (
$f_\nu \propto \nu ^{\alpha _\nu }$
) of the full sample shows a break at ∼912 Å with spectral index αν = −0.61 ± 0.01 at λ > 912 Å and a softening at shorter wavelengths (αν = −1.70 ± 0.61 at λ ≤ 912 Å). Our analysis proves that a proper intergalactic medium absorption correction is required to establish the intrinsic continuum emission of quasars. We interpret our average ultraviolet spectrum in the context of photoionization, accretion disc models, and quasar contribution to the ultraviolet background. We find that observed broad line ratios are consistent with those predicted assuming an ionizing slope of αion = −2.0, similar to the observed ionizing spectrum in the same wavelength range. The continuum break and softening are consistent with accretion disc plus X-ray corona models when black hole spin is taken into account. Our spectral energy distribution yields a 30 per cent increase to previous estimates of the specific quasar emissivity, such that quasars may contribute significantly to the total specific Lyman limit emissivity estimated from the Lyα forest at z < 3.2.
Physical Properties of 15 Quasars at z 6.5 Mazzucchelli, C.; Bañados, E.; Venemans, B. P. ...
The Astrophysical journal,
11/2017, Letnik:
849, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Quasars are galaxies hosting accreting supermassive black holes; due to their brightness, they are unique probes of the early universe. To date, only a few quasars have been reported at (<800 Myr ...after the big bang). In this work, we present six additional quasars discovered using the Pan-STARRS1 survey. We use a sample of 15 quasars to perform a homogeneous and comprehensive analysis of this highest-redshift quasar population. We report four main results: (1) the majority of quasars show large blueshifts of the broad C iv λ1549 emission line compared to the systemic redshift of the quasars, with a median value ∼3× higher than a quasar sample at ; (2) we estimate the quasars' black hole masses ( (0.3-5) × 109 M ) via modeling of the Mg ii λ2798 emission line and rest-frame UV continuum and find that quasars at high redshift accrete their material (with ) at a rate comparable to a luminosity-matched sample at lower redshift, albeit with significant scatter (0.4 dex); (3) we recover no evolution of the Fe ii/Mg ii abundance ratio with cosmic time; and (4) we derive near-zone sizes and, together with measurements for quasars from recent work, confirm a shallow evolution of the decreasing quasar near-zone sizes with redshift. Finally, we present new millimeter observations of the C ii 158 m emission line and underlying dust continuum from NOEMA for four quasars and provide new accurate redshifts and C ii/infrared luminosity estimates. The analysis presented here shows the large range of properties of the most distant quasars.
ABSTRACT
In this work we present a new hybrid method to simulate the thermal effects of reionization in cosmological hydrodynamical simulations. The method improves upon the standard approach used in ...simulations of the intergalactic medium (IGM) and galaxy formation without a significant increase in the computational cost, thereby allowing for efficient exploration of the parameter space. The method uses a small set of phenomenological input parameters, and combines a seminumerical reionization model to solve for the topology of reionization with an approximate model of how reionization heats the IGM, using the massively parallel Nyx hydrodynamics code which is specifically designed to solve for the structure of diffuse IGM gas. We have produced several medium-scale, high-resolution simulations (20483, Lbox = 40 Mpc h−1) with various instantaneous and inhomogeneous ${\rm H \,{\small I}}$ reionization models that use this new methodology. We study the IGM thermal properties of these models and find that large-scale temperature fluctuations extend well beyond the end of reionization. By analysing the 1D flux power spectrum of these models, we find up to ${\sim } 50{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ differences in the large-scale properties (low modes, k ≲ 0.01 s km−1) of the post-reionization power spectrum as a result of the thermal fluctuations. We show that these differences could allow one to distinguish between different reionization scenarios with existing Lyα forest measurements. Finally, we explore the differences in the small-scale cut-off of the power spectrum, finding that, for the same heat input, models show very good agreement provided that the reionization redshift of the instantaneous reionization model occurs at the midpoint of the inhomogeneous model.
We used the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explore (MUSE) on the Very Large Telescope (VLT) to conduct a survey of z ∼ 3 physical quasar pairs at close separation (<30″) with a fast observation strategy ...(45 min on source). Our aim is twofold: (i) to explore the Lyα glow around the faint-end of the quasar population; and (ii) to take advantage of the combined illumination of a quasar pair to unveil large-scale intergalactic structures (if any) extending between the two quasars. In this work we report the results for the quasar pair SDSS J113502.03−022110.9 – SDSS J113502.50−022120.1 (z = 3.020, 3.008; i = 21.84, 22.15), separated by 11.6″ (or 89 projected kpc). MUSE reveals filamentary Lyα structures extending between the two quasars with an average surface brightness of SBLyα = 1.8 × 10−18 erg s−1 cm−2 arcsec−2. Photoionization models of the constraints in the Lyα, He IIλ1640, and C IVλ1548 line emissions show that the emitting structures are intergalactic bridges with an extent between ∼89 kpc, the quasars’ projected distance, and up to ∼600 kpc. Our models rule out the possibility that the structure extends for ∼2.9 Mpc, that is, the separation inferred from the uncertain systemic redshift difference of the quasars if the difference was only due to the Hubble flow. At the current spatial resolution and surface brightness limit, the average projected width of an individual bridge is ∼35 kpc. We also detect one strong absorption in H I, N V, and C IV along the background sight-line at higher z, which we interpret to be due to at least two components of cool (T ∼ 104 K), metal enriched (Z > 0.3 Z⊙), and relatively ionized circumgalactic or intergalactic gas surrounding the quasar pair. Two additional H I absorbers are detected along both quasar sight-lines at ∼−900 and −2800 km s−1 from the system; the latter has associated C IV absorption only along the foreground quasar sight-line. The absence of galaxies in the MUSE field of view at the redshifts of these two absorbers suggests that they trace large-scale structures or expanding shells in front of the quasar pair. Combining longer exposures and higher spectral resolution when targeting similar quasar pairs has the potential to firmly constrain the physical properties of gas in large-scale intergalactic structures.
ABSTRACT The lifetime of quasars is fundamental for understanding the growth of supermassive black holes, and is an important ingredient in models of the reionization of the intergalactic medium ...(IGM). However, despite various attempts to determine quasar lifetimes, current estimates from a variety of methods are uncertain by orders of magnitude. This work combines cosmological hydrodynamical simulations and 1D radiative transfer to investigate the structure and evolution of the He ii Ly proximity zones around quasars at z 3-4. We show that the time evolution in the proximity zone can be described by a simple analytical model for the approach of the He ii fraction to ionization equilibrium, and use this picture to illustrate how the transmission profile depends on the quasar lifetime, quasar UV luminosity, and the ionization state of Helium in the ambient IGM (i.e., the average He ii fraction, or equivalently the metagalactic He ii ionizing background). A significant degeneracy exists between the lifetime and the average He ii fraction, however the latter can be determined from measurements of the He ii Ly optical depth far from quasars, allowing the lifetime to be measured. We advocate stacking existing He ii quasar spectra at z ∼ 3, and show that the shape of this average proximity zone profile is sensitive to lifetimes as long as ∼30 Myr. At higher redshift z ∼ 4 where the He ii fraction is poorly constrained, degeneracies will make it challenging to determine these parameters independently. Our analytical model for He ii proximity zones should also provide a useful description of the properties of H i proximity zones around quasars at z 6-7.
Despite decades of effort, the timing and duration of He ii reionization and the properties of the quasars believed to drive it are still not well constrained. We present a new method to study both ...via the thermal proximity effect-the heating of the intergalactic medium (IGM) around quasars when their radiation doubly ionizes helium. We post-process hydrodynamical simulations with 1D radiative transfer and study how the thermal proximity effect depends on the He ii fraction, , which prevailed in the IGM before the quasar turned on, and the quasar lifetime . We find that the amplitude of the temperature boost in the quasar environment depends on , with a characteristic value of for , whereas the size of the thermal proximity zone is sensitive to , with typical sizes of for . This temperature boost increases the thermal broadening of H i absorption lines near the quasar. We introduce a new Bayesian statistical method based on measuring the Ly forest power spectrum as a function of distance from the quasar, and demonstrate that the thermal proximity effect should be easily detectable. For a mock data set of 50 quasars at , we predict that one can measure to an (absolute) precision and to a precision of dex. By applying our formalism to existing high-resolution Ly forest spectra, one should be able to reconstruct the He ii reionization history, providing a global census of hard photons in the high-z universe.
Abstract
We present the most precise estimate to date of the clustering of quasars on very small scales, based on a sample of 47 binary quasars with magnitudes of g < 20.85 and proper transverse ...separations of ∼25 h
−1 kpc. Our sample of binary quasars, which is about six times larger than any previous spectroscopically confirmed sample on these scales, is targeted using a kernel density estimation (KDE) technique applied to Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) imaging over most of the SDSS area. Our sample is ‘complete’ in that all of the KDE target pairs with 17.0 ≲ R ≲ 36.2 h
−1 kpc in our area of interest have been spectroscopically confirmed from a combination of previous surveys and our own long-slit observational campaign. We catalogue 230 candidate quasar pairs with angular separations of <8 arcsec, from which our binary quasars were identified. We determine the projected correlation function of quasars (
$\bar{W}_{\rm p}$
) in four bins of proper transverse scale over the range 17.0 ≲ R ≲ 36.2 h
−1 kpc. The implied small-scale quasar clustering amplitude from the projected correlation function, integrated across our entire redshift range, is A = 24.1 ± 3.6 at ∼26.6 h
−1 kpc. Our sample is the first spectroscopically confirmed sample of quasar pairs that is sufficiently large to study how quasar clustering evolves with redshift at ∼25 h
−1 kpc. We find that empirical descriptions of how quasar clustering evolves with redshift at ∼25 h
−1 Mpc also adequately describe the evolution of quasar clustering at ∼25 h
−1 kpc.
The fraction of active galactic nucleus (AGN) luminosity obscured by dust and re-emitted in the mid-IR is critical for understanding AGN evolution, unification, and parsec-scale AGN physics. For ...unobscured (Type 1) AGNs, where we have a direct view of the accretion disk, the dust covering factor can be measured by computing the ratio of re-processed mid-IR emission to intrinsic nuclear bolometric luminosity. We use this technique to estimate the obscured AGN fraction as a function of luminosity and redshift for 513 Type 1 AGNs from the XMM-COSMOS survey. The re-processed and intrinsic luminosities are computed by fitting the 18 band COSMOS photometry with a custom spectral energy distribution fitting code, which jointly models emission from hot dust in the AGN torus, from the accretion disk, and from the host galaxy. We find a relatively shallow decrease of the luminosity ratio as a function of L sub(bol), which we interpret as a corresponding decrease in the obscured fraction. In the context of the receding torus model, where dust sublimation reduces the covering factor of more luminous AGNs, our measurements require a torus height that increases with luminosity as h is proportional to L sub(bol) super(0.3-0.4). Our obscured-fraction-luminosity relation agrees with determinations from Sloan Digital Sky Survey censuses of Type 1 and Type 2 quasars and favors a torus optically thin to mid-IR radiation. We find a much weaker dependence of the obscured fraction on 2-10 keV luminosity than previous determinations from X-ray surveys and argue that X-ray surveys miss a significant population of highly obscured Compton-thick AGNs. Our analysis shows no clear evidence for evolution of the obscured fraction with redshift.
We present a first study of the effect of local photoionizing radiation on gas cooling in smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations of galaxy formation. We explore the combined effect of ionizing ...radiation from young and old stellar populations. The method computes the effect of multiple radiative sources using the same tree algorithm as used for gravity, so it is computationally efficient and well resolved. The method foregoes calculating absorption and scattering in favour of a constant escape fraction for young stars to keep the calculation efficient enough to simulate the entire evolution of a galaxy in a cosmological context to the present day. This allows us to quantify the effect of the local photoionization feedback through the whole history of a galaxy's formation. The simulation of a Milky Way-like galaxy using the local photoionization model forms ∼40 per cent less stars than a simulation that only includes a standard uniform background UV field. The local photoionization model decreases star formation by increasing the cooling time of the gas in the halo and increasing the equilibrium temperature of dense gas in the disc. Coupling the local radiation field to gas cooling from the halo provides a preventive feedback mechanism which keeps the central disc light and produces slowly rising rotation curves without resorting to extreme feedback mechanisms. These preliminary results indicate that the effect of local photoionizing sources is significant and should not be ignored in models of galaxy formation.
PDF
