Evidence for merger-driven activity in the clustering of high-redshift quasars

J Stuart B Wyithe,Abraham Loeb

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2009.14647.x

J Stuart B Wyithe, Abraham Loeb

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2009.14647.x

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Abstract

Recently, a very large clustering length has been measured for quasars at a redshift of z~4. In combination with the observed quasar luminosity function we assess the implications of this clustering for the relationship between quasar luminosity and dark matter halo mass. Our analysis allows for non-linearity and finite scatter in the relation between quasar luminosity and halo mass, as well as a luminosity dependent quasar lifetime. The additional novel ingredient in our modelling is the allowance for an excess in the observed bias over the underlying halo bias owing to the merger driven nature of quasar activity. We find that the observations of clustering and luminosity function can be explained only if both of the following conditions hold: (i) The luminosity to halo mass ratio increases with halo mass; (ii) The observed clustering amplitude is in excess of that expected solely from halo bias. The latter result is statistically significant at the 99% level. Taken together, the observations provide compelling evidence for merger driven quasar activity, with a black-hole growth that is limited by feedback. In difference from previous analyses, we show that there could be scatter in the luminosity halo mass relation of up to 1 dex, and that quasar clustering can not be used to estimate the quasar lifetime.

Highlights

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS; York et al 2000) and the 2dF quasar redshift survey (Croom et al 2001a) have measured redshifts for large samples of quasars, and determined their luminosity function over a broad section of cosmic history (Boyle et al 2000; Richards et al 2006)
Since the halo bias is related to the observed bias through an unknown constant F, we begin by showing two cases for illustration
4.1 Constraints on excess bias We find that the value of F is constrained to be in excess of unity, that is the observed bias is in excess of the halo bias

Summary

Introduction

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS; York et al 2000) and the 2dF quasar redshift survey (Croom et al 2001a) have measured redshifts for large samples of quasars, and determined their luminosity function over a broad section of cosmic history (Boyle et al 2000; Richards et al 2006). These surveys have been used to constrain the clustering properties of quasars (e.g. Croom et al 2001b, 2002, 2005; Porciani & Norberg 2006; da Angela et al 2008; Padmanabhan et al 2008), including the variation of clustering length with redshift and luminosity.

Results

Discussion

Conclusion