JWST Q3D Program: Active Galactic Nucleus Photoionization and Shock Ionization in a Red Quasar at z = 0.4

Black hole feedback is now a standard component of galaxy formation models. These models predict that the impact of black hole activity on its host galaxy likely peaked at z=2-3, the epoch of strongest star formation activity and black hole accretion activity in the Universe. We used XShooter on the Very Large Telescope to measure rest-frame optical spectra of four z~2.5 extremely red quasars with infrared luminosities ~10^47 erg/sec. We present the discovery of very broad (full width at half max= 2600-5000 km/sec), strongly blue-shifted (by up to 1500 km/sec) [OIII]5007A emission lines in these objects. In a large sample of obscured and red quasars, [OIII] kinematics are positively correlated with infrared luminosity, and the four objects in our sample are on the extreme end both in [OIII] kinematics and infrared luminosity. We estimate that ~3% of the bolometric luminosity in these objects is being converted into the kinetic power of the observed wind. Photo-ionization estimates suggest that the [OIII] emission might be extended on a few kpc scales, which would suggest that the extreme outflow is affecting the entire host galaxy of the quasar. These sources may be the signposts of the most extreme form of quasar feedback at the peak epoch of galaxy formation, and may represent an active "blow-out" phase of quasar evolution.

Red quasars are very red in the optical through near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths, which is possibly due to dust extinction in their host galaxies as expected in a scenario in which red quasars are an intermediate population between merger-driven star-forming galaxies and unobscured type 1 quasars. However, alternative mechanisms also exist to explain their red colors: (i) an intrinsically red continuum; (ii) an unusual high covering factor of the hot dust component, that is, CFHD=LHD∕Lbol, where theLHDis the luminosity from the hot dust component and theLbolis the bolometric luminosity; and (iii) a moderate viewing angle. In order to investigate why red quasars are red, we studied optical and NIR spectra of 20 red quasars atz~ 0.3 and 0.7, where the usage of the NIR spectra allowed us to look into red quasar properties in ways that are little affected by dust extinction. The Paschen to Balmer line ratios were derived for 13 red quasars and the values were found to be ~10 times higher than unobscured type 1 quasars, suggesting a heavy dust extinction withAV> 2.5 mag. Furthermore, the Paschen to Balmer line ratios of red quasars are difficult to explain with plausible physical conditions without adopting the concept of the dust extinction. The CFHDof red quasars are similar to, or marginally higher than, those of unobscured type 1 quasars. The Eddington ratios, computed for 19 out of 20 red quasars, are higher than those of unobscured type 1 quasars (by factors of 3−5), and hence the moderate viewing angle scenario is disfavored. Consequently, these results strongly suggest the dust extinction that is connected to an enhanced nuclear activity as the origin of the red color of red quasars, which is consistent with the merger-driven quasar evolution scenario.

We present an analysis of near-infrared photometry of 59 quasars at 5.83 < z < 7.07, obtained with the Gemini North Telescope and the Gran Telescopio CANARIAS. The sample consists of low-luminosity quasars discovered in the Subaru High-z Exploration of Low-Luminosity Quasars (SHELLQs) project. With the near-infrared magnitudes combined with the optical photometric and spectroscopic data from the previous Hyper Suprime-Cam and SHELLQs observations, we searched for red (dust-reddened) quasars, characterized by the color excess of E(B − V) > 0.1. We identified five red quasar candidates. The low fraction (8%) of red quasars in our sample suggests that the low luminosity of the SHELLQs quasars is mostly due to the nature of the quasars, not due to extinction by dust. The candidates tend to be found on the low-luminosity side (measured with the rest-ultraviolet absolute magnitude at 1450 Å of M 1450 > −24 mag) of the sample. This luminosity trend may support the idea that red quasars represent an evolutionary stage preceding unobscured quasars, often invoked in the merger-driven galaxy evolution scenario.

It is well established that the properties of supermassive black holes (BHs) and their host galaxies are correlated through scaling relations. While hydrodynamical cosmological simulations have begun to account for the coevolution of BHs and galaxies, they typically have neglected the BH spin, even though it may play an important role in modulating the growth and feedback of BHs. Here we introduce a new sub-grid model for the BH spin evolution in the moving-mesh code arepo in order to improve the physical faithfulness of the BH modelling in galaxy formation simulations. We account for several different channels of spin evolution, in particular gas accretion through a Shakura–Sunyaev α-disc, chaotic accretion, and BH mergers. For BH feedback, we extend the IllustrisTNG model, which considers two different BH feedback modes, a thermal quasar mode for high accretion states and a kinetic mode for low Eddington ratios, with a self-consistent accounting of spin-dependent radiative efficiencies and thus feedback strength. We find that BHs with a mass $M_{\mbox{{bh}}}\lesssim 10^{8}\, {\rm M}_{\odot }$ reach high spin values as they typically evolve in the coherent gas accretion regime, in which consecutive accretion episodes are aligned. On the other hand, BHs with a mass $M_{\mbox{{bh}}}\gtrsim 10^{8}\, {\rm M}_{\odot }$ have lower spins as BH mergers become more frequent, and their accretion discs fragment due to self-gravity, inducing chaotic accretion. We also explore the hypothesis that the transition between the quasar and kinetic feedback modes is mediated by the accretion mode of the BH disc itself, i.e. the kinetic feedback mode is activated when the disc enters the self-gravity regime instead of by an ad hoc switch tied to the BH mass. We find excellent agreement between the galaxy and BH populations for this approach and the fiducial TNG model with no spin evolution. Furthermore, our new approach alleviates a tension in the galaxy morphology–colour relation of the original TNG model.

Extended narrow-line regions (ENLRs) and extended emission-line regions (EELRs) have been the focus of integral field spectroscopy aiming at the inner kiloparsecs of nearby Seyfert galaxies as well as the larger environment of high redshift QSOs. Based on observations with the Wide Field Spectrograph WiFeS at the 2.3 m telescope of the Australian National University, we present spatially resolved emission-line diagnostics of the bright Seyfert 1.5 galaxy HE 2211-3903 which is drawn from a sample of the brightest Seyfert galaxies at z<0.06 with luminosities around the classical Seyfert/QSO demarcation. In addition to the previously known spiral arms of HE 2211-3903, the emission-line maps reveal a large scale ring with a radius of about 6 kpc which is connected to the active galactic nucleus (AGN) through a bar-like structure. The overall gas kinematics indicates a disk rotation pattern. The emission-line ratios show Seyfert-type, HII region-type, and composite classifications, while there is no strong evidence of LINER-type ratios. Shock ionization is likely to be negligible throughout the galaxy. The composite line ratios are explained via a mixing line between AGN and HII region photoionization. Composite line ratios are predominantly found in between the HII regions in the circum-nuclear region, the bar-like structure to the east of the nucleus, and the eastern half of the ring, suggesting AGN photoionization of the low-density interstellar medium in an ENLR on galaxy scales. The line ratios in the nucleus indicate N-enrichment, which is discussed in terms of chemical enrichment by Wolf-Rayet and Asymptotic Giant Branch stars during past and ongoing nuclear starburst activity.

Abstract. Post-starburst galaxies (PSBs) have quenched (significant decline in star formation rate) both recently and rapidly (≲Gyr). They are thus promising in providing insights into activities that are happening at the early stage of quenching. While studies have suggested that black hole feedback in the form of active galactic nuclei (AGN) and outflows play important roles in quenching, the details of how they impact the host galaxies and their interplay with other quenching mechanisms are still not fully understood. We find that PSBs commonly show signatures of AGN activity but they appear to be weak and/or heavily obscured. These AGN might be able to drive outflows but they are likely not strong enough to remove gas from the host galaxy. Direct evidence of AGN quenching the star formation of the host galaxy is still missing and AGN likely quench by disturbing rather than expelling the gas.

Studies show that both radio jets from the active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and the star formation (SF) activity in quasar host galaxies contribute to the quasar radio emission; yet their relative contributions across the population remain unclear. Here, we present an improved parametric model that allows us to statistically separate the SF and AGN components in observed quasar radio flux density distributions, and investigate how their relative contributions evolve with AGN bolometric luminosity ($L_\mathrm{bol}$) and redshift (z) using a fully Bayesian method. Based on the newest data from LOw-Frequency ARray Two-metre Sky Survey data release 2, our model gives robust fitting results out to $z\sim 4$, showing a quasar host galaxy SF rate (SFR) evolution that increases with bolometric luminosity and with redshift out to $z\sim 4$. This differs from the global cosmic SFR density, perhaps due to the importance of galaxy mergers. The prevalence of radio AGN emissions increases with quasar luminosity, but has little dependence on redshift. Furthermore, our new methodology and large sample size allow us to subdivide our data set to investigate the role of other parameters. Specifically, in this paper, we explore quasar colour and demonstrate that the radio excess in red quasars is due to an enhancement in AGN-related emission, since the host galaxy SF contribution to the total radio emission is independent of quasar colour. We also find evidence that this radio enhancement occurs mostly in quasars with weak or intermediate radio power.

Ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) represent a critical stage in the merger-driven evolution of galaxies when active galactic nucleus (AGN) activity is common and AGN feedback is expected. We present high-sensitivity and large field-of-view integral field spectroscopy of the ULIRG Mrk 273 using new data from the Keck Cosmic Web Imager (KWCI). The KCWI data capture the complex nuclear region and the two extended nebulae in the northeast (NE) and southwest (SW) to ∼20 kpc scales. Kinematics in the nuclear region show a fast, extended, bipolar outflow in the direction of the previously reported nuclear superbubbles spanning ∼5 kpc, two to three times greater than the previously reported size. The larger-scale extended nebulae on ∼20 kpc show fairly uniform kinematics with FWHM ∼ 300 km s−1 in the SW nebula and FWHM ∼ 120 km s−1 in the NE nebula. We detect for the first time high-ionization [Ne v] 3426, [O iii] 4363, and He ii 4684 emission lines in the extended NE nebula. Emission line ratios in the nuclear region correlate with the kinematic structures, with the bipolar outflow and the less collimated “outflow regions” showing distinct line ratio trends. Line ratio diagnostics of high-ionization emission lines reveal a nontrivial contribution from shock plus precursor ionization in the NE nebula and the nuclear region mixed with AGN photoionization. These data are highly constraining for models of cool ionized gas existing 20 kpc from a galactic nucleus.

Supermassive black holes (BHs) have been found in 85 galaxies by dynamical modeling of spatially resolved kinematics. The Hubble Space Telescope revolutionized BH research by advancing the subject from its proof-of-concept phase into quantitative studies of BH demographics. Most influential was the discovery of a tight correlation between BH mass [Formula: see text] and the velocity dispersion σ of the bulge component of the host galaxy. Together with similar correlations with bulge luminosity and mass, this led to the widespread belief that BHs and bulges coevolve by regulating each other's growth. Conclusions based on one set of correlations from [Formula: see text] in brightest cluster ellipticals to [Formula: see text] in the smallest galaxies dominated BH work for more than a decade.New results are now replacing this simple story with a richer and more plausible picture in which BHs correlate differently with different galaxy components. A reasonable aim is to use this progress to refine our understanding of BH-galaxy coevolution. BHs with masses of 105−106M⊙are found in many bulgeless galaxies. Therefore, classical (elliptical-galaxy-like) bulges are not necessary for BH formation. On the other hand, although they live in galaxy disks, BHs do not correlate with galaxy disks. Also, any [Formula: see text] correlations with the properties of disk-grown pseudobulges and dark matter halos are weak enough to imply no close coevolution.The above and other correlations of host-galaxy parameters with each other and with [Formula: see text] suggest that there are four regimes of BH feedback. (1) Local, secular, episodic, and stochastic feeding of small BHs in largely bulgeless galaxies involves too little energy to result in coevolution. (2) Global feeding in major, wet galaxy mergers rapidly grows giant BHs in short-duration, quasar-like events whose energy feedback does affect galaxy evolution. The resulting hosts are classical bulges and coreless-rotating-disky ellipticals. (3) After these AGN phases and at the highest galaxy masses, maintenance-mode BH feedback into X-ray-emitting gas has the primarily negative effect of helping to keep baryons locked up in hot gas and thereby keeping galaxy formation from going to completion. This happens in giant, core-nonrotating-boxy ellipticals. Their properties, including their tight correlations between [Formula: see text] and core parameters, support the conclusion that core ellipticals form by dissipationless major mergers. They inherit coevolution effects from smaller progenitor galaxies. Also, (4) independent of any feedback physics, in BH growth modes 2 and 3, the averaging that results from successive mergers plays a major role in decreasing the scatter in [Formula: see text] correlations from the large values observed in bulgeless and pseudobulge galaxies to the small values observed in giant elliptical galaxies.

Morphological studies are crucial to investigate the connections between active galactic nucleus (AGN) activities and the evolution of galaxies. Substantial studies have found that radiative-mode AGNs primarily reside in disk galaxies, questioning the merger-driven mechanism of AGN activities. In this study, through Sérsic profile fitting and nonparametric morphological parameter measurements, we investigated the morphology of host galaxies of 485 optical variability-selected low-luminosity AGNs at z ≲ 4.26 in the COSMOS field. We analyzed high-resolution images of the Hubble Space Telescope to measure these morphological parameters. We only successfully measured the morphological parameters for 76 objects and most AGN hosts (∼70%) were visually compact point-like sources. We examined the obtained morphological information as a function of redshift and compared them with literature data. We found that these AGN host galaxies showed no clear morphological preference. However, the merger rate increased with higher host star formation rate and AGN luminosity. Interestingly, we found ongoing star formation consistent with the typical star-forming populations in both elliptical and spiral galaxies, while these two types of galaxies were more symmetric than normal star-forming galaxies. These results suggest that optical variability-selected AGNs have higher probabilities to reside in elliptical galaxies than infrared-selected AGNs, whose host galaxies have a strong disk dominance, and support recent findings that the AGN feedback can enhance star-forming activities in host galaxies.

We have searched for redshifted neutral hydrogen 21 cm absorption toward sources from the Stickel et al. subsample. The red quasar subsample is taken from the 1 Jy sample of flat-spectrum radio sources and is comprised of the 15 sources that are undetected on the POSS. Five of these red quasars have been searched for redshifted H I 21 cm absorption to optical depth levels of a few percent, and four show strong absorption, with neutral hydrogen column densities between 4 and 80 × 1018 × (Ts/f) cm-2. This 80% success rate for the red quasars compares to the much lower success rate of only 11% for detecting H I 21 cm absorption associated with optically selected Mg II absorption line systems. The large neutral hydrogen column densities seen toward the Stickel et al. red quasars provide circumstantial evidence supporting the dust-reddening hypothesis, as opposed to an intrinsically red spectrum for the AGN emission mechanism. The lower limits to rest-frame values of AV are between two and seven, leading to lower limits to the spin temperatures for the neutral hydrogen between 50 K and 1000 K, assuming a Galactic dust-to-gas ratio. We consider the question of biases in optically selected samples of quasars caused by dust obscuration. Overall, the data on the red quasar subsample support the models of Fall & Pei for dust obscuration by damped Lyα absorption line systems and suggest that (1) there may be a significant, but not dominant, population of quasars missing from optically selected samples because of dust obscuration, perhaps as many as 20% at the POSS limit for an optical sample with a redshift distribution similar to the 1 Jy flat-spectrum quasar sample, and (2) optically selected samples may miss about one-half the high column density quasar absorption line systems. The redshifted H I 21 cm absorption line detections presented herein are toward the sources 0108+388 at z = 0.6685, 0500+019 at z = 0.5846, and 1504+377 at z = 0.6733. No absorption is seen toward 2149+056 at z = 0.740 at a level below that seen for the three detections, although there is some uncertainty in this case as to the expected line redshift. In some systems, the absorbing gas is in the vicinity of the AGN, as either circumnuclear material or material in the general ISM of the AGN's host galaxy, as is probably the case for 0108+388 and 1504+377, and in other systems the absorption is by gas associated with galaxies cosmologically distributed along the line of sight to the quasar, as may be the case for 0500+019. The Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope spectrum of 1504+377 confirms the lack of H I 21 cm absorption associated with the narrow molecular absorption line system at z = 0.67150.

How galaxies transition between blue, star-forming, spirals and red elliptical galaxies is a key question in modern extragalactic astrophysics. Galaxies will transition between the two broad populations under competing influences including internal structure, gravitational interactions, black hole feedback, and group and cluster environment. These different processes will cause galaxies to transform in different ways, creating a diverse population of transition galaxies. This thesis aims to determine how environment creates transition galaxies, and how star formation is suppressed as galaxies transition between the blue and red populations. We show that in massive clusters, galaxies with residual star formation reside preferentially in cluster outskirts using the LARCS survey combined with Galex observations. We find ~ 5% of optically red galaxies in dense cluster cores with (NUV - R < 5.4), which indicated residual star formation. This fraction of red galaxies with residual star formation increases to 15% at large cluster radii and low surface density. We interpret this as a quenching of star formation as galaxies enter cluster environments. We observe (NUV - R) bright fractions of over 50% for morphologically spiral red sequence galaxies, and no preference for merging or edge on systems. This suggests most residual star formation in red galaxies is caused via a quenching of star formation in disc galaxies, and not a recent burst of star formation. We compare the fraction of galaxies with (NUV - r < 5) in different environments, using a group catalogue from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We find a > 3 sigma suppression of residual star formation in group galaxies compared with non-grouped galaxies. The (NUV - r) blue fraction is a factor of ~ 2 higher in the non-group sample for galaxies with low Sersic indices and stellar masses of ~1010.5 Msun. Many non-grouped galaxies with residual star formation have colours that match stellar population model tracks with > 1 Gyr timescale star formation decay. By contrast, grouped galaxies with residual star formation do not need a contribution from long decay truncations, implying a suppression of slow quenching galaxies in group environments compared with non-grouped galaxies. We measured the environments of rapid quenching galaxies in the GAMA survey, using rapidly quenching galaxies selected with E+A spectroscopic criteria and UV-optical photometric criteria. Although slow quenching is relatively rare in clusters, both the spectroscopic and photometric samples show no significant preference for rapidly quenching galaxies to reside in groups relative to a mass and colour matched comparison sample. The (NUV - r) colours of E+A galaxies however, are an average of 0.5 mag (> 3 sigma) redder than comparison galaxies, indicating that E+A galaxies are indeed more rapidly quenched than other transitioning galaxies. Our results demonstrate that environment does play a role in suppressing galaxy star formation, which is seen via the radial dependence of residual star formation in clusters and the suppression of slow quenching in groups. However, the variety of environments of rapidly quenching galaxies (selected with spectroscopic E+A and photometric UV-optical criteria), highlights that mechanisms correlated with environment are not the only means of suppressing star formation. Other mechanisms must drive the rapid quenching of star formation, and cause a fast transition to the red sequence.

To investigate the extent to which nuclear starbursts or other nuclear activity may be connected with enhanced star formation activity in the host galaxy, we perform a statistical investigation of supernovae (SNe) discovered in host galaxies from four samples: the Markarian galaxies sample, the Second Byurakan Survey (SBS) sample, the north Galactic pole (NGP) sample of active or star-forming galaxies, and the NGP sample of normal galaxies. Forty-seven SNe in 41 Mrk galaxies, 10 SNe in six SBS galaxies, 29 SNe in 26 NGP active or star-forming galaxies, and 29 SNe in 26 NGP normal galaxies have been studied. We find that the rate of SNe, particularly core-collapse (Types Ib/c and II) SNe, is higher in active or star-forming galaxies in comparison with normal galaxies. Active or star-forming host galaxies of SNe are generally of later morphological type and have lower luminosity and smaller linear size than normal host galaxies of SNe. The radial distribution of SNe in active and star-forming galaxies shows a higher concentration toward the center of the active host galaxy than is the case for normal host galaxies, and this effect is more pronounced for core-collapse SNe. Ib/c-type SNe have been discovered only in active and star-forming galaxies of our samples. About 78% of these SNe are associated with H II regions or are located very close to the nuclear regions of these active galaxies, which are in turn hosting AGNs or starburst nuclei. Besides these new results, our study also supports the conclusions of several other earlier papers. We find that Type Ia SNe occur in all galaxy types, whereas core-collapse SNe of Types Ib/c and II are found only in spiral and irregular galaxies. The radial distribution of Type Ib SNe in their host galaxies is more centrally concentrated than that of Type II and Ia SNe. The radial distances of Types Ib/c and II SNe, from the nuclei of their host galaxies, is larger for barred spiral hosts. Core-collapse SNe are concentrated in spiral arms and are often close to or in the H II regions, whereas Type Ia SNe show only a loose association with spiral arms and no clear association with H II regions.

We investigate black hole-host galaxy scaling relations in cosmological simulations with a self-consistent black hole growth and feedback model. The sub-grid accretion model captures the key scalings governing angular momentum transport from galactic scales down to parsec scales, while our kinetic feedback implementation enables the injection of outflows with properties chosen to match observed nuclear outflows. We show that "quasar mode" feedback can have a large impact on the thermal properties of the intergalactic medium and the growth of galaxies and massive black holes for kinetic feedback efficiencies as low as 0.1% relative to the bolometric luminosity. Nonetheless, our simulations suggest that the black hole-host scaling relations are only weakly dependent on the effects of black hole feedback on galactic scales, owing to feedback suppressing the growth of galaxies and massive black holes by a similar amount. In contrast, the rate at which gravitational torques feed the central black hole relative to the host galaxy star formation rate governs the slope and normalization of the black hole-host correlations. Our results suggest that a common gas supply regulated by gravitational torques is the primary driver of the observed co-evolution of black holes and galaxies.

Using a fully cosmological hydrodynamic simulation that self-consistently incorporates the growth and feedback of supermassive black holes and the physics of galaxy formation, we examine the effects of environmental factors (e.g., local gas density, black hole feedback) on the halo occupation distribution of low luminosity active galactic nuclei (AGN). We decompose the mean occupation function into central and satellite contribution and compute the conditional luminosity functions (CLF). The CLF of the central AGN follows a log-normal distribution with the mean increasing and scatter decreasing with increasing redshifts. We analyze the light curves of individual AGN and show that the peak luminosity of the AGN has a tighter correlation with halo mass compared to instantaneous luminosity. We also compute the CLF of satellite AGN at a given central AGN luminosity. We do not see any significant correlation between the number of satellites with the luminosity of the central AGN at a fixed halo mass. We also show that for a sample of AGN with luminosity above 10^42 ergs/s the mean occupation function can be modeled as a softened step function for central AGN and a power law for the satellite population. The radial distribution of AGN inside halos follows a power law at all redshifts with a mean index of -2.33 +/- 0.08. Incorporating the environmental dependence of supermassive black hole accretion and feedback, our formalism provides a theoretical tool for interpreting current and future measurements of AGN clustering.