Physical Constraints on the Extended Interstellar Medium of the z = 6.42 Quasar J1148+5251: [C ii]158 μm, [N ii]205 μm, and [O i]146 μm Observations

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Abstract We report new Northern Extended Millimeter Array observations of the [C ii]158 μm, [N ii]205 μm, and [O i]146 μm atomic fine structure lines (FSLs) and dust continuum emission of J1148+5251, a z = 6.42 quasar, which probe the physical properties of its interstellar medium (ISM). The radially averaged [C ii]158 μm and dust continuum emission have similar extensions (up to θ = 2.51 − 0.25 + 0.46 arcsec , corresponding to r = 9.8 − 2.1 + 3.3 kpc , accounting for beam convolution), confirming that J1148+5251 is the quasar with the largest [C ii]158 μm-emitting reservoir known at these epochs. Moreover, if the [C ii]158 μm emission is examined only along its NE–SW axis, a significant excess (>5.8σ) of [C ii]158 μm emission (with respect to the dust) is detected. The new wide-bandwidth observations enable us to accurately constrain the continuum emission, and do not statistically require the presence of broad [C ii]158 μm line wings that were reported in previous studies. We also report the first detection of the [O i]146 μm and (tentatively) [N ii]205 μm emission lines in J1148+5251. Using FSL ratios of the [C ii]158 μm, [N ii]205 μm, [O i]146 μm, and previously measured [C i]369 μm emission lines, we show that J1148+5251 has similar ISM conditions compared to lower-redshift (ultra)luminous infrared galaxies. CLOUDY modeling of the FSL ratios excludes X-ray-dominated regions and favors photodissociation regions as the origin of the FSL emission. We find that a high radiation field (103.5–4.5 G 0), a high gas density (n ≃ 103.5–4.5 cm−3), and an H i column density of 1023 cm−2 reproduce the observed FSL ratios well.