We present new measurements of the quasar luminosity function (LF) at z ∼ 6 over an unprecedentedly wide range of the rest-frame ultraviolet luminosity M 1450 from −30 to −22 mag. This is the fifth in a series of publications from the Subaru High-z Exploration of Low-Luminosity Quasars (SHELLQs) project, which exploits the deep multiband imaging data produced by the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program survey. The LF was calculated with a complete sample of 110 quasars at 5.7 ≤ z ≤ 6.5, which includes 48 SHELLQs quasars discovered over 650 deg2 and 63 brighter quasars discovered by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the Canada–France–Hawaii Quasar Survey (including one overlapping object). This is the largest sample of z ∼ 6 quasars with a well-defined selection function constructed to date, which has allowed us to detect significant flattening of the LF at its faint end. A double power-law function fit to the sample yields a faint-end slope , a bright-end slope , a break magnitude , and a characteristic space density Gpc−3 mag−1. Integrating this best-fit model over the range −18 < M 1450 < −30 mag, quasars emit ionizing photons at the rate of s−1 Mpc−3 at z = 6.0. This is less than 10% of the critical rate necessary to keep the intergalactic medium ionized, which indicates that quasars are not a major contributor to cosmic reionization.
We present deep near-infrared spectroscopy of six quasars at 6.1 ≤ z ≤ 6.7 with VLT/X-Shooter and Gemini-N/GNIRS. Our objects, originally discovered through a wide-field optical survey with the Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) Subaru Strategic Program (HSC-SSP), have the lowest luminosities (−25.5 mag ≤ M 1450 ≤ −23.1 mag) of the z > 5.8 quasars with measured black hole masses. From single-epoch mass measurements based on Mgii λ2798, we find a wide range in black hole masses, from M BH = 10 7.6 to 10 9.3 M . The Eddington ratios L bol /L Edd range from 0.16 to 1.1, but the majority of the HSC quasars are powered by M BH ∼ 10 9 M SMBHs accreting at sub-Eddington rates. The Eddington ratio distribution of the HSC quasars is inclined to lower accretion rates than those of Willott et al. (2010a), who measured the black hole masses for similarly faint z ∼ 6 quasars. This suggests that the global Eddington ratio distribution is wider than has previously been thought. The presence of M BH ∼ 10 9 M SMBHs at z ∼ 6 cannot be explained with constant sub-Eddington accretion from stellar remnant seed black holes. Therefore, we may be witnessing the first buildup of the most massive black holes in the first billion years of the universe, the accretion activity of which is transforming from active growth to a quiescent phase. Measurements of a larger complete sample of z 6 low-luminosity quasars, as well as deeper observations with future facilities will enable us to better understand the early SMBH growth in the reionization epoch. onoue@mpia-hd.mpg.de arXiv:1904.07278v2 [astro-ph.GA] 12 Jul 2019 2 Onoue et al.
We report the discovery of a quasar at z = 7.07, which was selected from the deep multi-band imaging data collected by the Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) Subaru Strategic Program survey. This quasar, HSC J124353.93+010038.5, has an order of magnitude lower luminosity than do the other known quasars at z > 7. The rest-frame ultraviolet absolute magnitude is M 1450 = −24.13 ± 0.08 mag and the bolometric luminosity is erg s−1. Its spectrum in the optical to near-infrared shows strong emission lines, and shows evidence for a fast gas outflow, as the C iv line is blueshifted and there is indication of broad absorption lines. The Mg ii-based black hole mass is , thus indicating a moderate mass accretion rate with an Eddington ratio . It is the first z > 7 quasar with sub-Eddington accretion, besides being the third most distant quasar known to date. The luminosity and black hole mass are comparable to, or even lower than, those measured for the majority of low-z quasars discovered by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, and thus this quasar likely represents a z > 7 counterpart to quasars commonly observed in the low-z universe.
We report the result of optical identifications of FIRST radio sources with the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program survey (HSC-SSP). The positional cross-match within 1 ′′ between the FIRST and HSC-SSP catalogs (i 26) produced more than 3600 optical counterparts in the 156 deg 2 of the HSC-SSP field. The matched counterparts account for more than 50% of the FIRST sources in the search field, which substantially exceed previously reported fractions of SDSS counterparts (i 22) of ∼ 30%. Among the matched sample, 9% are optically unresolved sources such as radio-loud quasars. The optically faint (i > 21) radio galaxies (RGs) show that the fitting linear function of the 1.4 GHz source counts has a slope that is flatter than that of the bright RGs, while optically faint radio quasars show a slope steeper than that of bright radio quasars. The optically faint RGs show a flat slope in the i-band number counts down to 24 mag, implying either less-massive or distant radio-active galactic nuclei (AGNs) beyond 24 mag. The photometric redshift and the comparison of colors with the galaxy models show that most of the matched RGs are distributed at redshifts from 0 to 1.5. The optically faint sample includes the high radio-loudness sources that are not seen in the optically bright sample. Such sources are located at redshift z > 1. This study gives ∼ 1500 radio AGNs lying at the optically faint end and high-redshift regime not probed by previous searches.
We present physical properties of radio galaxies (RGs) with f 1.4GHz > 1 mJy discovered by Subaru Hyper Supreme-Cam (HSC) and VLA Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters (FIRST) survey. For 1056 FIRST RGs at 0 < z ≤ 1.7 with HSC counterparts in about 100 deg 2 , we compiled multi-wavelength data of optical, near-infrared (IR), mid-IR, far-IR, and radio (150 MHz). We derived their color excess (E(B − V ) * ), stellar mass, star formation rate (SFR), IR luminosity, the ratio of IR and radio luminosity (q IR ), and radio spectral index (α radio ) that are derived from the SED fitting with CIGALE. We also estimated Eddington ratio based on stellar mass and integration of the best-fit SEDs of AGN component. We found that E(B − V ) * , SFR, and IR luminosity clearly depend on redshift while stellar mass, q IR , and α radio do not significantly depend on redshift. Since optically-faint (i AB ≥ 21.3) RGs that are newly discovered by our RG survey tend to be high redshift, they tend to not only have a large dust extinction and low stellar mass but also have high SFR and AGN luminosity, high IR luminosity, and high Eddington ratio compared to optically-bright ones. The physical properties of a fraction of RGs in our sample seem to differ from a classical view of RGs with massive stellar mass, low SFR, and low Eddington ratio, demonstrating that our RG survey with HSC and FIRST provides us curious RGs among entire RG population.
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