A benchmark for extreme conditions of the multiphase interstellar medium in the most luminous hot dust-obscured galaxy at z = 4.6

Abstract

WISE J224607.6--052634.9 (W2246--0526) is a hot dust-obscured galaxy at $z$ = 4.601, and the most luminous obscured quasar known to date. W2246--0526 harbors a heavily obscured supermassive black hole that is most likely accreting above the Eddington limit. We present observations with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in seven bands, including band 10, of the brightest far-infrared (FIR) fine-structure emission lines of this galaxy: OI m OIII m NII m OI m CII m NII m CI m $, and CI m $. A comparison of the data to a large grid of Cloudy radiative transfer models reveals that a high hydrogen density ($n_ H $) and extinction ($A_ V mag), together with extreme ionization ($log(U)=-0.5$) and a high X-ray to UV ratio ($ ox are required to reproduce the observed nuclear line ratios. The values of $ ox $ and $U$ are among the largest found in the literature and imply the existence of an X-ray-dominated region (XDR). In fact, this component explains the a priori very surprising non-detection of the OIII m $ emission line, which is actually suppressed, instead of boosted, in XDR environments. Interestingly, the best-fitted model implies higher X-ray emission and lower CO content than what is detected observationally, suggesting the presence of a molecular gas component that should be further obscuring the X-ray emission over larger spatial scales than the central region that is being modeled. These results highlight the need for multiline infrared observations to characterize the multiphase gas in high redshift quasars and, in particular, W2246--0526 serves as an extreme benchmark for comparisons of interstellar medium conditions with other quasar populations at cosmic noon and beyond.