Merging Gas-rich Galaxies That Harbor Low-luminosity Twin Quasars at z = 6.05: A Promising Progenitor of the Most Luminous Quasars

• DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ad57c6
• Publication Date: 2024-08-29T09:55:47Z
• Authors: Takuma Izumi; Yoshiki Matsuoka; Masafusa Onoue; Michael A. Strauss; Hideki Umehata; John D. Silverman; Tohru Nagao; Masatoshi Imanishi; Kotaro Kohno; Yoshiki Toba; Kazushi Iwasawa; Kouichiro Nakanishi; Mahoshi Sawamura; Seiji Fujimoto; Satoshi Kikuta; Toshihiro Kawaguchi; Kentaro Aoki; Tomotsugu Goto
• Keywords: Galaxy mergers; FOS: Physical sciences; Galaxies; Astrophysics; Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies; 01 natural sciences; Galàxies; QB460-466; Galaxy evolution; Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA); 0103 physical sciences; Galaxy interactions; Quasars; Quàsars

Abstract We present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array [C ii] 158 μm line and underlying far-IR continuum emission observations (0.″57 × 0.″46 resolution) toward a quasar–quasar pair system recently discovered at z = 6.05. The quasar nuclei (C1 and C2) are faint (M 1450 ≳ −23 mag), but we detect very bright [C ii] emission bridging the 12 kpc between the two objects and extending beyond them (total luminosity L [C ii] ≃ 6 × 109 L ⊙). The [C ii]-based total star formation rate of the system is ∼550 M ⊙ yr−1 (the IR-based dust-obscured star formation is ∼100 M ⊙ yr−1), with a [C ii]-based total gas mass of ∼1011 M ⊙. The dynamical masses of the two galaxies are large (∼9 × 1010 M ⊙ for C1 and ∼5 × 1010 M ⊙ for C2). There is a smooth velocity gradient in [C ii], indicating that these quasars are a tidally interacting system. We identified a dynamically distinct, fast-[C ii] component around C1: detailed inspection of the line spectrum there reveals the presence of a broad-wing component, which we interpret as the indication of fast outflows with a velocity of ∼600 km s−1. The expected mass-loading factor of the outflows, after accounting for multiphase gas, is ≳2 − 3, which is intermediate between AGN-driven and starburst-driven outflows. Hydrodynamic simulations in the literature predict that this pair will evolve to a luminous (M 1450 ≲ −26 mag), starbursting (≳1000 M ⊙ yr−1) quasar after coalescence, one of the most extreme populations in the early Universe.