An ALMA [C ii] Survey of 27 Quasars at z > 5.94

By R. Decarli, F. Walter, B. Venemans, E. Bañados, F. Bertoldi, C. Carilli, Xiaohui Fan, E. Farina, C. Mazzucchelli, D. Riechers and 4 more. Astrophysical Journal, 2018

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We present a survey of the [C ii] 158 μm line and underlying far-infrared (FIR) dust continuum emission in a sample of 27 quasars using the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) at resolution. The [C ii] line was significantly detected (at -σ) in 23 sources (85%). We find typical line luminosities of , and an average line width of ∼385 . The [C ii]-to-far-infrared luminosity ratios ([C ii]/FIR) in our sources span one order of magnitude, highlighting a variety of conditions in the star-forming medium. Four quasar host galaxies are clearly resolved in their [C ii] emission on a few kpc scales. Basic estimates of the dynamical masses of the host galaxies give masses between 2 × 1010 and 2 × 1011 , i.e., more than an order of magnitude below what is expected from local scaling relations, given the available limits on the masses of the central black holes ( , assuming Eddington-limited accretion). In stacked ALMA [C ii] spectra of individual sources in our sample, we find no evidence of a deviation from a single Gaussian profile. The quasar luminosity does not strongly correlate with either the [C ii] luminosity or equivalent width. This survey (with typical on-source integration times of 8 minutes) showcases the unparalleled sensitivity of ALMA at millimeter wavelengths, and offers a unique reference sample for the study of the first massive galaxies in the universe.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Instrumentation

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/51f96ab8a941ed1ddd650c3ff1655d078f6c6847