Evidence for Merger-Driven Activity in the Clustering of High Redshift Quasars

Abstract

Recently, a very large clustering length has been measured for quasars at a redshift of z~4. In combination with the observed quasar luminosity function we assess the implications of this clustering for the relationship between quasar luminosity and dark matter halo mass. Our analysis allows for non-linearity and finite scatter in the relation between quasar luminosity and halo mass, as well as a luminosity dependent quasar lifetime. The additional novel ingredient in our modelling is the allowance for an excess in the observed bias over the underlying halo bias owing to the merger driven nature of quasar activity. We find that the observations of clustering and luminosity function can be explained only if both of the following conditions hold: (i) The luminosity to halo mass ratio increases with halo mass; (ii) The observed clustering amplitude is in excess of that expected solely from halo bias. The latter result is statistically significant at the 99% level. Taken together, the observations provide compelling evidence for merger driven quasar activity, with a black-hole growth that is limited by feedback. In difference from previous analyses, we show that there could be scatter in the luminosity halo mass relation of up to 1 dex, and that quasar clustering can not be used to estimate the quasar lifetime.

11 pages, 8 figures. Submitted to MNRAS

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• Black Hole and Galaxy Coevolution from Continuity Equation and Abundance Matching
• On the radiative efficiencies, Eddington ratios, and duty cycles of luminous high-redshift quasars
• Supermassive Black Holes in the Hierarchical Universe: A General Framework and Observational Tests
• Black Hole Demography: From scaling relations to models
• Stellar Masses of Lyman Break Galaxies, Lyman Alpha Emitters and Radio Galaxies in Overdense Regions at z=4-6
• Witnessing the Birth of a Quasar
• Constraints on black hole duty cycles and the black hole-halo relation from SDSS quasar clustering
• "Little red dots" cannot reside in the same dark matter halos as comparably luminous unobscured quasars
• A unified model for the clustering of quasars and galaxies at $z\approx 6$
• Driving the Growth of the Earliest Supermassive Black Holes with Major Mergers of Host Galaxies
• Revisiting the Extreme Clustering of $z\approx 4$ Quasars with Large Volume Cosmological Simulations
• Stochastic Processes as the Origin of the Double-Power Law Shape of the Quasar Luminosity Function
• Linking X-ray AGN with dark matter halos: a model compatible with AGN luminosity function and large-scale clustering properties
• On merger bias and the clustering of quasars
• The role of scatter and satellites in shaping the large-scale clustering of X-ray AGN as a function of host galaxy stellar mass
• The Diversity of Environments Around Luminous Quasars at Redshift $z\sim 6$