The properties of quasar hosts at the peak of the quasar activity

Abstract

We present near-infrared imaging obtained with ESO VLT/ISAAC of a sample of 16 low luminosity radio-quiet quasars at the epoch around the peak of the quasar activity (2 < z < 3), aimed at investigating their host galaxies. For 11 quasars, we are able to detect the host galaxies and derive their properties, while for the other five quasars, upper limits to the host luminosity are estimated. The luminosities of the host galaxies of radio-quiet quasars at high redshift are in the range of those of massive inactive elliptical galaxies. This work complements our previous systematic study of quasar hosts aimed to trace the cosmological luminosity evolution of the host galaxies up to z ~2 and extends our pilot study of a few luminous quasars at z > 2. The luminosity trend with cosmic epoch resembles that observed for massive inactive galaxies, suggesting a similar star formation history. In particular, both quasar host galaxies and massive inactive galaxies appear mostly assembled already at the peak age of the quasar activity. This result is of key importance for testing the models of joint formation and evolution of galaxies and their active nuclei.

27 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables. Accepted for publication in ApJ

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Cited by in corpus (20)

• What Drives the Growth of Black Holes?
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• The quasar M_bh - M_host relation through Cosmic Time II - Evidence for evolution from z=3 to the present age
• Imaging the molecular gas in a submm galaxy at z = 4.05: cold mode accretion or a major merger?
• Herschel-ATLAS: The link between accretion luminosity and star formation in quasar host galaxies
• The quasar M_bh - M_host relation through Cosmic Time I - Dataset and black hole masses
• Low redshift quasars in the SDSS Stripe 82. The host galaxies
• The extent of the MgII absorbing circum-galactic medium of quasars
• HST narrow-band search for extended Ly-alpha emission around two z>6 quasars
• Tracing high redshift cosmic web with quasar systems
• On the cosmological evolution of the black hole - host galaxy relation in quasars
• A Molecular Einstein Ring Toward the z=3.93 Submillimeter Galaxy MM18423+593
• Low redshift quasars in the SDSS Stripe 82. Host galaxy colors and close environment
• A study of six low redshift QSO pairs
• The black hole - host galaxy relation for very low-mass quasars
• Providing stringent star formation rate limits of z$\sim$2 QSO host galaxies at high angular resolution
• The redshift and the host galaxy of the neutrino candidate 4FGL J0955.1+3551 (3HSP J095507.9+355101)
• The environment of low redshift quasar pairs
• The low-mass end of the Mbh/Mhost relation in quasars
• MAD Adaptive Optics Imaging of High Luminosity Quasars: A Pilot Project