The galaxy environment of a QSO at z ~ 5.7

Abstract

High-redshift quasars are believed to reside in massive halos in the early universe and should therefore be located in fields with overdensities of galaxies, which are thought to evolve into galaxy clusters seen in the local universe. However, despite many efforts, the relationship between galaxy overdensities and z~6 quasars is ambiguous. This can possibly be attributed to the difficulty of finding galaxies with accurate redshifts in the vicinity of z~6 quasars. So far, overdensity searches around z~6 quasars have been based on studies of Lyman break galaxies (LBGs), which probe a redshift range of Delta z ~ 1. This range is large enough to select galaxies that may not be physically related to the quasar. We use deep narrow- and broadband imaging to study the environment of the z=5.72 quasar ULAS J0203+0012. The redshift range probed by our narrow-band selection of Lyman alpha emitters (LAEs) is Delta z ~ 0.1, which is significantly narrower than the LBG searches. This is the first time that LAEs were searched for near a z~6 quasar, in an effort to provide clues about the environments of quasars at the end of the epoch of reionization. We find no enhancement of LAEs in the surroundings of ULAS J0203+0012 in comparison with blank fields. We explore different explanations and interpretations for this non-detection of a galaxy overdensity, including that (1) the strong ionization from the quasar may prevent galaxy formation in its immediate vicinity and (2) high-redshift quasars may not reside in the center of the most massive dark matter halos.

text updated to match published version

References in corpus (15)

• The hierarchical formation of the brightest cluster galaxies
• The Subaru/XMM-Newton Deep Survey (SXDS). IV. Evolution of Lya Emitters from z=3.1 to 5.7 in the 1 deg^2 Field: Luminosity Functions and AGN
• A massive proto-cluster of galaxies at a redshift of z {\approx} 5.3
• Gemini Near-infrared Spectroscopy of Luminous z~6 Quasars: Chemical Abundances, Black Hole Masses, and MgII Absorption
• Black hole masses and enrichment of z ~ 6 SDSS quasars
• Quasars at z=6: the survival of the fittest
• Protoclusters associated with z > 2 radio galaxies. I. Characteristics of high redshift protoclusters
• A Survey of z~6 Quasars in the SDSS Deep Stripe: I. a Flux-Limited Sample at z_{AB}<21
• A downturn in intergalactic CIV as redshift 6 is approached
• LCDM predictions for galaxy protoclusters I: the relation between galaxies, protoclusters and quasars at z~6
• The Habitat Segregation between Lyman Break Galaxies and Lyman alpha Emitters around a QSO at z~5
• The discovery of the first luminous z~6 quasar in the UKIDSS Large Area Survey
• Are z~5 QSOs found in the most massive high redshift over-densities?
• High-redshift Ly alpha emitters with a large equivalent width: Properties of i-dropout galaxies with an NB921-band depression in the Subaru Deep Field
• Tunable filter imaging of high redshift quasar fields

Cited by in corpus (57)

• The realm of the galaxy protoclusters
• ALMA Observations Show Major Mergers Among the Host Galaxies of Fast-growing, High-redshift Supermassive Black Holes
• The environment of bright QSOs at z ~ 6: Star forming galaxies and X-ray emission
• Constraining the radio-loud fraction of quasars at z>5.5
• The most luminous quasars do not live in the most massive dark matter haloes at any redshift
• The primordial environment of super massive black holes: large scale galaxy overdensities around $z\sim 6$ QSOs with LBT
• Resolved [CII] Emission from z>6 Quasar Host -- Companion Galaxy Pairs
• No overdensity of Lyman Alpha Emitting Galaxies around a quasar at z~5.7
• Luminous Quasars Do Not Live in the Most Overdense Regions of Galaxies at z~4
• Three Lyman-alpha emitting galaxies within a quasar proximity zone at z=5.8
• Mapping the Lyman-Alpha Emission Around a z~6.6 QSO with MUSE: Extended Emission and a Companion at Close Separation
• Large Scale Environment of a $z=6.61$ Luminous Quasar Probed by Ly$\alpha$ Emitters and Lyman Break Galaxies
• Clustering of quasars in a wide luminosity range at redshift 4 with Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam wide field imaging
• No excess of bright galaxies around the redshift 7.1 quasar ULAS J1120+0641
• The environments of high redshift radio galaxies and quasars: probes of protoclusters
• Probing the end of reionization with the near-zones of z > 6 QSOs
• Does black-hole growth depend on the cosmic environment?
• The VLT LBG Redshift Survey - V. Characterising the z = 3.1 Lyman Alpha Emitter Population
• Strong Clustering of Lyman Break Galaxies around Luminous Quasars at z~4
• The diverse galaxy counts in the environment of high-redshift massive black holes in Horizon-AGN
• The 500 ks Chandra observation of the z = 6.31 QSO SDSS J1030+0524
• Limits to Rest-Frame Ultraviolet Emission From Far-Infrared-Luminous z~6 Quasar Hosts
• Constraining galaxy overdensities around three z~6.5 quasars with ALMA and MUSE
• No Evidence for Millimeter Continuum Source Overdensities in the Environments of $z\gtrsim 6$ Quasars
• Active Galactic Nucleus Environments and Feedback to Neighboring Galaxies at $z\sim 5$ Probed by Lyman-Alpha Emitters
• Discovery of an Overdensity of Lyman-alpha Emitters Around a $\mathrm{z}\sim 4$ QSO with the Large Binocular Telescope
• No Ly$\alpha$ emitters detected around a QSO at z=6.4: Suppressed by the QSO?
• The Goldilocks problem of the quasar contribution to reionization
• Clustering of Lyman-alpha Emitters Around Quasars at $z\sim 4$
• ALMA reveals large overdensity and strong clustering of galaxies in quasar environments at $z\sim 4$
• Measuring the Density Fields around Bright Quasars at $z\sim 6$ with XQR-30 Spectra
• Spectral Energy Distributions of Companion Galaxies to z$\sim$6 Quasars
• Enhanced star formation in $z\sim 6$ quasar companions
• On the Prevalence of Super-Massive Black Holes over Cosmic Time
• A Mixture of LBG Overdensities in the Fields of Three $6<z<7$ Quasars: Implications for the Robustness of Photometric Selection
• Suppression of Low-mass Galaxy Formation around Quasars at z~2-3
• An Overdensity of Lyman Break Galaxies Around the Hot Dust-Obscured Galaxy WISE J224607.56$-$052634.9
• Conditions for direct black hole seed collapse near a radio-loud quasar 1 Gyr after the Big Bang
• Extremely Massive Quasars are not Good Proxies for Dense Environments Compared to Massive Galaxies: Environments of Extremely Massive Quasars and Galaxies
• Large Scale Overdensity of Lyman Break Galaxies Around the z=6.3 Ultraluminous Quasar J0100+2802
• What do observations tell us about the highest-redshift supermassive black holes?
• A lack of LAEs within 5Mpc of a luminous quasar in an overdensity at z=6.9: potential evidence of quasar negative feedback at protocluster scales
• Probing reionization using quasar near-zones at redshift z ~ 6
• Investigating overdensities around z>6 galaxies through ALMA observations of [CII]
• Probing the Mpc-scale environment of hyperluminous infrared galaxies at 2<z<4
• Connecting the growth of galaxies to the large-scale environment in a massive node of the Cosmic Web at z~3
• Fast-growing SMBHs in Fast-growing Galaxies, at High Redshifts: the Role of Major Mergers as Revealed by ALMA
• Are there more galaxies than we see around high-$z$ quasars?
• Overdensity of Lyman-Break Galaxy Candidates Around Hot Dust-Obscured Galaxies
• A search for Ly-alpha emitters around a concentrated-region of strong Ly-alpha absorbers at z=2.3
• Exploring the environment, magnetic fields, and feedback effects of massive high-redshift galaxies with [CII]
• JWST's PEARLS: A z=6 quasar in a train-wreck galaxy merger system
• A unique window into the Epoch of Reionisation: A double-peaked Lyman-$\alpha$ emitter in the proximity zone of a quasar at $z\sim 6.6$
• The Diversity of Environments Around Luminous Quasars at Redshift $z\sim 6$
• A first look at quasar-galaxy clustering at $z\simeq 7.3$
• Can luminous Lyman alpha emitters at $z$ $\simeq$ 5.7 and $z$ $\simeq$ 6.6 suppress star formation?
• Euclid: Discovery of bright $z\simeq 7$ Lyman-break galaxies in UltraVISTA and Euclid COSMOS