Evidence for Short $\sim 1$ Myr Lifetimes from the He II Proximity Zones of $z\sim 4$ Quasars

Abstract

The duration of quasar accretion episodes is a key quantity for distinguishing between models for the formation and growth of supermassive black holes, the evolution of quasars, and their potential feedback effects on their host galaxies. However, this critical timescale, often referred to as the quasar lifetime, is still uncertain by orders of magnitude ($t_{\mathrm{Q}}\simeq 0.01\mathrm{Myr}-1\mathrm{Gyr}$). Absorption spectra of quasars exhibiting transmission in the He II Ly$\alpha$ forest provide a unique opportunity to make precise measurements of the quasar lifetime. Indeed, the size of a quasar's He II proximity zone, the region near the quasar itself where its own radiation dramatically alters the ionization state of the surrounding intergalactic medium (IGM), depends sensitively on its lifetime for $t_{\mathrm{Q}}\lesssim 30$ Myr, comparable to the expected $e$-folding time-scale for SMBH growth $t_{\mathrm{S}}=45$ Myr. In this study we compare the sizes of He II proximity zones in the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) spectra of 6 z~4 quasars to theoretical models generated by post-processing cosmological hydrodynamical simulations with $1$D radiative transfer algorithm. We introduce a Bayesian statistical method to infer the lifetimes of individual quasars which allows us to fully marginalize over the unknown ionization state of the surrounding IGM. We measure lifetimes $0.63_{-0.40}^{+0.82}$ Myr and $5.75_{-2.74}^{+4.72}$ Myr for two objects. For the other 4 quasars large redshift uncertainties undermine our sensitivity allowing us to only place upper or lower limits. However a joint analysis of these four systems yields a measurement of their average lifetime of $⟨t_{\mathrm{Q}}⟩=1.17_{-0.84}^{+1.77}$ Myr. We discuss our short ~1 Myr inferred lifetimes in the context of other quasar lifetime constraints and the growth of SMBHs.

arXiv comment14 pages, 9 figures, submitted to MNRAS

References in corpus (85)

• Maps of Dust IR Emission for Use in Estimation of Reddening and CMBR Foregrounds
• emcee: The MCMC Hammer
• The cosmological simulation code GADGET-2
• Composite Quasar Spectra From the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
• A luminous quasar at a redshift of z = 7.085
• Constraining the Evolution of the Ionizing Background and the Epoch of Reionization with z ~ 6 Quasars II: A Sample of 19 Quasars
• Seven-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Power Spectra and WMAP-Derived Parameters
• An 800-million-solar-mass black hole in a significantly neutral Universe at redshift 7.5
• A Survey of z>5.8 Quasars in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey I: Discovery of Three New Quasars and the Spatial Density of Luminous Quasars at z~6
• Black holes in galaxy mergers: The formation of red elliptical galaxies
• Formation of Supermassive Black Holes
• How Do Massive Black Holes Get Their Gas?
• The Cosmic Origins Spectrograph
• The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Quasar Catalog: Fourteenth Data Release
• Selfgravity and QSO disks
• Black Hole Masses and Eddington Ratios at 0.3<z<4
• A Survey of z>5.7 Quasars in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III: Discovery of Five Additional Quasars
• A cosmic web filament revealed in Lyman-alpha emission around a luminous high-redshift quasar
• Clustering of High Redshift ($z\ge 2.9$) Quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
• Cooling flows and quasars: II. Detailed models of feedback modulated accretion flows
• Broad Emission Line Shifts in Quasars: An Orientation Measure for Radio-Quiet Quasars?
• Quasar Clustering and the Lifetime of Quasars
• The Formation and Evolution of Massive Black Holes
• Discovery of three z>6.5 quasars in the VISTA Kilo-degree Infrared Galaxy (VIKING) survey
• The first ultraviolet quasar stacked spectrum at z=2.4 from WFC3
• Feedback from Central Black Holes in Elliptical Galaxies: Two-dimensional Models Compared to One-dimensional Models
• HeII Reionization and its Effect on the IGM
• Quasar Quartet Embedded in Giant Nebula Reveals Rare Massive Structure in Distant Universe
• Quasar Clustering from SDSS DR5: Dependences on Physical Properties
• C^2-Ray: A new method for photon-conserving transport of ionizing radiation
• The clustering of intermediate redshift quasars as measured by the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey
• Black hole mass estimates and emission-line properties of a sample of redshift z>6.5 quasars
• A Composite Extreme Ultraviolet QSO Spectrum from the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer
• A Refined Measurement of the Mean Transmitted Flux in the Ly-alpha Forest over 2 < z < 5 Using Composite Quasar Spectra
• The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Reverberation Mapping Project: Velocity Shifts of Quasar Emission Lines
• Determining the Properties and Evolution of Red Galaxies from the Quasar Luminosity Function
• Constraining the Lifetime of Quasars from their Spatial Clustering
• Quasars Are Not Light-Bulbs: Testing Models of Quasar Lifetimes with the Observed Eddington Ratio Distribution
• Quasars Probing Quasars I: Optically Thick Absorbers Near Luminous Quasars
• The nature and evolution of the highly ionized near-zones in the absorption spectra of z~6 quasars
• HST-COS Observations of AGN. I. Ultraviolet Composite Spectra of the Ionizing Continuum and Emission Lines
• HST-COS Observations of AGN. II. Extended Survey of Ultraviolet Composite Spectra from 159 Active Galactic Nuclei
• Quasar Proximity Zones and Patchy Reionization
• Ionization near-zones associated with quasars at z ~ 6
• A Universal Density Structure for Circum-Galactic Gas
• Early and Extended Helium Reionization Over More Than 600 Million Years of Cosmic Time
• Caught in the act: a helium-reionizing quasar near the line of sight to Q0302-003
• Large scale opacity fluctuations in the Lyman alpha forest: evidence for QSOs dominating the ionising UV background at z ~ 5.5-6 ?
• The End of Helium Reionization at z~2.7 Inferred from Cosmic Variance in HST/COS HeII Lyman Alpha Absorption Spectra
• A Simple Model for Quasar Demographics
• Flickering AGN can explain the strong circumgalactic O VI observed by COS-Halos
• Resolving the Helium Lyman-$\alpha$ Forest: Mapping Intergalactic Gas and Ionizing Radiation at $z\approx 3$
• On the Contribution of Active Galactic Nuclei to the High-Redshift Metagalactic Ionizing Background
• Constraints on QSO models from a relation between the QSO luminosity function and the local black hole mass function
• A Possible Correlation Between the Luminosities and Lifetimes of Active Galactic Nuclei
• Implications of the large OVI columns around low-redshift $L_{\ast }$ galaxies
• The Sudden Death of the Nearest Quasar
• The imprint of inhomogeneous HeII reionization on the HI and HeII Ly-alpha forest
• Constraints on the correlation between QSO luminosity and host halo mass from high-redshift quasar clustering
• Detection of the Transverse Proximity Effect: Radiative Feedback from Bright QSOs
• Mapping Low-Density Intergalactic Gas: a Third Helium Lyman-alpha Forest
• AGN proximity zone fossils and the delayed recombination of metal lines
• First Spectroscopic Study of a Young Quasar
• Photo-heating and the fate of hard photons during the reionisation of HeII by quasars
• Possible Detection of Lyman-alpha Fluorescence from a Damped Lyman Alpha system at Redshift z=2.8
• Constraints on Hyperluminous QSO Lifetimes via Fluorescent Lya Emitters at Z~2.7
• Does circumgalactic OVI trace low-pressure gas beyond the accretion shock? Clues from HI and low-ion absorption, line kinematics, and dust extinction
• Quasars near the line of sight towards Q 0302-003 and the transverse proximity effect
• Statistical Detection of the HeII Transverse Proximity Effect: Evidence for Sustained Quasar Activity for $>$25 Million Years
• Circumgalactic Oxygen Absorption and Feedback
• The Evolution of the HeII-Ionizing Background at Redshifts 2.3<z<3.8 Inferred from a Statistical Sample of 24 HST/COS HeII Ly$\alpha$ Absorption Spectra
• Helium Reionization Simulations. II. Signatures of Quasar Activity on the IGM
• He II Proximity Effect and the Lifetime of Quasars
• HST/COS Observations of Thirteen New He II Quasars
• Generation of turbulence in colliding reconnection jets
• Constraining the lifetime and opening angle of quasars using fluorescent Lyman $\alpha$ emission: the case of Q0420-388
• Modeling the HeII Transverse Proximity Effect: Constraints on Quasar Lifetime and Obscuration
• A self-consistent 3D model of fluctuations in the helium-ionizing background
• Helium reionization and the thermal proximity effect
• A Dense Companion to the Short-Period Millisecond Pulsar Binary PSR J0636+5128
• The Thermal Proximity Effect: A New Probe of He II Reionization History and the Quasar Lifetime
• The spectral and environment properties of $z\sim 2.0-2.5$ quasar pairs
• Coevolution Between Supermassive Black Holes and Bulges Is Not Via Internal Feedback Regulation But By Rationed Gas Supply Due To Angular Momentum Distribution
• The line-of-sight proximity effect in individual quasar spectra
• Helium Reionization Simulations. I. Modeling Quasars as Radiation Sources

Cited by in corpus (32)

• Stellar Evolution in AGN Disks
• The X-shooter/ALMA Sample of Quasars in the Epoch of Reionization. II. Black Hole Masses, Eddington Ratios, and the Formation of the First Quasars
• Detecting and Characterizing Young Quasars I: Systemic Redshifts and Proximity Zones Measurements
• Orbital Evolution of Binaries in Circumbinary Disks
• Evidence for Low Radiative Efficiency or Highly Obscured Growth of $z>7$ Quasars
• Time-dependent behaviour of quasar proximity zones at $z\sim 6$
• Detecting and Characterizing Young Quasars II: Four Quasars at $z\sim 6$ with Lifetimes $<10^4$ years
• Stellar Evolution in the Disks of Active Galactic Nuclei Produces Rapidly Rotating Massive Stars
• The first measurement of the quasar lifetime distribution
• The Evolution of the HeII-Ionizing Background at Redshifts 2.3<z<3.8 Inferred from a Statistical Sample of 24 HST/COS HeII Ly$\alpha$ Absorption Spectra
• Estimating the effective lifetime of the $z\sim 6$ quasar population from the composite proximity zone profile
• Revealing the Impact of Quasar Luminosity on Giant Ly$\alpha$ Nebulae
• Extreme Variability and Episodic Lifetime of Quasars
• "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 $z\approx 6$
• Discovery of intergalactic bridges connecting two faint $z\sim 3$ quasars
• Mapping quasar light echoes in 3D with Lyα forest tomography
• New Evidence for Extended HeII Reionization at z>3.5 from HeII Lyman Alpha and Beta Transmission Spikes
• The Distribution and Evolution of Quasar Proximity Zone Sizes
• Dating individual quasars with the HeII proximity effect
• Constraining the Gravitational Lensing of $z\gtrsim 6$ Quasars from their Proximity Zones
• On the diversity of the jet production efficiency in Swift/BAT AGNs
• Determining AGN luminosity histories using present-day outflow properties: a neural-network based approach
• Revisiting the Extreme Clustering of $z\approx 4$ Quasars with Large Volume Cosmological Simulations
• Probing quasar lifetimes with proximate $21$-centimetre absorption in the diffuse intergalactic medium at redshifts $z\ge 6$
• HeII Ly$\alpha$ Transmission Spikes and Absorption Troughs in Eight High-resolution Spectra Probing the End of HeII Reionization
• Development of Hydrogen and Helium Proximity Zones around Quasars
• A unique window into the Epoch of Reionisation: A double-peaked Lyman-$\alpha$ emitter in the proximity zone of a quasar at $z\sim 6.6$
• Spectral Signatures of Quasar Ages at z~3
• Narrow [O III] emission lines as a potential proxy for the evolutionary stage of quasars
• Measuring photo-ionization rate and mean free path of HeII ionizing photons at $2.5\le z\le 3.6$: Evidence for late and rapid HeII reionization Part-II
• A Simple Condition for Sustained Super-Eddington Black Hole Growth