The first measurement of the quasar lifetime distribution

Abstract

Understanding the growth of the supermassive black holes powering luminous quasars, their co-evolution with host galaxies, and impact on the surrounding intergalactic medium depends sensitively on the duration of quasar accretion episodes. Unfortunately, this time-scale, known as the quasar lifetime, $t_{\mathrm{Q}}$, is still uncertain by orders of magnitude ($t_{\mathrm{Q}}\simeq 0.01\mathrm{Myr}-1\mathrm{Gyr}$). However, the extent of the He II Ly$\alpha$ proximity zones in the absorption spectra of $z_{\mathrm{qso}}\sim 3-4$ quasars constitutes a unique probe, providing sensitivity to lifetimes up to $\sim 30$ Myr. Our recent analysis of $22$ archival He II proximity zone spectra reveals a surprisingly broad range of emission timescales, indicating that some quasars turned on $\lesssim 1$ Myr ago, whereas others have been shining for $\gtrsim 30$ Myr. Determining the underlying quasar lifetime distribution (QLD) from proximity zone measurements is a challenging task owing to: 1) the limited sensitivity of individual measurements; 2) random sampling of the quasar light curves; 3) density fluctuations in the quasar environment; and 4) the inhomogeneous ionization state of He II in a reionizing IGM. We combine a semi-numerical He II reionization model, hydrodynamical simulations post-processed with ionizing radiative transfer, and a novel statistical framework to infer the QLD from an ensemble of proximity zone measurements. Assuming a log-normal QLD, we infer a mean $⟨{\log }_{10}\left(t_{\mathrm{Q}}/\mathrm{Myr}\right)⟩=0.22_{-0.25}^{+0.22}$ and standard deviation ${\sigma }_{{\log }_{10}{t}_{\mathrm{Q}}}=0.80_{-0.27}^{+0.37}$. Our results allow us to estimate the probability of detecting young quasars with $t_{\mathrm{Q}}\le 0.1$ Myr from their proximity zone sizes yielding $p\left(\le 0.1\mathrm{Myr}\right)=0.19_{-0.09}^{+0.11}$, which is broadly consistent with recent determination at $z\sim 6$.

arXiv comment14 pages, 10 figures, submitted to MNRAS

References in corpus (89)

• emcee: The MCMC Hammer
• The cosmological simulation code GADGET-2
• Coevolution (Or Not) of Supermassive Black Holes and Host Galaxies
• Energy input from quasars regulates the growth and activity of black holes and their host galaxies
• Modeling feedback from stars and black holes in galaxy mergers
• A Unified, Merger-Driven Model for the Origin of Starbursts, Quasars, the Cosmic X-Ray Background, Supermassive Black Holes and Galaxy Spheroids
• A Cosmological Framework for the Co-Evolution of Quasars, Supermassive Black Holes, and Elliptical Galaxies: I. Galaxy Mergers & Quasar Activity
• 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
• An 800-million-solar-mass black hole in a significantly neutral Universe at redshift 7.5
• Observational constraints on growth of massive black holes
• Formation of Supermassive Black Holes
• Equation of State of the Photoionized Intergalactic Medium
• Toward the Standard Population Synthesis Model of the X-Ray Background: Evolution of X-Ray Luminosity and Absorption Functions of Active Galactic Nuclei Including Compton-Thick Populations
• The Assembly of the First Massive Black Holes
• Black Holes in Galaxy Mergers: Evolution of Quasars
• Self-Consistent Models of the AGN and Black Hole Populations: Duty Cycles, Accretion Rates, and the Mean Radiative Efficiency
• How Do Massive Black Holes Get Their Gas?
• The Cosmic Origins Spectrograph
• A Luminous Quasar at Redshift 7.642
• Selfgravity and QSO disks
• Clustering of High Redshift ($z\ge 2.9$) Quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
• A Physical Model for the Origin of Quasar Lifetimes
• Cooling flows and quasars: II. Detailed models of feedback modulated accretion flows
• Pōniuā'ena: A Luminous $z=7.5$ Quasar Hosting a 1.5 Billion Solar Mass Black Hole
• Quasar Clustering and the Lifetime of Quasars
• The incidence of obscuration in active galactic nuclei
• New Measurements of the Ionizing Ultraviolet Background over 2 < z < 5 and Implications for Hydrogen Reionization
• The Formation and Evolution of Massive Black Holes
• Physical properties of 15 quasars at $z\gtrsim 6.5$
• Discovery of three z>6.5 quasars in the VISTA Kilo-degree Infrared Galaxy (VIKING) survey
• An Analytic Model of Angular Momentum Transport by Gravitational Torques: From Galaxies to Massive Black Holes
• Feedback from Central Black Holes in Elliptical Galaxies: Two-dimensional Models Compared to One-dimensional Models
• Black Holes on FIRE: Stellar Feedback Limits Early Feeding of Galactic Nuclei
• Black Hole growth and AGN obscuration by instability-driven inflows in high-redshift disk galaxies fed by cold streams
• HeII Reionization and its Effect on the IGM
• Quasar Clustering from SDSS DR5: Dependences on Physical Properties
• Evolution of the AGN UV luminosity function from redshift 7.5
• 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
• Growth and activity of black holes in galaxy mergers with varying mass ratios
• New constraints on Lyman-α opacity with a sample of 62 quasars at z > 5.7
• Gemini GNIRS near-infrared spectroscopy of 50 quasars at z>~5.7
• A Significantly Neutral Intergalactic Medium Around the Luminous z=7 Quasar J0252-0503
• Consistent modelling of the meta-galactic UV background and the thermal/ionization history of the intergalactic medium
• Constraining the Lifetime of Quasars from their Spatial Clustering
• High-redshift AGN in the Chandra Deep Fields: the obscured fraction and space density of the sub-$L_{\ast }$ population
• Quasars Are Not Light-Bulbs: Testing Models of Quasar Lifetimes with the Observed Eddington Ratio Distribution
• Clustering of intermediate redshift quasars using the final SDSS III-BOSS sample
• Quasars Probing Quasars II: The Anisotropic Clustering of Optically Thick Absorbers around Quasars
• Obscuration in extremely luminous quasars
• Simulations of supermassive black hole growth in high-redshift disk galaxies
• Measurements of the z ~ 6 Intergalactic Medium Optical Depth and Transmission Spikes Using a New z > 6.3 Quasar Sample
• Reionization with galaxies and active galactic nuclei
• Black Hole-Galaxy Correlations without Self-Regulation
• Super-Eddington Accretion and Feedback from the First Massive Seed Black Holes
• The Role of Black Hole Feedback on Size and Structural Evolution in Massive Galaxies
• Large scale opacity fluctuations in the Lyman alpha forest: evidence for QSOs dominating the ionising UV background at z ~ 5.5-6 ?
• An unbiased measurement of the UV background and its evolution via the proximity effect in quasar spectra
• A Simple Model for Quasar Demographics
• Detecting and Characterizing Young Quasars I: Systemic Redshifts and Proximity Zones Measurements
• 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
• Linking galaxy structural properties and star formation activity to black hole activity with IllustrisTNG
• Evidence for Low Radiative Efficiency or Highly Obscured Growth of $z>7$ Quasars
• 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
• Cosmological simulations of black hole growth II: how (in)significant are merger events for fuelling nuclear activity?
• Mapping Low-Density Intergalactic Gas: a Third Helium Lyman-alpha Forest
• First Spectroscopic Study of a Young Quasar
• Time-dependent behaviour of quasar proximity zones at $z\sim 6$
• Clustering of quasars in a wide luminosity range at redshift 4 with Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam wide field imaging
• Statistical Detection of the HeII Transverse Proximity Effect: Evidence for Sustained Quasar Activity for $>$25 Million Years
• The Evolution of the HeII-Ionizing Background at Redshifts 2.3<z<3.8 Inferred from a Statistical Sample of 24 HST/COS HeII Ly$\alpha$ Absorption Spectra
• Helium Reionization Simulations. II. Signatures of Quasar Activity on the IGM
• The z=7.54 Quasar ULAS J1342+0928 Is Hosted by a Galaxy Merger
• He II Proximity Effect and the Lifetime of Quasars
• Evidence for Short $\sim 1$ Myr Lifetimes from the He II Proximity Zones of $z\sim 4$ Quasars
• The first supermassive black holes
• Constraints on black hole duty cycles and the black hole-halo relation from SDSS quasar clustering
• Modeling the HeII Transverse Proximity Effect: Constraints on Quasar Lifetime and Obscuration
• A self-consistent 3D model of fluctuations in the helium-ionizing background
• New Evidence for Extended HeII Reionization at z>3.5 from HeII Lyman Alpha and Beta Transmission Spikes
• The Thermal Proximity Effect: A New Probe of He II Reionization History and the Quasar Lifetime
• Dating individual quasars with the HeII proximity effect
• Cosmological simulations of quasar fueling to sub-parsec scales using Lagrangian hyper-refinement
• A New Model for Dark Matter Halos Hosting Quasars

Cited by in corpus (32)

• Detecting and Characterizing Young Quasars II: Four Quasars at $z\sim 6$ with Lifetimes $<10^4$ years
• Chronicling the reionization history at $6\lesssim z\lesssim 7$ with emergent quasar damping wings
• AGN-driven outflows and the formation of Ly$\alpha$ nebulae around high-z quasars
• Impact of gas hardening on the population properties of hierarchical black hole mergers in AGN disks
• The Effect of Thermal Torques on AGN Disc Migration Traps and Gravitational Wave Populations
• A Preferential Growth Channel for Supermassive Black Holes in Elliptical Galaxies at z<2
• Infrared Spectral Energy Distribution and Variability of Active Galactic Nuclei: Clues to the Structure of Circumnuclear Material
• Estimating the effective lifetime of the $z\sim 6$ quasar population from the composite proximity zone profile
• The Close AGN Reference Survey (CARS): IFU survey data and the BH mass dependence of long-term AGN variability
• Dating individual quasars with the HeII proximity effect
• Probing the Inner Circumgalactic Medium and Quasar Illumination around the Reddest `Extremely Red Quasar' (ERQ)
• Determining AGN luminosity histories using present-day outflow properties: a neural-network based approach
• X-ray emission from a rapidly accreting narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy at z=6.56
• Revisiting the Extreme Clustering of $z\approx 4$ Quasars with Large Volume Cosmological Simulations
• [OIII] emission in z=2 quasars with and without Broad Absorption Lines
• Eddington accreting Black Holes in the Epoch of Reionization
• Probing quasar lifetimes with proximate $21$-centimetre absorption in the diffuse intergalactic medium at redshifts $z\ge 6$
• Binary AGN simulations with radiation pressure reveal a new duty cycle, and a reduction of gravitational torque, through 'minitori' structures
• Eddington Ratios of Dust-obscured Quasars at $z\lesssim 1$: Evidence Supporting Dust-obscured Quasars as Young Quasars
• Monster radio jet (>66 kpc) observed in quasar at z$\sim$5
• Photometric IGM Tomography: Efficiently Mapping Quasar Light Echoes with Deep Narrow Band Imaging
• Detecting and Characterizing Young Quasars. III. The Impact of Gravitational Lensing Magnification
• Unravelling the formation of the first supermassive black holes with the SKA pulsar timing array
• A unique window into the Epoch of Reionisation: A double-peaked Lyman-$\alpha$ emitter in the proximity zone of a quasar at $z\sim 6.6$
• QSO MUSEUM III: the circumgalactic medium in Ly$\alpha$ emission around 120 $z\sim 3$ quasars covering the SDSS parameter space. Witnessing the instantaneous AGN feedback on halo scales
• H1821+643: The most X-ray and infrared luminous AGN in the Swift/BAT survey in the process of rapid stellar and supermassive black hole mass assembly
• 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
• Magnetic fields in galactic environments probed by Fast Radio Bursts
• The Eddington Ratio Distribution of Narrow Line Active Galactic Nuclei
• A local, topology-independent parameterization of quasar IGM damping wings
• First constraints on the local ionization topology in front of two quasars at z ~ 7.5
• Gravitational Torques from a Lopsided Young Stellar Component Sustain High Black Hole Accretion Rates in NGC 4593