FeII/MgII Emission Line Ratio in High Redshift Quasars

Abstract

We present results of the analysis of near infrared spectroscopic observations of 6 high-redshift quasars (z > 4), emphasizing the measurement of the ultraviolet FeII/MgII emission line strength in order to estimate the beginning of intense star formation in the early universe. To investigate the evolution of the FeII/MgII ratio over a wider range in cosmic time, we measured this ratio for composite quasar spectra which cover a redshift range of 0 < z < 5 with nearly constant luminosity, as well as for those which span ~6 orders of magnitude in luminosity. A detailed comparison of the high-redshift quasar spectra with those of low-redshift quasars with comparable luminosity shows essentially the same FeII/MgII emission ratios and very similar continuum and line spectral properties, i.e. a lack of evolution of the relative iron to magnesium abundance of the gas in bright quasars since z=5. Current nucleosynthesis and stellar evolution models predict that alpha-elements like magnesium are produced in massive stars ending in type II SNe, while iron is formed predominantly in SNe of type Ia with intermediate mass progenitors. This results in an iron enrichment delay of 0.2 to 0.6 Gyr. We conclude that intense star formation activity in the host galaxies of z>4 quasars must have started already at an epoch corresponding to z_f = 6 to 9, when the age of the universe was ~0.5 Gyr (H_o = 72 km/s/Mpc, Omega_M = 0.3, Omega_Lambda = 0.7). This epoch corresponds well to the re-ionization era of the universe.

arXiv comment22 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ (vol.596, Oct03)

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