ASPIRE: The Environments and Dark Matter Halos of Luminous Quasars in the Epoch of Reionization
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: We present a systematic study of the environments of 25 luminous quasars at z > 6.5 from the ASPIRE program. Using JWST/NIRCam wide-field slitless spectroscopy data, we identified 487 galaxies at 5.3 ≲ z ≲ 7.0 exhibiting [O iii ] emission. Among these, 122 [O iii ] emitters lie within ∣Δ v los ∣ < 1000 km s −1 of the quasars, corresponding to a ∼9.4-fold enhancement relative to the average galaxy density at other redshifts. Furthermore, we identified 16 [C ii ]-emitting galaxies at the quasar redshifts from Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) mosaic observations. A cross-correlation function analysis between quasars and [O iii ]+[C ii ] emitters yields a cross-correlation length of r 0 QG = 8.6 8 − 0.55 + 0.51 h − 1 cMpc and an autocorrelation of r 0 QQ = 15.7 6 − 2.70 + 2.48 h − 1 cMpc , indicating that z ∼ 7 quasars reside in dark matter halos with M halo = 1 0 12.2 7 − 0.26 + 0.21 M ⊙ and have a quasar lifetime of t Q = 1 0 7.05 − 1.01 + 0.95 yr . Notably, the number of [O iii ]-emitting galaxies at quasar redshifts varies significantly from field to field, ranging from 0 to 20, highlighting a diverse quasar environment. Remarkably, seven quasars trace significant galaxy overdensities (i.e., protoclusters), with δ gal > 5 within a volume of V ∼ 500 cMpc 3 . We also find that ∣Δ v los ∣ increases rapidly toward smaller galaxy–quasar separations in protocluster fields, consistent with galaxy kinematics around extremely massive halos in cosmological simulations. By combining JWST and ALMA data, we reveal the complex and diverse environments of these early quasars, providing robust evidence that the earliest luminous quasars are effective tracers of galaxy overdensiti
Source: The Astrophysical Journal
Authors: Feige Wang, Jaclyn B. Champagne, Jiamu Huang, Jinyi Yang, Joseph F. Hennawi, Xiaohui Fan, Haowen Zhang, Tiago Costa, Roberto Decarli, Melanie Habouzit, Fengwu Sun, Eduardo Bañados, Xiangyu Jin, Koki Kakiichi, Romain A. Meyer, Yunjing Wu, Silvia Belladitta, Laura Blecha, Sarah E. I. Bosman, Zheng Cai, Thomas Connor, Frederick B. Davies, Anna-Christina Eilers, Zoltán Haiman, Hyunsung D. Jun, Mingyu Li, Zihao Li, Weizhe 伟哲 Liu 刘, Alessandro Lupi, Jianwei 建伟 Lyu 吕, Chiara Mazzucchelli, Masafusa Onoue, Elia Pizzati, Maria Pudoka, Sofía Rojas-Ruiz, Jan-Torge Schindler, Yue Shen, Wei Leong Tee, Benny Trakhtenbrot, Maxime Trebitsch, Marianne Vestergaard, Marta Volonteri, Fabian Walter, Huanian Zhang, Siwei Zou
Institutions: University of Michigan, Space Telescope Science Institute, University of Arizona, University of California System, Leiden University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Newcastle University, Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio, National Institute for Astrophysics, University of Geneva, Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, University of Copenhagen, Tsinghua University, University of Florida, Heidelberg University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, Columbia University, Korea Institute for Advanced Study, University of Insubria, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Universidad Diego Portales, Peking University, The University of Tokyo, Universität Hamburg, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Pennsylvania State University, Tel Aviv University, Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Excellence Cluster Origins, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Sorbonne Université, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Science South America Center for Astronomy, University of Chile
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $4,499
Funders: National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Space Telescope Science Institute, Strong, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, European Commission, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo, National Institutes of Natural Sciences
Awards: G103270039, G1338664626, G1897041155, ASPIRE - A Legacy Survey of Quasars in the Epoch of Reionization, G2329447088, G2428672771, G256731684, Entstehung und frühe Entwicklung supermassereicher schwarzer Löcher in den ersten zwei Milliarden Jahren unseres Universums, G3010137097, G380733860, G3816317015, G4066435496, Constraining black hole origins with cosmological simulations, EXC 2094: ORIGINS: Vom Ursprung des Universums bis zu den ersten Bausteinen des Lebens, A PANCHROMATIC VIEW OF RADIO-LOUD QUASARS IN THE EARLY UNIVERSE, G5568641063, G5834573078, CENTRO DE ASTROFISICA Y TECNOLOGIAS AFINES (CATA)
OpenAlex ID: W7167028771