Quasar Radiative Feedback May Suppress Galaxy Growth on Intergalactic Scales at <i>z</i> = 6.3

Abstract We present observational evidence that intense ionizing radiation from a luminous quasar suppresses nebular emission in nearby galaxies on intergalactic scales at z = 6.3. Using JWST/NIRCam grism spectroscopy from the Slitless Areal Pure-Parallel High-Redshift Emission survey and Emission-line galaxies and Intergalactic Gas in the Epoch of Reionization programs, we identify a moderate but statistically significant decline in [O iii ] λ 5008 luminosity relative to the UV continuum ( L 5008 / L 1500 ) among galaxies within ∼7 comoving Mpc (cMpc) of the quasar J0100+2802, the most UV-luminous quasar known at this epoch ( M 1450 = −29.26). While L 1500 remains roughly constant with transverse distance, L 5008 increases significantly, suggesting suppression of very recent star formation toward the quasar. The effect persists after controlling for completeness, local density, and UV luminosity, and correlates with the projected photoionization-rate profile Γ qso . A weaker but directionally consistent suppression in L 5008 / L 1500 is also observed along the line of sight. The transverse suppression radius (∼7 cMpc) implies a recent radiative episode with a cumulative duration ∼3.1 Myr, shorter than required for thermal photoheating to dominate and thus more naturally explained by rapid H 2 photodissociation and related radiative processes. Environmental effects alone appear insufficient to explain the signal. Our results provide direct, geometry-based constraints on large-scale quasar radiative feedback and recent quasar lifetimes.

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Publication Details

Journal
The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Published
2025-12-03
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ae1f8e
Primary Topic
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
Type
article
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article

Quasar Radiative Feedback May Suppress Galaxy Growth on Intergalactic Scales at z = 6.3

Eiichi Egami, Zhiyuan Ji, George H. Rieke, Huanqing Chen et al.
The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
article

Quasar Radiative Feedback May Suppress Galaxy Growth on Intergalactic Scales at z = 6.3

Eiichi Egami, Zhiyuan Ji, George H. Rieke, Huanqing Chen, Jakob M. Helton, Maria Pudoka, Fengwu Sun, R. Maiolino, Xiaohui Fan, Jinyi Yang, Jaclyn B. Champagne, Xiangyu Jin, Feige Wang, Wei Leong Tee, Anna–Christina Eilers, Yongda Zhu, Pierluigi Rinaldi, Weizhe Liu, Yoshinobu Fudamoto, Minghao Yue, Christopher Cain, Zheng Cai, Yang Sun, Andrew J. Bunker, Marcia Rieke, George D. Becker, Junyu Zhang, Hai-Xia Ma, Xiaojing Lin, Z. Ma
article en

Abstract

Abstract We present observational evidence that intense ionizing radiation from a luminous quasar suppresses nebular emission in nearby galaxies on intergalactic scales at z = 6.3. Using JWST/NIRCam grism spectroscopy from the Slitless Areal Pure-Parallel High-Redshift Emission survey and Emission-line galaxies and Intergalactic Gas in the Epoch of Reionization programs, we identify a moderate but statistically significant decline in [O iii ] λ 5008 luminosity relative to the UV continuum ( L 5008 / L 1500 ) among galaxies within ∼7 comoving Mpc (cMpc) of the quasar J0100+2802, the most UV-luminous quasar known at this epoch ( M 1450 = −29.26). While L 1500 remains roughly constant with transverse distance, L 5008 increases significantly, suggesting suppression of very recent star formation toward the quasar. The effect persists after controlling for completeness, local density, and UV luminosity, and correlates with the projected photoionization-rate profile Γ qso . A weaker but directionally consistent suppression in L 5008 / L 1500 is also observed along the line of sight. The transverse suppression radius (∼7 cMpc) implies a recent radiative episode with a cumulative duration ∼3.1 Myr, shorter than required for thermal photoheating to dominate and thus more naturally explained by rapid H 2 photodissociation and related radiative processes. Environmental effects alone appear insufficient to explain the signal. Our results provide direct, geometry-based constraints on large-scale quasar radiative feedback and recent quasar lifetimes.

The Astrophysical Journal LettersVol. 995(1)
University of California, Riverside (US), Space Telescope Science Institute (US), Pennsylvania State University (US), University of Arizona (US), University of Alberta (CA), Chiba University (JP), University of Cambridge (GB), University of Michigan (US), University of Oxford (GB), Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (US), Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian (US), University College London (GB), Arizona State University (US), Nagoya University (JP), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US), Tsinghua University (CN)
Openalex Percentile: Top 74%
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
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