ABSTRACT Since the discovery of z ∼ 6 quasars two decades ago, studies of their Ly α-transparent proximity zones have largely focused on their utility as a probe of cosmic reionization. But even when in a highly ionized intergalactic medium, these zones provide a rich laboratory for determining the time-scales that govern quasar activity and the concomitant growth of their supermassive black holes. In this work, we use a suite of 1D radiative transfer simulations of quasar proximity zones to explore their time-dependent behaviour for activity time-scales from ∼103 to 108 yr. The sizes of the simulated proximity zones, as quantified by the distance at which the smoothed Ly α transmission drops below 10 per cent (denoted Rp), are in excellent agreement with observations, with the exception of a handful of particularly small zones that have been attributed to extremely short ≲104 lifetimes. We develop a physically motivated semi-analytic model of proximity zones which captures the bulk of their equilibrium and non-equilibrium behaviour, and use this model to investigate how quasar variability on ≲105 yr time-scales is imprinted on the distribution of observed proximity zone sizes. We show that large variations in the ionizing luminosity of quasars on time-scales of ≲104 yr are disfavoured based on the good agreement between the observed distribution of Rp and our model prediction based on ‘lightbulb’ (i.e. steady constant emission) light curves.
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New quasar proximity zone size measurements at z ∼ 6 using the enlarged XQR-30 sample
Proximity zones of high-redshift quasars are unique probes of their central supermassive black holes as well as the intergalactic medium (IGM) in the last stages of reionization. We present 22 new measurements of proximity zones of quasars with redshifts between 5.8 and 6.6, using the enlarged XQR-30 sample of high-resolution, high-SNR quasar spectra. The quasars in our sample have ultraviolet magnitudes of M1450 ∼ −27 and black hole masses of 109–1010 M⊙. Our inferred proximity zone sizes are 2–7 physical Mpc, with a typical uncertainty of less than 0.5 physical Mpc, which, for the first time, also includes uncertainty in the quasar continuum. We find that the correlation between proximity zone sizes and the quasar redshift, luminosity, or black hole mass, indicates a large diversity of quasar lifetimes. Two of our proximity zone sizes are exceptionally small. The spectrum of one of these quasars, with z = 6.02, displays, unusually for this redshift, damping wing absorption without any detectable metal lines, which could potentially originate from the IGM. The other quasar has a high-ionization absorber ∼0.5 pMpc from the edge of the proximity zone. This work increases the number of proximity zone measurements available in the last stages of cosmic reionization to 87. This data will lead to better constraints on quasar lifetimes and obscuration fractions at high redshift, that in turn will help probe the seed mass and formation redshift of supermassive black holes.
more » « less- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10413046
- Publisher / Repository:
- Oxford University Press
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Volume:
- 522
- Issue:
- 4
- ISSN:
- 0035-8711
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- p. 4918-4933
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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