English

Cold Mode Gas Accretion on Two Galaxy Groups at z$\sim$2

Astrophysics of Galaxies 2022-12-28 v1

Abstract

We present Keck Cosmic Web Imager (KCWI) integral field spectroscopy (IFS) observations of rest-frame UV emission lines Lyα\rm Ly\alpha, C IV λλ\lambda \lambda 1548 \AA, 1550\AA and He II 1640 \AA observed in the circumgalactic medium (CGM) of two z=2z=2 radio-loud quasar host galaxies. We detect extended emission on 80-90 kpc scale in Lyα\rm Ly\alpha in both systems with C IV, and He II emission also detected out to 30-50 kpc. All emission lines show kinematics with a blue and redshifted gradient pattern consistent with velocities seen in massive dark matter halos and similar to kinematic patterns of inflowing gas seen in hydrodynamical simulations. Using the kinematics of both resolved Lyα\rm Ly\alpha emission and absorption, we can confirm that both kinematic structures are associated with accretion. Combining the KCWI data with molecular gas observations with Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and high spatial resolution of ionized gas with Keck OSIRIS, we find that both quasar host galaxies reside in proto-group environments at z=2z=2. We estimate 16×10101-6\times10^{10}M_\odot of warm-ionized gas within 30-50 kpc from the quasar that is likely accreting onto the galaxy group. We estimate inflow rates of 60-200 M_\odotyr1^{-1}, within an order of magnitude of the outflow rates in these systems. In the 4C 09.17 system, we detect narrow gas streams associated with satellite galaxies, potentially reminiscent of ram-pressure stripping seen in local galaxy groups and clusters. We find that the quasar host galaxies reside in dynamically complex environments, with ongoing mergers, gas accretion, ISM stripping, and outflows likely playing an important role in shaping the assembly and evolution of massive galaxies at cosmic noon.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2212.00152,
  title  = {Cold Mode Gas Accretion on Two Galaxy Groups at z$\sim$2},
  author = {Andrey Vayner and Nadia L. Zakamska and Sanchit Sabhlok and Shelley A. Wright and Lee Armus and Norman Murray and Gregory Walth and Yuzo Ishikawa},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2212.00152},
  year   = {2022}
}

Comments

24 pages, 11 figures, 6 tabes. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

R2 v1 2026-06-28T07:18:49.236Z