English

GA-NIFS: Mapping $z\simeq3.5$ AGN-driven ionized outflows in the COSMOS field

Astrophysics of Galaxies 2025-07-09 v2

Abstract

Active galactic nuclei (AGNi) are a key ingredient in galaxy evolution and possibly shape galaxy growth through the generation of powerful outflows. Little is known regarding AGN-driven ionized outflows in moderate-luminosity AGNi (logLbol[erg/s]<47) beyond cosmic noon (z>3). We present the first systematic analysis of the ionized outflow properties of a sample of X-ray-selected AGNi (logLx[erg/s]>44) from the COSMOS-Legacy field at z~3.5 and with logLbol[erg/s]=45.2-46.7, by using JWST NIRSpec/IFU spectroscopic observations as part of the GA-NIFS program. We spectrally isolated and spatially resolved the ionized outflows, through a multi-component kinematic decomposition of the rest-frame optical emission lines. JWST/NIRSpec IFU data also revealed a wealth of close-by companions, of both non-AGN and AGN nature, and ionized gas streams likely tracing tidal structures and large-scale ionized gas nebulae, extending up to the circumgalactic medium. Ionized outflows are detected in all COS-AGNi targets, which we compared with results from the literature up to z~3, opportunely (re-)computed. We normalized outflow energetics (M˙out\dot{M}_{out}, E˙out\dot{E}_{out}) to the outflow density in order to standardize the various assumptions that were made in the literature. Our choice is equal to assuming that each outflow has the same gas density. We find GA-NIFS AGNi to show outflows consistent with literature results, within the large scatter shown by the collected measurements, thus suggesting no strong evolution with redshift in terms of total mass outflow rate, energy budget, and outflow velocity for fixed bolometric luminosity. Moreover, we find no clear redshift evolution of the ratio of mass outflow rate and kinetic power over AGN bolometric luminosity beyond z>1. In general, our results indicate no significant evolution of the physics driving outflows beyond z~3.[abridged]

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2505.08867,
  title  = {GA-NIFS: Mapping $z\simeq3.5$ AGN-driven ionized outflows in the COSMOS field},
  author = {E. Bertola and G. Cresci and G. Venturi and M. Perna and C. Circosta and G. Tozzi and I. Lamperti and C. Vignali and S. Arribas and A. J. Bunker and S. Charlot and S. Carniani and R. Maiolino and B. Rodríguez Del Pino and H. Übler and C. J. Willott and T. Böker and M. A. Marshall and E. Parlanti and J. Scholtz},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2505.08867},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

Accepted for publication in A&A, version after language review. 28 pages, 18 in the main text (9 figures, two tables) and 10 in the appendix (9 figures)