English

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

Astrophysics of Galaxies 2025-11-21 v2 Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics

Abstract

We present observational evidence that intense ionizing radiation from a luminous quasar suppresses nebular emission in nearby galaxies on intergalactic scales at z=6.3z=6.3. Using JWST/NIRCam grism spectroscopy from the SAPPHIRES and EIGER programs, we identify a moderate but statistically significant decline in [O\,\textsc{iii}]\,λ5008\lambda5008 luminosity relative to the UV continuum (L5008/L1500L_{5008}/L_{1500}) among galaxies within \sim 7 comoving Mpc (cMpc) of the quasar J0100++2802, the most UV-luminous quasar known at this epoch (M1450=29.26M_{1450}=-29.26). While L1500L_{1500} remains roughly constant with transverse distance, L5008L_{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 Γqso\Gamma_{\mathrm{qso}}. A weaker but directionally consistent suppression in L5008/L1500L_{5008}/L_{1500} is also observed along the line of sight. The transverse suppression radius (\sim 7 cMpc) implies a recent radiative episode with a cumulative duration \sim 3.1 Myr, shorter than required for thermal photoheating to dominate and thus more naturally explained by rapid H2_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.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2509.00153,
  title  = {Quasar Radiative Feedback May Suppress Galaxy Growth on Intergalactic Scales at $z = 6.3$},
  author = {Yongda Zhu and Eiichi Egami and Xiaohui Fan and Fengwu Sun and George D. Becker and Christopher Cain and Huanqing Chen and Anna-Christina Eilers and Yoshinobu Fudamoto and Jakob M. Helton and Xiangyu Jin and Maria Pudoka and Andrew J. Bunker and Zheng Cai and Jaclyn B. Champagne and Zhiyuan Ji and Xiaojing Lin and Weizhe Liu and Hai-Xia Ma and Zheng Ma and Roberto Maiolino and George H. Rieke and Marcia J. Rieke and Pierluigi Rinaldi and Yang Sun and Wei Leong Tee and Feige Wang and Jinyi Yang and Minghao Yue and Junyu Zhang},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2509.00153},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters (ApJL); to be presented at AAS 247