Related papers: First Spectroscopic Study of a Young Quasar
An empirically motivated model is presented for accretion-dominated growth of the super massive black holes (SMBH) in galaxies, and the implications are studied for the evolution of the quasar population in the universe. We investigate the…
The presence of supermassive black holes (SMBHs, $M_\text{BH}\sim10^9 M_\odot$) at $z>7$ remains a puzzle. While their existence appears to require exotic formation or growth processes, it is possible that BH mass estimates are incorrect…
Quasars at cosmic dawn provide powerful probes of the formation and growth of the earliest supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in the universe, their connections to galaxy and structure formation, and the evolution of the intergalactic medium…
We use the spectra of 22,000 nearby early-type galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) to determine the age distribution of these galaxies as a function of their velocity dispersion sigma_v in the range 100 km/s < sigma_v < 280…
The supermassive black holes (SMBHs) observed at the centers of all massive galaxies are believed to have grown via luminous accretion during quasar phases in the distant past. The fraction of inflowing rest mass energy emitted as light,…
Proximity zones of high-redshift quasars are unique probes of their central supermassive black holes as well as the intergalactic medium in the last stages of reionization. We present 22 new measurements of proximity zones of quasars with…
In the local universe, the masses of Super-Massive Black-Holes (SMBH) appear to correlate with the physical properties of their hosts, including the mass of the dark-matter halo. Using these clues as a starting point many studies have…
The lifetime of quasars can be estimated by means of their proximity zone sizes, which are regions of enhanced flux bluewards of the Lyman-$\alpha$ emission line observed in the rest-frame UV spectra of high-redshift quasars, because the…
Distant quasars are unique tracers to study the formation of the earliest supermassive black holes (SMBHs) and the history of cosmic reionization. Despite extensive efforts, only two quasars have been found at $z\ge7.5$, due to a…
We present new near-infrared (IR) observations of the H$\beta\ \lambda4861$ and MgII $\lambda2798$ lines for 32 luminous quasars with $3.2<z<3.9$ using the Palomar Hale 200 inch telescope and the Large Binocular Telescope. We find that the…
The correlation between the mass of supermassive black holes (SMBHs; $\mathcal{M}_{\rm BH}$) and their host galaxies ($\mathcal{M}_\star$) in the reionization epoch provides valuable constraints on their early growth. High-redshift quasars…
Using the theoretical models of the QSO formation, we can reproduce optical QSO luminosity functions (LFs) at high redshifts (z > 2.2). Two different models can reproduce LFs successfully, though the lifetime of QSOs, t_Q, and the relation…
Supermassive black holes (SMBH, $M_{\rm{BH}} > 10^8 M_\odot$) powering luminous quasars already exist one billion years after the Big Bang, yet their connection to their star-forming host galaxies, their relation to the general galaxy…
So far, roughly 40 quasars with redshifts greater than z=6 have been discovered. Each quasar contains a black hole with a mass of about one billion solar masses ($10^9 M_\odot$). The existence of such black holes when the Universe was less…
Luminous quasars at the redshift frontier z>7 serve as stringent probes of super-massive black hole formation and they are thought to undergo much of their growth obscured by dense gas and dust in their host galaxies. Fully characterizing…
Insight into quasar ages may be obtained from the proximity effect, but so far only in a limited number of bright quasars. Based on ~2600 SDSS quasar spectra at 2.5 <= z <= 3.5, a search for spectral voids between Ly-alpha forest lines…
The majority of most luminous quasars during the epoch of reionization accrete near or above the Eddington limit, marking the vigorous growth of primitive supermassive black holes (SMBHs). However, their subsequent evolution and…
We present JWST MIRI/NIRSpec observations of the extremely red quasar SDSS J165202.64+172852.3 at z~3, one of the most luminous quasars known to date, driving powerful outflows and hosting a clumpy starburst, amidst several interacting…
The lifetime of quasars is fundamental for understanding the growth of supermassive black holes, and is an important ingredient in models of the reionization of the intergalactic medium. However, despite various attempts to determine quasar…
Over 60 years after the discovery of the first quasar, more than $275$ such sources are identified in the epoch of reionization at $z>6$. JWST is now exploring higher redshifts ($z\gtrsim 8$) and lower mass ($ \lesssim 10^7 \Msun$) ranges.…