Modeling the Dust Properties of z ~ 6 Quasars with ART^2 -- All-wavelength Radiative Transfer with Adaptive Refinement Tree

TL;DR

This study models the dust properties of z ~ 6 quasars using advanced radiative transfer simulations, revealing that merger-driven starbursts are essential for their observed dust characteristics and evolution.

Contribution

It introduces the ART^2 radiative transfer code to simulate dust emission in high-redshift quasars, linking their dust properties to merger-driven star formation and AGN feedback.

Findings

Reproduces the SED and dust properties of SDSS J1148+5251.

Shows evolution from cold to warm ULIRG due to feedback.

Supports merger-driven origin and starburst-to-quasar evolution hypothesis.

Abstract

The detection of large quantities of dust in z ~ 6 quasars by infrared and radio surveys presents puzzles for the formation and evolution of dust in these early systems. Previously (Li et al. 2007), we showed that luminous quasars at z > 6 can form through hierarchical mergers of gas-rich galaxies. Here, we calculate the dust properties of simulated quasars and their progenitors using a three-dimensional Monte Carlo radiative transfer code, ART^2 -- All-wavelength Radiative Transfer with Adaptive Refinement Tree. ART^2 incorporates a radiative equilibrium algorithm for dust emission, an adaptive grid for inhomogeneous density, a multiphase model for the ISM, and a supernova-origin dust model. We reproduce the SED and dust properties of SDSS J1148+5251, and find that the infrared emission are closely associated with the formation and evolution of the quasar host. The system evolves from a cold to a warm ULIRG owing to heating and feedback from stars and AGN. Furthermore, the AGN has significant implications for the interpretation of observation of the hosts. Our results suggest that vigorous star formation in merging progenitors is necessary to reproduce the observed dust properties of z~6 quasars, supporting a merger-driven origin for luminous quasars at high redshifts and the starburst-to-quasar evolutionary hypothesis. (Abridged)