Evidence for feedback in action from the molecular gas content in the z~1.6 outflowing QSO XID2028

TL;DR

This study provides observational evidence of feedback in a z~1.6 quasar by analyzing molecular gas content, indicating that active galactic nucleus feedback can effectively deplete the host galaxy's gas reservoir.

Contribution

First direct measurement of cold molecular gas in an outflowing quasar at z~1.6, linking feedback processes to gas depletion in the host galaxy.

Findings

Gas content is significantly lower than expected for the galaxy’s properties.

The gas depletion timescale is less than 340 million years.

Evidence suggests active feedback removing gas from the host galaxy.

Abstract

Gas outflows are believed to play a pivotal role in shaping galaxies, as they regulate both star formation and black hole growth. Despite their ubiquitous presence, the origin and the acceleration mechanism of such powerful and extended winds is not yet understood. Direct observations of the cold gas component in objects with detected outflows at other wavelengths are needed to assess the impact of the outflow on the host galaxy interstellar medium (ISM). We observed with the Plateau de Bure Interferometer an obscured quasar at z~1.5, XID2028, for which the presence of an ionised outflow has been unambiguously signalled by NIR spectroscopy. The detection of CO(3-2) emission in this source allows us to infer the molecular gas content and compare it to the ISM mass derived from the dust emission. We then analyze the results in the context of recent insights on scaling relations, which describe the gas content of the overall population of star-forming galaxies at a similar redshifts. The Star formation efficiency (~100) and gas mass (M_gas=2.1-9.5x10^{10} M_sun) inferred from the CO(3-2) line depend on the underlying assumptions on the excitation of the transition and the CO-to-H2 conversion factor. However, the combination of this information and the ISM mass estimated from the dust mass suggests that the ISM/gas content of XID2028 is significantly lower than expected for its observed M$_\star$, sSFR and redshift, based on the most up-to-date calibrations (with gas fraction <20% and depletion time scale <340 Myr). Overall, the constraints we obtain from the far infrared and millimeter data suggest that we are observing QSO feedback able to remove the gas from the host