Nature and Origins of Rich Complexes of C IV Associated Absorption Lines

TL;DR

This study analyzes rich complexes of associated absorption lines in quasar spectra to understand quasar-driven outflows, infalls, and feedback processes, revealing high ionization, small cloud sizes, and potential infall signatures near quasars.

Contribution

It provides detailed high-resolution analysis of CIV absorption complexes in quasars, highlighting their origins, physical properties, and implications for quasar feedback and accretion.

Findings

High-speed outflows at velocities up to -1000 km/s

Partial covering indicates small cloud sizes (~0.01 pc)

Evidence for potential gaseous infall in one quasar

Abstract

Rich complexes of associated absorption lines (AALs) in quasar spectra provide unique information about gaseous infall, outflows, and feedback processes in quasar environments. We study five quasars at redshifts 3.1 to 4.4 with AAL complexes containing from 7 to 18 CIV 1548, 1551 systems in high-resolution spectra. These complexes span velocity ranges $\lesssim$3600 km/s within $\lesssim$8200 km/s of the quasar redshifts. All are highly ionised with no measurable low-ionisation ions like SiII or CII, and all appear to form in the quasar/host galaxy environments based on evidence for line locking, partial covering of the background light source, strong NV absorption, and/or roughly solar metallicities, and on the implausibility of such complexes forming in unrelated intervening galaxies. Most of the lines in all five complexes identify high-speed quasar-driven outflows at velocity shifts $v\lesssim -1000$ km/s. Four of the complexes also have lines at smaller blueshifted velocities that might form in ambient interstellar clouds, low-speed outflows or at feedback interfaces in the host galaxies where high-speed winds impact and shred interstellar clouds. The partial covering we measure in some of the high-speed outflow lines require small absorbing clouds with characteristic sizes $\lesssim$1 pc or $\lesssim$0.01 pc. The short survival times of these clouds require locations very close to the quasars, or cloud creation in situ at larger distances perhaps via feedback/cloud-shredding processes. The AAL complex in one quasar, J1008+3623, includes unusually narrow CIV systems at redshifted velocities $350\lesssim v\lesssim640$ km/s that are excellent candidates for gaseous infall towards the quasar, e.g., ''cold-mode" accretion or a gravitationally-bound galactic fountain.