The environment of QSO triplets at 1 $\lesssim$ z $\lesssim$ 1.5

TL;DR

This study investigates whether QSO triplets at redshifts 1 to 1.5 are associated with galaxy protoclusters by analyzing multiband imaging and photometric redshifts, finding no significant evidence of dense structures around them.

Contribution

The paper introduces a method combining multiband imaging, infrared data, and photometric redshifts to assess the environment of QSO triplets at intermediate redshifts.

Findings

No significant dense structures found around QSO triplets

Photometric redshifts achieved with dispersion ~0.04

Method validated with simulations and semi-analytic models

Abstract

We present an analysis of the environment of six QSO triplets at 1 $\lesssim$ z $\lesssim$ 1.5 by analyzing multiband (r,i,z, or g,r,i) images obtained with Megacam at the CFHT telescope, aiming to investigate whether they are associated or not with galaxy protoclusters. This was done by using photometric redshifts trained using the high accuracy photometric redshifts of the COSMOS2015 catalogue. To improve the quality of our photometric redshift estimation, we included in our analysis near-infrared photometry (3.6 and 4.5 $\mu m$) from the unWISE survey available for our fields and the COSMOS survey. This approach allowed us to obtain good photometric redshifts with dispersion, as measured with the robust Sigma NMAD statistics of $\sim$ 0.04 for our six fields. Our analysis setup was reproduced on lightcones constructed from the Millennium Simulation data and the latest version of the L-GALAXIES semi-analytic model to verify the protocluster detectability in such conditions. The density field in a redshift slab containing each triplet was then analyzed with a Gaussian kernel density estimator. We did not find any significant evidence of the triplets inhabiting dense structures, such as a massive galaxy cluster or protocluster.