arXiv subjects

Nobunari Kashikawa

Publications and source records attributed to Nobunari Kashikawa.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

arXiv2018

Subaru High-z Exploration of Low-Luminosity Quasars (SHELLQs). V. Quasar Luminosity Function and Contribution to Cosmic Reionization at z = 6

We present new measurements of the quasar luminosity function (LF) at $z \sim 6$, over an unprecedentedly wide range of the rest-frame ultraviolet luminosity $M_{1450}$ from $-30$ to $-22$ mag. This is the fifth in a series of publications from the Subaru High-$z$ Exploration of Low-Luminosity Quasars (SHELLQs) project, which exploits the deep multi-band imaging data produced by the Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) Subaru Strategic Program survey. The LF was calculated with a complete sample of 110 quasars at $5.7 \le z \le 6.5$, which includes 48 SHELLQs quasars discovered over 650 deg$^2$, and 63 brighter quasars discovered by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the Canada-France-Hawaii Quasar Survey (including one overlapping object). This is the largest sample of $z \sim 6$ quasars with a well-defined selection function constructed to date, and has allowed us to detect significant flattening of the LF at its faint end. A double power-law function fit to the sample yields a faint-end slope $α= -1.23^{+0.44}_{-0.34}$, a bright-end slope $β= -2.73^{+0.23}_{-0.31}$, a break magnitude $M_{1450}^* = -24.90^{+0.75}_{-0.90}$, and a characteristic space density $Φ^* = 10.9^{+10.0}_{-6.8}$ Gpc$^{-3}$ mag$^{-1}$. Integrating this best-fit model over the range $-18 < M_{1450} < -30$ mag, quasars emit ionizing photons at the rate of $\dot{n}_{\rm ion} = 10^{48.8 \pm 0.1}$ s$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-3}$ at $z = 6.0$. This is less than 10 % of the critical rate necessary to keep the intergalactic medium ionized, which indicates that quasars are not a major contributor to cosmic reionization.

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arXiv2018

Physical properties of near-Earth asteroids with a low delta-${\it v}$: Survey of target candidates for the Hayabusa2 mission

Sample return from the near-Earth asteroid known as 25143 Itokawa was conducted as part of the Hayabusa mission, with a large number of scientific findings being derived from the returned samples. Following the Hayabusa mission, Hayabusa2 was planned, targeting sample return from a primitive asteroid. The primary target body of Hayabusa2 was asteroid 162173 Ryugu; however, it was also necessary to gather physical information for backup target selection. Therefore, we examined five asteroids spectroscopically, 43 asteroids spectrophotometrically, and 41 asteroids through periodic analysis. Hence, the physical properties of 74 near-Earth asteroids were obtained, which helped the Hayabusa2 backup target search and, also, furthered understanding of the physical properties of individual asteroids and their origins.

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arXiv2018

Direct Measurement of Quasar Outflow Wind Acceleration

We search for velocity changes (i.e., acceleration/deceleration) of narrow absorption lines (NALs) that are intrinsic to the quasars, using spectra of 6 bright quasars that have been observed more than once with 8-10m class telescopes. While variations in line strength and profile are frequently reported (especially in broader absorption lines), definitive evidence for velocity shifts has not been found with only a few exceptions. Direct velocity shift measurements are valuable constraints on the acceleration mechanisms. In this study, we determine velocity shifts by comparing the absorption profiles of NALs at two epochs separated by more than 10 years in the observed frame, using the cross-correlation function method and we estimate the uncertainties using Monte Carlo simulations. We do not detect any significant shifts but we obtain 3$σ$ upper limits on the acceleration of intrinsic NALs (compared to intervening NALs in same quasars) of $\sim$0.7 km s$^{-1}$ yr$^{-1}$ ($\sim$0.002 cm s$^{-2}$). We discuss possible scenarios for non-detection of NAL acceleration/deceleration and examine resulting constraints on the physical conditions in accretion disk wind.

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arXiv2018

CHORUS II. Subaru/HSC Determination of the Ly$α$ Luminosity Function at $z=7.0$: Constraints on Cosmic Reionization Model Parameter

We present the Ly$α$ luminosity function (LF) derived from 34 Ly$α$ emitters (LAEs) at $z=7.0$ on the sky of $3.1$ deg$^2$, the largest sample compared to those in the literature obtained at a redshift $z\gtrsim7$. The LAE sample is made by deep large-area Subaru narrowband observations conducted by the Cosmic HydrOgen Reionization Unveiled with Subaru (CHORUS) project. The $z=7.0$ Ly$α$ LF of our project is consistent with those of the previous DECam and Subaru studies at the bright and faint ends, respectively, while our $z=7.0$ Ly$α$ LF has uncertainties significantly smaller than those of the previous study results. Exploiting the small errors of our measurements, we investigate the shape of the faint to bright-end Ly$α$ LF. We find that the $z=7.0$ Ly$α$ LF shape can be explained by the steep slope of $α\simeq -2.5$ suggested at $z=6.6$, and that there is no clear signature of a bright-end excess at $z\simeq 7$ claimed by the previous work, which was thought to be made by the ionized bubbles around bright LAEs whose Ly$α$ photons could easily escape from the partly neutral IGM at $z \simeq 7$. We estimate the Ly$α$ luminosity densities (LDs) with Ly$α$ LFs at $z\simeq 6-8$ given by our and the previous studies, and compare the evolution of the UV-continuum LD estimated with dropouts. The Ly$α$ LD monotonically decreases from $z\sim 6$ to $8$, and evolves stronger than the UV-continuum LD, indicative of the Ly$α$ damping wing absorption of the IGM towards the heart of the reionization epoch.

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arXiv2018

Large Scale Environment of a $z=6.61$ Luminous Quasar Probed by Ly$α$ Emitters and Lyman Break Galaxies

Quasars (QSOs) hosting supermassive black holes are believed to reside in massive halos harboring galaxy overdensities. However, many observations revealed average or low galaxy densities around $z\gtrsim6$ QSOs. This could be partly because they measured galaxy densities in only tens of arcmin$^2$ around QSOs and might have overlooked potential larger scale galaxy overdensities. Some previous studies also observed only Lyman break galaxies (LBGs, massive older galaxies) and missed low mass young galaxies like Ly$α$ emitters (LAEs) around QSOs. Here we present observations of LAE and LBG candidates in $\sim700$ arcmin$^2$ around a $z=6.61$ luminous QSO using Subaru Telescope Suprime-Cam with narrow/broadbands. We compare their sky distributions, number densities and angular correlation functions with those of LAEs/LBGs detected in the same manner and comparable data quality in our control blank field. In the QSO field, LAEs and LBGs are clustering in 4-20 comoving Mpc angular scales, but LAEs show mostly underdensity over the field while LBGs are forming $30\times60$ comoving Mpc$^2$ large scale structure containing 3-$7σ$ high density clumps. The highest density clump includes a bright (23.78 mag in the narrowband) extended ($\gtrsim 16$ kpc) Ly$α$ blob candidate, indicative of a dense environment. The QSO could be part of the structure but is not located exactly at any of the high density peaks. Near the QSO, LAEs show underdensity while LBGs average to $4σ$ excess densities compared to the control field. If these environments reflect halo mass, the QSO may not be in the most massive halo, but still in a moderately massive one.

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arXiv2018

Subaru High-z Exploration of Low-Luminosity Quasars (SHELLQs) III. Star formation properties of the host galaxies at $z \gtrsim 6$ studied with ALMA

We present our ALMA Cycle 4 measurements of the [CII] emission line and the underlying far-infrared (FIR) continuum emission from four optically low-luminosity ($M_{\rm 1450} > -25$) quasars at $z \gtrsim 6$ discovered by the Subaru Hyper Suprime Cam (HSC) survey. The [CII] line and FIR continuum luminosities lie in the ranges $L_{\rm [CII]} = (3.8-10.2) \times 10^8~L_\odot$ and $L_{\rm FIR} = (1.2-2.0) \times 10^{11}~L_\odot$, which are at least one order of magnitude smaller than those of optically-luminous quasars at $z \gtrsim 6$. We estimate the star formation rates (SFR) of our targets as $\simeq 23-40~M_\odot ~{\rm yr}^{-1}$. Their line and continuum-emitting regions are marginally resolved, and found to be comparable in size to those of optically luminous quasars, indicating that their SFR or likely gas mass surface densities (key controlling parameter of mass accretion) are accordingly different. The $L_{\rm [CII]}/L_{\rm FIR}$ ratios of the hosts, $\simeq (2.2-8.7) \times 10^{-3}$, are fully consistent with local star-forming galaxies. Using the [CII] dynamics, we derived their dynamical masses within a radius of 1.5-2.5 kpc as $\simeq (1.4-8.2) \times 10^{10}~M_\odot$. By interpreting these masses as stellar ones, we suggest that these faint quasar hosts are on or even below the star-forming main sequence at $z \sim 6$, i.e., they appear to be transforming into quiescent galaxies. This is in contrast to the optically luminous quasars at those redshifts, which show starburst-like properties. Finally, we find that the ratios of black hole mass to host galaxy dynamical mass of the most of low-luminosity quasars including the HSC ones are consistent with the local value. The mass ratios of the HSC quasars can be reproduced by a semi-analytical model that assumes merger-induced black hole-host galaxy evolution.

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arXiv2018

SILVERRUSH. VII. Subaru/HSC Identifications of 42 Protocluster Candidates at z~6-7 with the Spectroscopic Redshifts up to z=6.574: Implications for Cosmic Reionization

We report fourteen and twenty-eight protocluster candidates at z=5.7 and 6.6 over 14 and 19 deg^2 areas, respectively, selected from 2,230 (259) Lya emitters (LAEs) photometrically (spectroscopically) identified with Subaru/Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) deep images (Keck, Subaru, and Magellan spectra and the literature data). Six out of the 42 protocluster candidates include 1-12 spectroscopically confirmed LAEs at redshifts up to z=6.574. By the comparisons with the cosmological Lya radiative transfer (RT) model reproducing LAEs with the reionization effects, we find that more than a half of these protocluster candidates are progenitors of the present-day clusters with a mass of > 10^14 M_sun. We then investigate the correlation between LAE overdensity delta and Lya rest-frame equivalent width EW_Lya^rest, because the cosmological Lya RT model suggests that a slope of EW_Lya^rest-delta relation is steepened towards the epoch of cosmic reionization (EoR), due to the existence of the ionized bubbles around galaxy overdensities easing the escape of Lya emission from the partly neutral intergalactic medium (IGM). The available HSC data suggest that the slope of the EW_Lya^rest-delta correlation does not evolve from the post-reionization epoch z=5.7 to the EoR z=6.6 beyond the moderately large statistical errors. There is a possibility that we would detect the evolution of the EW_Lya^rest - delta relation from z=5.7 to 7.3 by the upcoming HSC observations providing large samples of LAEs at z=6.6-7.3.

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arXiv2017

Resolving the Internal Structure of Circum-Galactic Medium using Gravitationally Lensed Quasars

We study the internal structure of the Circum-Galactic Medium (CGM), using 29 spectra of 13 gravitationally lensed quasars with image separation angles of a few arcseconds, which correspond to 100 pc to 10 kpc in physical distances. After separating metal absorption lines detected in the spectra into high-ions with ionization parameter (IP) $>$ 40 eV and low-ions with IP $<$ 20 eV, we find that i) the fraction of absorption lines that are detected in only one of the lensed images is larger for low-ions ($\sim$16%) than high-ions ($\sim$2%), ii) the fractional difference of equivalent widths ($EW$s) between the lensed images is almost same (${\rm d}EW$ $\sim$ 0.2) for both groups although the low-ions have a slightly larger variation, and iii) weak low-ion absorbers tend to have larger ${\rm d}EW$ compared to weak high-ion absorbers. We construct simple models to reproduce these observed properties and investigate the distribution of physical quantities such as size and location of absorbers, using some free parameters. Our best models for absorbers with high-ions and low-ions suggest that i) an overall size of the CGM is at least $\sim$ 500 kpc, ii) a size of spherical clumpy cloud is $\sim$ 1 kpc or smaller, and iii) only high-ion absorbers can have diffusely distributed homogeneous component throughout the CGM. We infer that a high ionization absorber distributes almost homogeneously with a small-scale internal fluctuation, while a low ionization absorber consists of a large number of small-scale clouds in the diffusely distributed higher ionized region. This is the first result to investigate the internal small-scale structure of the CGM, based on the large number of gravitationally lensed quasar spectra.

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arXiv2017

Lyman-Break Galaxies at $z\sim 3$ in the Subaru Deep Field: Luminosity Function, Clustering and [OIII] Emission

We combined deep U-band imaging from the KPNO-4m/MOSAIC camera with very deep multi-waveband data from the optical to infrared, to select Lyman Break Galaxies (LBGs) at z~3 using U-V and V-R colors in the Subaru Deep Field. With the resulting sample of 5161 LBGs, we construct the UV luminosity function down to $M_{UV} = -18$ and find a steep faint-end slope of $α=-1.78 \pm 0.05$. We analyze rest-frame UV-to-IR spectral energy distributions generated from the median optical photometry and photometry on median-stacked IR images. In the stacks of faint LBGs, we find a background depression centered on the galaxy. This deficit results from the systematic difficulty of SExtractor in finding faint galaxies in regions with higher-than-average surface densities of foreground galaxies. We corrected our stacked magnitudes for this. Best-fit stellar population templates for the stacked LBG SEDs indicate stellar masses and star-formation rates of log M*/Msun = 10 and 50 M$_\odot$/yr at i' = 24, down to log M*/Msun = 8 and = 3 M$_\odot$/yr at i' = 27. For the faint stacked LBGs there is a 1-mag excess over the expected stellar continuum in the K-band, which we attribute to redshifted [OIII]4959+5007 and H$β$ lines. Their implied equivalent widths increase with decreasing mass, reaching $\rm{EW_0([O III]4959,5007+Hβ)}$ =1500A in the faintest bin. Such strong [OIII] emission is seen only in a miniscule fraction of the most extreme local emission-line galaxies, but it probably universal in the faint galaxies that reionized the universe. Finally, we analyze clustering by computing the angular correlation function and performing halo occupation distribution (HOD) analysis. We find a mean dark halo mass of log(Mhalo/h) Msun = 11.29$\pm 0.12$ for the full sample of LBGs, and log(Mhalo/h) Msun = 11.49$\pm 0.1$ for the brightest half.

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arXiv2017

Very compact millimeter sizes for composite star-forming/AGN submillimeter galaxies

We report the study of far-IR sizes of submillimeter galaxies (SMGs) in relation to their dust-obscured star formation rate (SFR) and active galactic nuclei (AGN) presence, determined using mid-IR photometry. We determined the millimeter-wave ($λ_{\rm obs}=1100 μ$m) sizes of 69 ALMA-identified SMGs, selected with $\geq10$$σ$ confidence on ALMA images ($F_{\rm 1100 μm}=1.7$--7.4 mJy). We found that all the SMGs are located above an avoidance region in the millimeter size-flux plane, as expected by the Eddington limit for star formation. In order to understand what drives the different millimeter-wave sizes in SMGs, we investigated the relation between millimeter-wave size and AGN fraction for 25 of our SMGs at $z=1$--3. We found that the SMGs for which the mid-IR emission is dominated by star formation or AGN have extended millimeter-sizes, with respective median $R_{\rm c,e} = 1.6^{+0.34}_{-0.21}$ and 1.5$^{+0.93}_{-0.24}$ kpc. Instead, the SMGs for which the mid-IR emission corresponds to star-forming/AGN composites have more compact millimeter-wave sizes, with median $R_{\rm c,e}=1.0^{+0.20}_{-0.20}$ kpc. The relation between millimeter-wave size and AGN fraction suggests that this size may be related to the evolutionary stage of the SMG. The very compact sizes for composite star-forming/AGN systems could be explained by supermassive black holes growing rapidly during the SMG coalescing, star-formation phase.

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arXiv2017

SILVERRUSH. IV. Ly$α$ Luminosity Functions at $z = 5.7$ and $6.6$ Studied with $\sim$ 1,300 LAEs on the $14-21$ deg$^2$ Sky

We present the Ly$α$ luminosity functions (LFs) at $z=$5.7 and 6.6 derived from a new large sample of 1,266 Ly$α$ emitters (LAEs) identified in total areas of 14 and 21 deg$^2$, respectively, based on the early narrowband data of the Subaru/Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) survey. Together with careful Monte-Carlo simulations that account for the incompleteness of the LAE selection and the flux estimate systematics in the narrowband imaging, we have determined the Ly$α$ LFs with the unprecedentedly small statistical and systematic uncertainties in a wide Ly$α$ luminosity range of $10^{42.8-43.8}$ erg s$^{-1}$. We obtain the best-fit Schechter parameters of $L^{*}_{\rm Lya}=1.6^{+2.2}_{-0.6} (1.7^{+0.3}_{-0.7}) \times10^{43}$ erg s$^{-1}$, $ϕ^{*}_{\rm Lya}=0.85^{+1.87}_{-0.77}\ (0.47^{+1.44}_{-0.44})\times10^{-4}$ Mpc$^{-3}$, and $α=-2.6^{+0.6}_{-0.4}\ (-2.5^{+0.5}_{-0.5})$ at $z=5.7$ ($6.6$). We confirm that our best-estimate Ly$α$ LFs are consistent with the majority of the previous studies, but find that our Ly$α$ LFs do not agree with the high number densities of LAEs recently claimed by Matthee/Santos et al.'s studies that may overcorrect the incompleteness and the flux systematics. Our Ly$α$ LFs at $z=5.7$ and $6.6$ show an indication that the faint-end slope is very steep ($α\simeq -2.5$), although it is also possible that the bright-end LF results are enhanced by systematic effects such as the contribution from AGNs, blended merging galaxies, and/or large ionized bubbles around bright LAEs. Comparing our Ly$α$ LF measurements with four independent reionization models, we estimate the neutral hydrogen fraction of the IGM to be $x_{\rm HI}=0.3\pm0.2$ at $z=$6.6 that is consistent with the small Thomson scattering optical depth obtained by Planck 2016.

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arXiv2017

SILVERRUSH. II. First Catalogs and Properties of ~2,000 Lya Emitters and Blobs at z~6-7 Identified over the 14-21 deg2 Sky

We present an unprecedentedly large catalog consisting of 2,230 > L* Lya emitters (LAEs) at z=5.7 and 6.6 on the 13.8 and 21.2 deg2 sky, respectively, that are identified by the SILVERRUSH program with the first narrowband imaging data of the Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) survey. We confirm that the LAE catalog is reliable on the basis of 96 LAEs whose spectroscopic redshifts are already determined by this program and the previous studies. This catalogue is also available on-line. Based on this catalogue, we derive the rest-frame Lya equivalent-width distributions of LAEs at z~5.7-6.6 that are reasonably explained by the exponential profiles with the scale lengths of ~120-170A, showing no significant evolution from z~5.7 to z~6.6. We find that 275 LAEs with a large equivalent width (LEW) of >240A are candidates of young-metal poor galaxies and AGNs. We also find that the fraction of LEW LAEs to all ones is 4% and 21% at z~5.7 and z~6.6, respectively. Our LAE catalog includes 11 Lya blobs (LABs) that are LAEs with spatially extended Lya emission whose profile is clearly distinguished from those of stellar objects at the >~ 3sigma level. The number density of the LABs at z=6-7 is ~ 10^-7-10^-6 Mpc^-3, being ~ 10-100 times lower than those claimed for LABs at z~ 2-3, suggestive of disappearing LABs at z>~6, albeit with the different selection methods and criteria for the low and high-z LABs.

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arXiv2017

SILVERRUSH. III. Deep Optical and Near-Infrared Spectroscopy for Lya and UV-Nebular Lines of Bright Lya Emitters at z=6-7

We present Lya and UV-nebular emission line properties of bright Lya emitters (LAEs) at z=6-7 with a luminosity of log L_Lya/[erg s-1] = 43-44 identified in the 21-deg2 area of the SILVERRUSH early sample developed with the Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) survey data. Our optical spectroscopy newly confirm 21 bright LAEs with clear Lya emission, and contribute to make a spectroscopic sample of 96 LAEs at z=6-7 in SILVERRUSH. From the spectroscopic sample, we select 7 remarkable LAEs as bright as Himiko and CR7 objects, and perform deep Keck/MOSFIRE and Subaru/nuMOIRCS near-infrared spectroscopy reaching the 3sigma-flux limit of ~ 2x10^{-18} erg s-1 for the UV-nebular emission lines of He II1640, C IV1548,1550, and O III]1661,1666. Except for one tentative detection of C IV, we find no strong UV-nebular lines down to the flux limit, placing the upper limits of the rest-frame equivalent widths (EW_0) of ~2-4 A for He II, C IV, and O III] lines. Here we also investigate the VLT/X-SHOOTER spectrum of CR7 whose 6 sigma detection of He II is claimed by Sobral et al. Although two individuals and the ESO-archive service carefully re-analyze the X-SHOOTER data that are used in the study of Sobral et al., no He II signal of CR7 is detected, supportive of weak UV-nebular lines of the bright LAEs even for CR7. Spectral properties of these bright LAEs are thus clearly different from those of faint dropouts at z~7 that have strong UV-nebular lines shown in the various studies. Comparing these bright LAEs and the faint dropouts, we find anti-correlations between the UV-nebular line EW_0 and UV-continuum luminosity, which are similar to those found at z~2-3.

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arXiv2017

Luminous Quasars Do Not Live in the Most Overdense Regions of Galaxies at z~4

We present the cross-correlation between 151 luminous quasars ($M_{ \mathrm{UV}} < -26$) and 179 protocluster candidates at $z \sim 3.8$, extracted from the Wide imaging survey ($ \sim 121~ $deg$^2$) performed with a part of the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (HSC-SSP). We find that only two out of 151 quasars reside in regions that are more overdense compared to the average field at $ > 4 σ$. The distributions of the distance between quasars and the nearest protoclusters and the significance of the overdensity at the position of quasars are statistically identical to those found for $g$-dropout galaxies, suggesting that quasars tend to reside in almost the same environment as star-forming galaxies at this redshift. Using stacking analysis, we find that the average density of $g$-dropout galaxies around quasars is slightly higher than that around $g$-dropout galaxies on $1.0 - 2.5$ pMpc scales, while at $ < 0.5$ pMpc that around quasars tends to be lower. We also find that quasars with higher UV-luminosity or with more massive black holes tend to avoid the most overdense regions, and that the quasar near zone sizes are anti-correlated with overdensity. These findings are consistent with a scenario in which the luminous quasar at $z \sim4 $ resides in structures that are less massive than those expected for the progenitors of today's rich clusters of galaxies, and possibly that luminous quasars may be suppressing star formation in their close vicinity.

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arXiv2017

Minor Contribution of Quasars to Ionizing Photon Budget at z~6: Update on Quasar Luminosity Function at the Faint-end with Subaru/Suprime-Cam

We constrain the quasar contribution to cosmic reionization based on our deep optical survey of z~6 quasars down to z_R=24.15 using Subaru/Suprime-Cam in three UKIDSS-DXS fields covering 6.5 deg^2. In Kashikawa et al. (2015), we select 17 quasar candidates and report our initial discovery of two low-luminosity quasars (M_1450~ -23) from seven targets, one of which might be a Lyman alpha emitting galaxy. From an additional optical spectroscopy, none of the four candidates out of the remaining ten turn out to be genuine quasars. Moreover, the deeper optical photometry provided by the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (HSC-SSP) shows that, unlike the two already-known quasars, the i-z and z-y colors of the last six candidates are consistent with M- or L-type brown dwarfs. Therefore, the quasar luminosity function (QLF) in the previous paper is confirmed. Compiling QLF measurements from the literature over a wide magnitude range, including an extremely faint AGN candidate from Parsa et al. (2017}, to fit them with a double power-law, we find that the best-fit faint-end slope is alpha=-2.04^+0.33_-0.18 (-1.98^+0.48_-0.21) and characteristic magnitude is M_1450^*=-25.8^+1.1_-1.9 (-25.7^+1.0_-1.8) in the case of two (one) quasar detection. Our result suggests that, if the QLF is integrated down to M_1450=-18, quasars produce ~1-12% of the ionizing photons required to ionize the whole universe at z~6 with 2sigma confidence level, assuming that the escape fraction is f_esc=1 and the IGM clumpy factor is C=3. Even when the systematic uncertainties are taken into account, our result supports the scenario that quasars are the minor contributors of reionization.

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arXiv2017

GOLDRUSH. III. A Systematic Search of Protoclusters at $z\sim4$ Based on the $>100\,\mathrm{deg^2}$ Area

We conduct a systematic search for galaxy protoclusters at $z\sim3.8$ based on the latest internal data release (S16A) of the Hyper SuprimeCam Subaru strategic program (HSC-SSP). In the Wide layer of the HSC-SSP, we investigate the large-scale projected sky distribution of $g$-dropout galaxies over an area of $121\,\mathrm{deg^2}$, and identify 216 large-scale overdense regions ($>4σ$ overdensity significance) that are good protocluster candidates. Of these, 37 are located within $8\,\mathrm{arcmin}$ ($3.4\,\mathrm{physicalMpc}$) from other protocluster candidates of higher overdensity, and are expected to merge into a single massive structure by $z=0$. Therefore, we find 179 unique protocluster candidates in our survey. A cosmological simulation that includes projection effects predicts that more than 76\% of these candidates will evolve into galaxy clusters with halo masses of at least $10^{14}\,M_{\odot}$ by $z=0$. The unprecedented size of our protocluster candidate catalog allowed us to perform, for the first time, an angular clustering analysis of the systematic sample of protocluster candidates. We find a correlation length of $35.0\,h^{-1}\,\mathrm{Mpc}$. The relation between correlation length and number density of $z\sim3.8$ protocluster candidates is consistent with the prediction of the $Λ$CDM model, and the correlation length is similar to that of rich clusters in the local universe. This result suggests that our protocluster candidates are tracing similar spatial structures as those expected of the progenitors of rich clusters and enhances the confidence that our method to identify protoclusters at high redshifts is robust. In the coming years, our protocluster search will be extended to the entire HSC-SSP Wide sky coverage of $\sim1400\,\mathrm{deg^2}$ to probe cluster formation over a wide redshift range of $z\sim2\mathrm{-}6$.

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arXiv2017

Great Optically Luminous Dropout Research Using Subaru HSC (GOLDRUSH). I. UV Luminosity Functions at $z \sim 4-7$ Derived with the Half-Million Dropouts on the 100 deg$^2$ Sky

We study the UV luminosity functions (LFs) at $z\sim 4$, $5$, $6,$ and $7$ based on the deep large-area optical images taken by the Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) Subaru strategic program (SSP). On the 100 deg$^2$ sky of the HSC SSP data available to date, we make enormous samples consisting of a total of 579,565 dropout candidates at $z\sim 4-7$ by the standard color selection technique, 358 out of which are spectroscopically confirmed by our follow-up spectroscopy and other studies. We obtain UV LFs at $z \sim 4-7$ that span a very wide UV luminosity range of $\sim 0.002 - 100 \, L_{\rm UV}^\ast$ ($-26 < M_{\rm UV} < -14$ mag) by combining LFs from our program and the ultra-deep Hubble Space Telescope legacy surveys. We derive three parameters of the best-fit Schechter function, $ϕ^\ast$, $M_{\rm UV}^\ast$, and $α$, of the UV LFs in the magnitude range where the AGN contribution is negligible, and find that $α$ and $ϕ^\ast$ decrease from $z\sim 4$ to $7$ with no significant evolution of $M_{\rm UV}^\ast$. Because our HSC SSP data bridge the LFs of galaxies and AGNs with great statistical accuracy, we carefully investigate the bright end of the galaxy UV LFs that are estimated by the subtraction of the AGN contribution either aided with spectroscopy or the best-fit AGN UV LFs. We find that the bright end of the galaxy UV LFs cannot be explained by the Schechter function fits at $> 2 σ$ significance, and require either double power-law functions or modified Schechter functions that consider a magnification bias due to gravitational lensing.

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arXiv2017

Enhancement of Galaxy Overdensity around Quasar Pairs at z<3.6 based on the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program Survey

We investigate the galaxy overdensity around proto-cluster scale quasar pairs at high (z>3) and low (z~1) redshift based on the unprecedentedly wide and deep optical survey of the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (HSC-SSP). Using the first-year survey data covering effectively ~121 deg^2 with the 5sigma depth of i~26.4 and the SDSS DR12Q catalog, we find two luminous pairs at z~3.3 and 3.6 which reside in >5sigma overdense regions of g-dropout galaxies at i<25. The projected separations of the two pairs are R_perp=1.75 and 1.04 proper Mpc, and their velocity offsets are Delta V=692 and 1448 km s^{-1}, respectively. This result is in clear contrast to the average z~4 quasar environments as discussed in Uchiyama et al. (2017) and implies that the quasar activities of the pair members are triggered via major mergers in proto-clusters, unlike the vast majority of isolated quasars in general fields that may turn on via non-merger events such as bar and disk instabilities. At z~1, we find 37 pairs with R_perp<2 pMpc and Delta V<2300 km s^{-1} in the current HSC-Wide coverage, including four from Hennawi et al. (2006). The distribution of the peak overdensity significance within two arcminutes around the pairs has a long tail toward high density (>4sigma) regions. Thanks to the large sample size, we find a statistical evidence that this excess is unique to the pair environments when compared to single quasar and randomly selected galaxy environments at the same redshift range. Moreover, there are nine small-scale (R_perp<1 pMpc) pairs, two of which are found to reside in cluster fields. Our results demonstrate that <2 pMpc-scale quasar pairs at both redshift range tend to occur in massive haloes, although perhaps not the most massive ones, and that they are useful to search for rare density peaks.

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