JADES: Nitrogen Enhancement in High-Redshift Broad-Line Active Galactic Nuclei

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Isobe, Yuki, Maiolino, Roberto, D'Eugenio, Francesco, Curti, Mirko, Ji, Xihan, Juodžbalis, Ignas, Scholtz, Jan, Feltre, Anne, Charlot, Stéphane, Übler, Hannah, Bunker, Andrew J., Carniani, Stefano, Curtis-Lake, Emma, Ji, Zhiyuan, Kumari, Nimisha, Rinaldi, Pierluigi, Robertson, Brant, Willott, Chris, Witstok, Joris
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Isobe, Yuki
Maiolino, Roberto
D'Eugenio, Francesco
Curti, Mirko
Ji, Xihan
Juodžbalis, Ignas
Scholtz, Jan
Feltre, Anne
Charlot, Stéphane
Übler, Hannah
Bunker, Andrew J.
Carniani, Stefano
Curtis-Lake, Emma
Ji, Zhiyuan
Kumari, Nimisha
Rinaldi, Pierluigi
Robertson, Brant
Willott, Chris
Witstok, Joris
author_facet Isobe, Yuki
Maiolino, Roberto
D'Eugenio, Francesco
Curti, Mirko
Ji, Xihan
Juodžbalis, Ignas
Scholtz, Jan
Feltre, Anne
Charlot, Stéphane
Übler, Hannah
Bunker, Andrew J.
Carniani, Stefano
Curtis-Lake, Emma
Ji, Zhiyuan
Kumari, Nimisha
Rinaldi, Pierluigi
Robertson, Brant
Willott, Chris
Witstok, Joris
contents The unexpectedly high nitrogen-to-oxygen (N/O) ratios observed in high-redshift (z) galaxies have challenged our understanding of early star formation. Notably, many of these nitrogen-rich galaxies show signatures of active galactic nuclei (AGNs), suggesting a possible connection between black hole formation and nitrogen enrichment. To explore this connection, we analyse stacked spectra of z=4-7 broad-line and narrow-line AGNs using deep NIRSpec data from the JADES survey. We identify a significant Niii] quintuplet and a high electron density ($\sim10^{4}\,\mathrm{cm^{-3}}$) only in the broad-line AGN stack, indicating nitrogen-rich ($\log(\mathrm{N/C})\simeq0.5$, $\log(\mathrm{N/O})>-0.6$) and dense gas similar to the high-z nitrogen-rich galaxies. Our findings suggest that dense nuclear star formation may trap nitrogen-rich gas in proto-globular clusters, in line with the high N/O observed in local globular clusters; associated runaway stellar collisions could produce intermediate-mass black hole seeds, as predicted by some models and simulations, whose accretion results into AGN signatures. These findings support scenarios connecting the early black hole seeding and growth to merging processes within and between proto-globular clusters in primeval galaxies.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_12091
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle JADES: Nitrogen Enhancement in High-Redshift Broad-Line Active Galactic Nuclei
Isobe, Yuki
Maiolino, Roberto
D'Eugenio, Francesco
Curti, Mirko
Ji, Xihan
Juodžbalis, Ignas
Scholtz, Jan
Feltre, Anne
Charlot, Stéphane
Übler, Hannah
Bunker, Andrew J.
Carniani, Stefano
Curtis-Lake, Emma
Ji, Zhiyuan
Kumari, Nimisha
Rinaldi, Pierluigi
Robertson, Brant
Willott, Chris
Witstok, Joris
Astrophysics of Galaxies
The unexpectedly high nitrogen-to-oxygen (N/O) ratios observed in high-redshift (z) galaxies have challenged our understanding of early star formation. Notably, many of these nitrogen-rich galaxies show signatures of active galactic nuclei (AGNs), suggesting a possible connection between black hole formation and nitrogen enrichment. To explore this connection, we analyse stacked spectra of z=4-7 broad-line and narrow-line AGNs using deep NIRSpec data from the JADES survey. We identify a significant Niii] quintuplet and a high electron density ($\sim10^{4}\,\mathrm{cm^{-3}}$) only in the broad-line AGN stack, indicating nitrogen-rich ($\log(\mathrm{N/C})\simeq0.5$, $\log(\mathrm{N/O})>-0.6$) and dense gas similar to the high-z nitrogen-rich galaxies. Our findings suggest that dense nuclear star formation may trap nitrogen-rich gas in proto-globular clusters, in line with the high N/O observed in local globular clusters; associated runaway stellar collisions could produce intermediate-mass black hole seeds, as predicted by some models and simulations, whose accretion results into AGN signatures. These findings support scenarios connecting the early black hole seeding and growth to merging processes within and between proto-globular clusters in primeval galaxies.
title JADES: Nitrogen Enhancement in High-Redshift Broad-Line Active Galactic Nuclei
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.12091