The dust content of QSO hosts at high redshift

Infrared observations of high-z quasar (QSO) hosts indicate the presence of large masses of dust in the early universe. When combined with other observables, such as neutral gas masses and star formation rates, the dust content of z~6 QSO hosts may help constraining their star formation history. We have collected a database of 58 sources from the literature discovered by various surveys and observed in the FIR. We have interpreted the available data by means of chemical evolution models for forming proto-spheroids, investigating the role of the major parameters regulating star formation and dust production. For a few systems, given the derived small dynamical masses, the observed dust content can be explained only assuming a top-heavy initial mass function, an enhanced star formation efficiency and an increased rate of dust accretion. However, the possibility that, for some systems, the dynamical mass has been underestimated cannot be excluded. If this were the case, the dust mass can be accounted for by standard model assumptions. We provide predictions regarding the abundance of the descendants of QSO hosts; albeit rare, such systems should be present and detectable by future deep surveys such as Euclid already at z>4.Comment: 22 pages, 8 figures, MNRAS, accepte

Extragalactic Source Counts in the Spitzer 24-micron Band: What Do We Expect From ISOCAM 15-micron Data and Models?

The comparison between the new Spitzer data at 24 micron and the previous ISOCAM data at 15 micron is a key tool to understand galaxy properties and evolution in the infrared and to interpret the observed number counts, since the combination of Spitzer with the ISO cosmological surveys provides for the first time the direct view of the Universe in the Infrared up to z~2. We present the prediction in the Spitzer 24-micron band of a phenomenological model for galaxy evolution derived from the 15-micron data. Without any ``a posteriori'' update, the model predictions seem to agree well with the recently published 24-micron extragalactic source counts, suggesting that the peak in the 24-micron counts is dominated by ``starburst'' galaxies like those detected by ISOCAM at 15 micron, but at higher redshifts (1 < z < 2 instead of 0.5 < z < 1.5).Comment: 8 pages: 4 pages of main text + 5 postscript figures, use aastex. Accepted for publication in ApJL. Replaced with the proof version (added missing references and corrected a few sentences

Realization of quantum walks with negligible decoherence in waveguide lattices

Quantum random walks are the quantum counterpart of classical random walks, and were recently studied in the context of quantum computation. Physical implementations of quantum walks have only been made in very small scale systems severely limited by decoherence. Here we show that the propagation of photons in waveguide lattices, which have been studied extensively in recent years, are essentially an implementation of quantum walks. Since waveguide lattices are easily constructed at large scales and display negligible decoherence, they can serve as an ideal and versatile experimental playground for the study of quantum walks and quantum algorithms. We experimentally observe quantum walks in large systems (similar to 100 sites) and confirm quantum walks effects which were studied theoretically, including ballistic propagation, disorder, and boundary related effects

Effect of Nonlinearity on Adiabatic Evolution of Light

We investigate the effect of nonlinearity in a system described by an adiabatically evolving Hamiltonian. Experiments are conducted in a three-core waveguide structure that is adiabatically varying with distance, in analogy to the stimulated Raman adiabatic passage process in atomic physics. In the linear regime, the system exhibits an adiabatic power transfer between two waveguides which are not directly coupled, with negligible power recorded in the intermediate coupling waveguide. In the presence of nonlinearity the adiabatic light passage is found to critically depend on the excitation power. We show how this effect is related to the destruction of the dark state formed in this configuration

The M_BH-M_star relation of obscured AGNs at high redshift

We report the detection of broad Halpha emission in three X-ray selected obscured AGNs at z=1-2. By exploiting the Halpha width and the intrinsic X-ray luminosity, we estimate their black hole masses, which are in the range 0.1-3x10^9 Msun. By means of multi-band photometric data, we measure the stellar mass of their host galaxy and, therefore, infer their M_BH/M_star ratio. These are the first obscured AGNs at high-z, selected based on their black hole accretion (i.e. on the basis of their X-ray luminosity), that can be located on the M_BH-M_star relation at high-z. All of these obscured high-z AGNs are fully consistent with the local M_BH-M_star relation. This result conflicts with those for other samples of AGNs in the same redshift range, whose M_BH/M_star ratio departs significantly from the value observed in local galaxies. We suggest that the obscured AGNs in our sample are in an advanced evolutionary stage, have already settled onto the local M_BH-M_star relation, and whose nuclear activity has been temporarily revived by recent galaxy interactions.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in A&A Letters, slightly revised discussion on SMG

Broad-band X-ray analysis of local mid-infrared selected Compton-thick AGN candidates

The estimate of the number and space density of obscured AGN over cosmic time still represents an open issue. While the obscured AGN population is a key ingredient of the X-ray background synthesis models and is needed to reproduce its shape, a complete census of obscured AGN is still missing. Here we test the selection of obscured sources among the local 12-micron sample of Seyfert galaxies. Our selection is based on a difference up to three orders of magnitude in the ratio between the AGN bolometric luminosity, derived from the spectral energy distribution (SED) decomposition, and the same quantity obtained by the published XMM-Newton 2-10 keV luminosity. The selected sources are UGC05101, NGC1194 and NGC3079 for which the available X-ray wide bandpass, from Chandra and XMM-Newton plus NuSTAR data, extending to energies up to ~30-45 keV, allows us an accurate determination of the column density, and hence of the true intrinsic power. The newly derived NH values clearly indicate heavy obscuration (about 1.2, 2.1 and 2.4 x10^{24} cm-2 for UGC05101, NGC1194 and NGC3079, respectively) and are consistent with the prominent silicate absorption feature observed in the Spitzer-IRS spectra of these sources (at 9.7 micron rest frame). We finally checked that the resulting X-ray luminosities in the 2-10 keV band are in good agreement with those derived from the mid-IR band through empirical L_MIR-L_X relations.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Are z>2 Herschel galaxies proto-spheroids?

We present a backward approach for the interpretation of the evolution of the near-infrared and the far-infrared luminosity functions across the redshift range 0<z<3. In our method, late-type galaxies are treated by means of a parametric phenomenological method based on PEP/HerMES data up to z~4, whereas spheroids are described by means of a physically motivated backward model. The spectral evolution of spheroids is modelled by means of a single-mass model, associated to a present-day elliptical with K-band luminosity comparable to the break of the local early-type luminosity function. The formation of proto-spheroids is assumed to occurr across the redshift range 1< z < 5. The key parameter is represented by the redshift z_0.5 at which half proto-spheroids are already formed. A statistical study indicates for this parameter values between z_0.5=1.5 and z_0.5=3. We assume as fiducial value z_0.5~2, and show that this assumption allows us to describe accourately the redshift distributions and the source counts. By assuming z_0.5 ~ 2 at the far-IR flux limit of the PEP-COSMOS survey, the PEP-selected sources observed at z>2 can be explained as progenitors of local spheroids caught during their formation. We also test the effects of mass downsizing by dividing the spheroids into three populations of different present-day stellar masses. The results obtained in this case confirm the validity of our approach, i.e. that the bulk of proto-spheroids can be modelled by means of a single model which describes the evolution of galaxies at the break of the present-day early type K-band LF.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ; 26 pages; 13 figure