We report high spatial resolution (~0.076", 410pc) Atacama Large
Millimeter/submillimeter Array imaging of the dust continuum and the ionized
carbon line [CII] in a luminous quasar host galaxy at z=6.6, 800 million years
after the big bang. Based on previous studies, this galaxy hosts a ~1x10^9
M_sun black hole and has a star-formation rate of ~1500 M_sun/yr. The
unprecedented high resolution of the observations reveals a complex morphology
of gas within 3kpc of the accreting central black hole. The gas has a high
velocity dispersion with little ordered motion along the line of sight, as
would be expected from gas accretion that has yet to settle in a disk. In
addition, we find the presence of [CII] cavities in the gas distribution (with
diameters of ~0.5kpc), offset from the central black hole. This unique
distribution and kinematics cannot be explained by a simple model. Plausible
scenarios are that the gas is located in a truncated or warped disk, or the
holes are created by interactions with nearby galaxies or due to energy
injection into the gas. In the latter case, the energy required to form the
cavities must originate from the central active galactic nucleus, as the
required energy far exceeds the energy output expected from supernovae. This
energy input into the gas, however, does not inhibit the high rate of
star-formation. Both star-formation and black hole activity could have been
triggered by interactions with satellite galaxies; our data reveal three
additional companions detected in [CII] emission around the quasar.Comment: Published in ApJ Letter
