ASPIRE: The Environments and Dark Matter Halos of Luminous Quasars in the Epoch of Reionization

@article{wang2026aspire,
  title = {{ASPIRE: The Environments and Dark Matter Halos of Luminous Quasars in the Epoch of Reionization}},
  author = {Feige Wang and Jaclyn B. Champagne and Jiamu Huang and Jinyi Yang and Joseph F. Hennawi and Xiaohui Fan and Haowen Zhang and Tiago Costa and Roberto Decarli and Mélanie Habouzit and Fengwu Sun and Eduardo Bañados and Xiangyu Jin and Koki Kakiichi and R. A. Meyer and Yunjing Wu and S. Belladitta and Laura Blecha and Sarah E. I. Bosman and Zheng Cai and Thomas Connor and Frederick B. Davies and Anna–Christina Eilers and Zoltán Haiman and Hyunsung David Jun and Mingyu Li and Zihao Li and Weizhe Liu and Alessandro Lupi and Jianwei Lyu and Chiara Mazzucchelli and Masafusa Onoue and Elia Pizzati and Maria Pudoka and Sofía Rojas-Ruiz and Jan–Torge Schindler and Yue Guo Shen and Wei Leong Tee and Benny Trakhtenbrot and Maxime Trebitsch and Marianne Vestergaard and Marta Volonteri and Fabian Walter and Huanian Zhang and Siwei Zou},
  journal = {The Astrophysical Journal},
  year = {2026},
  month = jul,
  doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/ae7bfa},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ae7bfa},
  note = {CC BY},
}

TY  - JOUR
TI  - ASPIRE: The Environments and Dark Matter Halos of Luminous Quasars in the Epoch of Reionization
AU  - Feige Wang
AU  - Jaclyn B. Champagne
AU  - Jiamu Huang
AU  - Jinyi Yang
AU  - Joseph F. Hennawi
AU  - Xiaohui Fan
AU  - Haowen Zhang
AU  - Tiago Costa
AU  - Roberto Decarli
AU  - Mélanie Habouzit
AU  - Fengwu Sun
AU  - Eduardo Bañados
AU  - Xiangyu Jin
AU  - Koki Kakiichi
AU  - R. A. Meyer
AU  - Yunjing Wu
AU  - S. Belladitta
AU  - Laura Blecha
AU  - Sarah E. I. Bosman
AU  - Zheng Cai
AU  - Thomas Connor
AU  - Frederick B. Davies
AU  - Anna–Christina Eilers
AU  - Zoltán Haiman
AU  - Hyunsung David Jun
AU  - Mingyu Li
AU  - Zihao Li
AU  - Weizhe Liu
AU  - Alessandro Lupi
AU  - Jianwei Lyu
AU  - Chiara Mazzucchelli
AU  - Masafusa Onoue
AU  - Elia Pizzati
AU  - Maria Pudoka
AU  - Sofía Rojas-Ruiz
AU  - Jan–Torge Schindler
AU  - Yue Guo Shen
AU  - Wei Leong Tee
AU  - Benny Trakhtenbrot
AU  - Maxime Trebitsch
AU  - Marianne Vestergaard
AU  - Marta Volonteri
AU  - Fabian Walter
AU  - Huanian Zhang
AU  - Siwei Zou
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/07/13
JO  - The Astrophysical Journal
DO  - 10.3847/1538-4357/ae7bfa
UR  - https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ae7bfa
AB  - We present a systematic study of the environments of 25 luminous quasars at z > 6.5 from the ASPIRE program. Using JWST/NIRCam wide-field slitless spectroscopy data, we identified 487 galaxies at 5.3 ≲ z ≲ 7.0 exhibiting [O iii ] emission. Among these, 122 [O iii ] emitters lie within ∣Δ v los ∣ < 1000 km s −1 of the quasars, corresponding to a ∼9.4-fold enhancement relative to the average galaxy density at other redshifts. Furthermore, we identified 16 [C ii ]-emitting galaxies at the quasar redshifts from Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) mosaic observations. A cross-correlation function analysis between quasars and [O iii ]+[C ii ] emitters yields a cross-correlation length of r 0 QG = 8.6 8 − 0.55 + 0.51 h − 1 cMpc and an autocorrelation of r 0 QQ = 15.7 6 − 2.70 + 2.48 h − 1 cMpc , indicating that z ∼ 7 quasars reside in dark matter halos with M halo = 1 0 12.2 7 − 0.26 + 0.21 M ⊙ and have a quasar lifetime of t Q = 1 0 7.05 − 1.01 + 0.95 yr . Notably, the number of [O iii ]-emitting galaxies at quasar redshifts varies significantly from field to field, ranging from 0 to 20, highlighting a diverse quasar environment. Remarkably, seven quasars trace significant galaxy overdensities (i.e., protoclusters), with δ gal > 5 within a volume of V ∼ 500 cMpc 3 . We also find that ∣Δ v los ∣ increases rapidly toward smaller galaxy–quasar separations in protocluster fields, consistent with galaxy kinematics around extremely massive halos in cosmological simulations. By combining JWST and ALMA data, we reveal the complex and diverse environments of these early quasars, providing robust evidence that the earliest luminous quasars are effective tracers of galaxy overdensiti
SN  - 0004-637X
SN  - 1538-4357
ER  -