On the small scale clustering of quasars: constraints from the MassiveBlack II simulation. (arXiv:1811.08916v1 [astro-ph.GA])

On the small scale clustering of quasars: constraints from the MassiveBlack II simulation. (arXiv:1811.08916v1 [astro-ph.GA])
<a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Bhowmick_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">Aklant K. Bhowmick</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+DiMatteo_T/0/1/0/all/0/1">Tiziana DiMatteo</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Eftekarzadeh_S/0/1/0/all/0/1">Sarah Eftekarzadeh</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Myers_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">Adam D. Myers</a>

We examine recent high-precision measurements of small-scale quasar
clustering (at $zsim0.5-2$ on scales of $sim25~mathrm{kpc/h}$) from the SDSS
in the context of the MassiveBlackII (MBII) cosmological hydrodynamic
simulation and conditional luminosity function (CLF) modeling. At these high
luminosities ($g < 20.85$ quasars), the MBII simulation volume ($100~mathrm{cMpc}/h$ comoving boxsize) has only 3 quasar pairs at distances of $1-4$ Mpc. The black-hole masses for the pairs range between $M_{bh}sim1-3times 10^{9}~M_{odot}/h$ and the quasar hosts are haloes of $M_hsim1-3times10^{14}~M_{odot}/h$. Such pairs show signs of recent major mergers in the MBII simulation. By modeling the central and satellite AGN CLFs as log-normal and Schechter distributions respectively (as seen in MBII AGNs), we arrive at CLF models which fit the simulation predictions and observed measurements of the luminosity function and the small-scale clustering measured for the SDSS samaple. The small-scale clustering of our mock quasars is well-explained by central-satellite quasar pairs that reside in $M_h>10^{14}~M_{odot}/h$ dark matter haloes. For these pairs, the satellite
quasar luminosity is similar to that of the central quasars. Our CLF models
imply a relatively steep increase in the maximum satellite luminosity,
$L^*_{mathrm{sat}}$, in haloes of $M_h>10^{14}~M_{odot}/h$ with associated
larger values of $L^*_{mathrm{sat}}$ at higher redshift. This leads to an
increase in the satellite fraction that manifests itself in an enhanced
clustering signal at $lesssim$ 1 Mpc/h. For the ongoing eBOSS-CORE sample, we
predict $sim 200-500$ quasar pairs at $zsim1.5$ (with $M_h
gtrsim10^{13}~M_{odot}/h$ and $M_{bh} gtrsim10^{8}~M_{odot}/h$) at
$sim25~mathrm{kpc}$ scales. Such a sample would be $gtrsim10$ times larger
than current pair samples.

We examine recent high-precision measurements of small-scale quasar
clustering (at $zsim0.5-2$ on scales of $sim25~mathrm{kpc/h}$) from the SDSS
in the context of the MassiveBlackII (MBII) cosmological hydrodynamic
simulation and conditional luminosity function (CLF) modeling. At these high
luminosities ($g < 20.85$ quasars), the MBII simulation volume
($100~mathrm{cMpc}/h$ comoving boxsize) has only 3 quasar pairs at distances
of $1-4$ Mpc. The black-hole masses for the pairs range between
$M_{bh}sim1-3times 10^{9}~M_{odot}/h$ and the quasar hosts are haloes of
$M_hsim1-3times10^{14}~M_{odot}/h$. Such pairs show signs of recent major
mergers in the MBII simulation. By modeling the central and satellite AGN CLFs
as log-normal and Schechter distributions respectively (as seen in MBII AGNs),
we arrive at CLF models which fit the simulation predictions and observed
measurements of the luminosity function and the small-scale clustering measured
for the SDSS samaple. The small-scale clustering of our mock quasars is
well-explained by central-satellite quasar pairs that reside in
$M_h>10^{14}~M_{odot}/h$ dark matter haloes. For these pairs, the satellite
quasar luminosity is similar to that of the central quasars. Our CLF models
imply a relatively steep increase in the maximum satellite luminosity,
$L^*_{mathrm{sat}}$, in haloes of $M_h>10^{14}~M_{odot}/h$ with associated
larger values of $L^*_{mathrm{sat}}$ at higher redshift. This leads to an
increase in the satellite fraction that manifests itself in an enhanced
clustering signal at $lesssim$ 1 Mpc/h. For the ongoing eBOSS-CORE sample, we
predict $sim 200-500$ quasar pairs at $zsim1.5$ (with $M_h
gtrsim10^{13}~M_{odot}/h$ and $M_{bh} gtrsim10^{8}~M_{odot}/h$) at
$sim25~mathrm{kpc}$ scales. Such a sample would be $gtrsim10$ times larger
than current pair samples.

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