3:30–4:30 pm ERC 161
Host: Hsiao-Wen Chen
Feige Wang (Steward Observatory)
Title: Probing Biased Halos and Cosmic Reionization with Distant Quasars and Galaxies
Abstract:
Luminous quasars in the epoch of reionization (EoR) provide unique probes to the formation of the earliest SMBHs, the assembly of massive galaxies, the growth of the large-scale structures and the reionization of the intergalactic medium. In this talk, I will first summarize our discoveries based on the first statistical z~7 quasar sample that we constructed in the last several years. Our multi-wavelength follow-up observations of these quasars indicate a rapid evolution of quasar population in the EoR, post stringent constraints on the formation of SMBHs, and give new insights into the co-evolution between SMBHs and their host galaxies. I am currently leading a new legacy imaging and spectroscopic survey of these quasars and their surrounding environments with JWST, HST, Chandra, ALMA, VLA and ground-based large optical/infrared telescopes. This survey gives us the first opportunity to measure the mass of quasar host dark matter halos in the early universe and to characterize the gas fueling mechanisms for early black hole growth. This project will eventually allow us to investigate the formation and evolution of quasars in a cosmological context across various scales and multiple phases. Additionally, I will briefly introduce my works on constraining the ionizing photon budget, measuring the galaxy photon escape fraction, and characterizing the timing and the topology of cosmic reionization. Finally, I will present my future interests on high-redshift Universe probes with the next generation facilities, including GMT, Euclid, and Roman Space Telescopes as well as the Rubin observatory.
About speaker:
I am an Assistant Research Professor at Steward Observatory, The University of Arizona. Prior to my current employment, I was a NASA Hubble Fellow at Steward Observatory, The University of Arizona. Before moving to Tucson, I was a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Physics Department of University of California, Santa Barbara and was working in the ENIGMA group led by Prof. Joseph F. Hennawi. I received my Ph.D. (mentored by Prof. Xiaohui Fan and Prof. Xue-Bing Wu) in 2017 from Peking University, with one year at the University of Arizona. I got my bachelor degree from Shandong University at Weihai in 2012.
