Clustering of z~6.6 Quasars and [O III] Emitters Constrains Host Halo Masses and Duty Cycles in 25 ASPIRE Fields

Jiamu Huang, Joseph Hennawi, Elia Pizzati, Feige Wang, Jinyi Yang, Jaclyn B. Champagne, Xiaohui Fan, Eduardo Bañados, Xiangyu Jin, Koki Kakiichi, Romain A. Meyer, Fengwu Sun, Yunjing Wu, Haowen Zhang, Chiara Mazzucchelli, Anna-Christina Eilers, Maria Pudoka, Huanian Zhang, Jan-Torge Schindler, Matthieu Schaller, Joop Schaye, Ben Snyder, Yi Kang, Silvia Onorato

First listed 2026-02-04 | Last updated 2026-02-06

Abstract

We use data from the JWST ASPIRE Wide Field Slitless Spectroscopy (WFSS) program to measure the auto-correlation function of [O,{\sc iii}] emitters at 5.3$<z<$7.0 and the quasar--[O,{\sc iii}] emitter cross-correlation around 25 ASPIRE quasars (6.51$<z<$6.82; $\langle z\rangle=6.6$). We use synthetic source injection to calibrate the selection function, which we combine with the large-volume FLAMINGO-10k simulation (2.8,cGpc box) to construct realistic mock observations. Our simulation-based approach captures nonlinear structure growth and scale-dependent bias on small scales and derives covariance matrices that include cosmic variance. The clustering yields correlation lengths of $r_0^{\rm GG}=4.7^{+0.4}{-0.5},h^{-1}$,cMpc for the [O,{\sc iii}] auto-correlation with fixed slope $γ{\rm GG}=1.8$, and $r_0^{\rm QG}=8.7^{+0.8}{-0.9},h^{-1}$,cMpc for the quasar--[O,{\sc iii}] cross-correlation with $γ{\rm QG}=2.0$. We infer $\log(M_{h,{\rm min}}^{[{\rm O,III}]}/M_\odot)=10.5^{+0.1}{-0.1}$ for [O,{\sc iii}] emitters and $\log(M{h,{\rm min}}^{\rm QSO}/M_\odot)=12.1^{+0.3}{-0.4}$ for quasars. These imply duty cycles of $2.5^{+1.0}{-0.8}$,per,cent for [O,{\sc iii}] emitters and $0.3^{+4.0}{-0.3}$,per,cent for quasars, corresponding to UV-bright lifetimes of $t{\rm Q}=2.6^{+30}_{-2.5}$,Myr (less than 10,per,cent of a Salpeter $e$-folding time). The results indicate that the observed UV-luminous phase contributes little to total SMBH growth, placing tight constraints on early black-hole formation.

Short digest

Measures clustering of [O III] emitters (5.3<z<7.0) and their cross-correlation with 25 z~6.6 quasars in JWST/ASPIRE WFSS, calibrating completeness via synthetic source injection and interpreting with FLAMINGO-10k mocks that include nonlinear bias and cosmic variance. The [O III] auto-correlation yields r0GG=4.7 h^-1 cMpc (gamma=1.8) and the quasar–[O III] cross-correlation r0QG=8.7 h^-1 cMpc (gamma=2.0). A step-function HOD fit implies minimum halo masses log Mh,min≈10.5 for [O III] emitters and 12.1 for quasars. Number-density matching gives duty cycles of 2.5% and 0.3%, i.e., UV-bright lifetimes tQ≈2.6 Myr (<10% of a Salpeter e-folding), indicating the luminous phase contributes little to total SMBH growth.

Key figures to inspect

• 2PCF of [O III] emitters with best-fit power law (gamma=1.8): inspect r0GG≈4.7 h^-1 cMpc, small-scale deviations from the fit, and comparison to FLAMINGO-10k mocks for scale-dependent bias.
• Quasar–[O III] cross-correlation: check amplitude r0QG≈8.7 h^-1 cMpc, any excess on sub-Mpc scales, and field-to-field scatter that informs covariance.
• WFSS selection function from synthetic source injection: recovery fraction versus line flux and wavelength; verify contaminants and how the completeness model feeds the mocks.
• HOD/halo-mass posteriors: joint constraints showing log Mh,min≈10.5 ([O III]) and ≈12.1 (QSOs), with covariance-aware contours and degeneracies.
• Duty cycle and lifetime inference: plot converting halo abundances to f_duty and tQ, highlighting tQ≈2.6 Myr and the <10% Salpeter e-folding fraction.