GA-NIFS: Mapping z ≃ 3.5 AGN-driven ionized outflows in the COSMOS field

¹ INAF–OAA, Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, largo E. Fermi 5, 50127, Firenze, Italy
² Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, I-56126 Pisa, Italy
³ Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), CSIC–INTA, Cra. de Ajalvir Km. 4, 28850 – Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain
⁴ Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM), 300 Rue de la Piscine, 38400 Saint-Martin-d’Hères, France
⁵ European Space Agency, ESAC, Villanueva de la Cañada, E-28692 Madrid, Spain
⁶ Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik (MPE), Gießenbachstraße 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
⁷ Università di Firenze, Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, via G. Sansone 1, 50019 Sesto F.no, Firenze, Italy
⁸ Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia “Augusto Righi”, Università degli Studi di Bologna, via P. Gobetti 93/2, 40129 Bologna, Italy
⁹ INAF–OAS, Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio di Bologna, via P. Gobetti 93/3, 40129 Bologna, Italy
¹⁰ Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Denys Wilkinson Building, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH, UK
¹¹ Sorbonne Université, CNRS, UMR 7095, Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris, 98 bis bd Arago, 75014 Paris, France
¹² Kavli Institute for Cosmology, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK
¹³ Cavendish Laboratory - Astrophysics Group, University of Cambridge, 19 JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK
¹⁴ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
¹⁵ NRC Herzberg, 5071 West Saanich Rd, Victoria, BC V9E 2E7, Canada
¹⁶ European Space Agency, c/o STScI, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
¹⁷ Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA

^⋆ Corresponding author: elena.bertola@inaf.it

Received: 26 February 2025
Accepted: 9 May 2025

Abstract

Active galactic nuclei (AGNi) are a key ingredient in galaxy evolution and possibly shape galaxy growth through the generation of powerful outflows. Little is known regarding AGN-driven ionized outflows in moderate-luminosity AGNi (log(L_bol/erg s⁻¹)<47) beyond cosmic noon (z≳3). In this work we present the first systematic analysis of the ionized outflow properties of a sample of seven X-ray-selected AGNi (log(L_X/erg s⁻¹)>44) from the COSMOS-Legacy field at z≃3.5 and with log(L_bol/erg s⁻¹) = 45.2−46.7 by using JWST NIRSpec/IFU near-IR spectroscopic observations as part of the “Galaxy Assembly with NIRSpec IFS” (GA-NIFS) program. We spectrally isolated and spatially resolved the ionized outflows by performing a multi-component kinematic decomposition of the rest-frame optical emission lines. JWST/NIRSpecIFU data also revealed a wealth of close-by companions, of both non-AGN and AGN nature, and ionized gas streams likely tracing tidal structures and large-scale ionized gas nebulae extending up to the circumgalactic medium. Ionized outflows were detected in all COS-AGNi targets, with outflow masses in the range 1.5−11×10⁶ M_⊙, outflow velocities in the range ≃570−3200 km s⁻¹, and mass outflow rates in the range ≃1.4−40 M_⊙ yr⁻¹. We compared the outflow properties of AGNi presented in this work with previous results from the literature up to z≃3, which were opportunely (re-)computed for a coherent comparison. We normalized outflow energetics (Ṁ_out, Ė_out) to the outflow density in order to standardize the various assumptions that were made in the literature. Our choice is equal to assuming that each outflow has the same gas density. We find GA-NIFS AGNi to show outflows consistent with literature results, within the large scatter shown by the collected measurements, thus suggesting no strong evolution with redshift in terms of total mass outflow rate, energy budget, and outflow velocity for fixed bolometric luminosity. Moreover, we find no clear redshift evolution of the ratio of mass outflow rate and kinetic power over AGNi bolometric luminosity beyond z>1. In general, our results indicate no significant evolution of the physics driving outflows beyond z≃3.