| Abstract: |
Rapidly accreting obscured black holes have long since been predicted to drive powerful winds that clear the host galaxy of gas and shut off star formation in a process now commonly referred to as quasar feedback. Identifying the obscured quasar population, particularly at early epochs where they may have made the strongest impact on galaxy formation, has always been a critical goal of extragalactic surveys. However, studies of high redshift obscured and reddened quasars have yet to produce a self-consistent picture of black hole growth and AGN feedback. I will present our recent results on the X-ray and rest-frame optical properties of z〜3 extremely red quasars that are driving powerful galactic scale outflows at velocities of up to 5000km/s, giving rise to the idea that these objects are sign-posts for the pivotal ''blow-out'' phase of quasar feedback. This intriguing class of high-z quasars appear to be heavily obscured at X-ray energies, they are enshrouded in copious levels of dust, and exhibit extremely unusual optical/UV emission lines. Having already grown to Mbh〜10^9Msun by z〜3, this quasar population likely represents the predecessors to the now dormant BHs residing in present-day massive early-type galaxies. |
