2025/08/08 by Roy, Namrata, Heckman, Timothy, Henry, Alaina
#Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA) #FOS: Physical sciences
paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2508.06707
We present spatially resolved maps of morphology, kinematics, and energetics of warm ionized gas in six powerful radio galaxies at z=3.5-4, using JWST/NIRSpec IFU to quantify jet-driven feedback in the early universe. All sources exhibit broad [OIII] emission-line profiles with W80 (line width) values of 950-2500 km/s across ∼10s of kpc, signifying large-scale outflows. The outflowing nebulae are preferentially aligned with the radio jet axis, suggesting jet-driven origin. On average, the regions with the broadest lines and highest velocities are co-spatial with radio lobes or cores, and exhibit the strongest kinetic power. Ionized gas masses associated with the outflows span 1 to 8 × 109 M_\odot, with total mass outflow rates of 80-950 Msun/yr and kinetic powers between 1043.2 and 1045.0 erg/s. The outflow kinetic power corresponds to 0.15%-2% of the AGN bolometric luminosity, sufficient to impact galaxy evolution. However, only \lesssim 1% of the jet mechanical energy couples to the warm ionized gas via outflows, consistent with predictions from hydrodynamic simulations. A large fraction of the jet energy may instead reside in shock-heated hot gas, supported by X-ray detection, or used to thermalize the gas and produce the observed emission-line nebulae. Our results demonstrate that radio jets in massive, gas-rich systems at high-redshift can inject significant kinetic and thermal energy to the surroundings, providing direct evidence for jet-driven feedback operating during the peak epoch of galaxy formation.