Star Formation Shut Down by Multiphase Gas Outflow in a Galaxy at a Redshift of 2.45

Abstract

Large-scale outflows driven by supermassive black holes are thought to play a fundamental role in suppressing star formation in massive galaxies. However, direct observational evidence for this hypothesis is still lacking, particularly in the young universe where star formation quenching is remarkably rapid^1–3, thus requiring effective removal of gas⁴ as opposed to slow gas heating^5,6. While outflows of ionized gas are commonly detected in massive distant galaxies⁷, the amount of ejected mass is too small to be able to suppress star formation^8,9. Gas ejection is expected to be more efficient in the neutral and molecular phases¹⁰, but at high redshift these have only been observed in starbursts and quasars^11,12. Here we report JWST spectroscopy of a massive galaxy experiencing rapid quenching at redshift z = 2.445. We detect a weak outflow of ionized gas and a powerful outflow of neutral gas, with a mass outflow rate that is sufficient to quench the star formation. Neither X-ray or radio activity are detected; however, the presence of a supermassive black hole is suggested by the properties of the ionized gas emission lines. We thus conclude that supermassive black holes are able to rapidly suppress star formation in massive galaxies by efficiently ejecting neutral gas.