A Wide and Deep Exploration of Radio-detected Active Galactic Nuclei with Subaru HSC (WERGS). XIII. High-z Radio Quasar Selection from HSC--VLASS over $\sim1200$ deg$^2$

Abstract

We report the results of $g-$, $r-$, $i-$, and $z-$dropout selections based on optical identifications of Very Large Array Sky Survey (VLASS) radio sources using the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program survey (HSC--SSP). By positional crossmatching within $1.''5$ between the VLASS Epoch~2 catalog and the HSC--SSP Wide-layer catalog ($i \lesssim 26$), we obtain $\sim$400 high-redshift radio AGN candidates at $z \gtrsim 4$ over a $\approx1200~\mathrm{deg}^2$ survey footprint, extending optimistically to $z \sim 7$. Their $i$-band AB magnitudes range from $i_\mathrm{AB} \simeq 24$--26, placing most below the SDSS detection limit. By further crossmatching the HSC--VLASS dropout catalog with VLA Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-centimeters (FIRST) at 1.4~GHz, the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTSS) at 144~MHz, and the TIFR GMRT Sky Survey (TGSS) at 150~MHz, we obtain multi-frequency radio measurements for the majority of the sample. Approximately 85\% of the sources have three radio detections. The majority of the high-$z$ candidates show flat to moderately steep radio spectra ($-1 \lesssim α\lesssim 0$, with $f_ν\propto ν^α$), while some also exhibit turnover radio spectra, demonstrating a broad diversity of radio spectral properties among the dropout-selected candidates. SED fitting yields typical AGN bolometric luminosities of $\log(L_{\rm bol}/{\rm erg\,s^{-1}})\sim46.5$--47.5. We also find that the comoving number density declines from the $g$-dropout to the $z$-dropout regimes, with substantial decreases toward higher redshift, suggesting fewer luminous radio AGN candidates toward reionization.