Detection of 1.6 x 10(10) M-circle dot of molecular gas in the host galaxy of the z=5.77 SDSS QUASAR J0927+2001

We have detected emission by the CO(5-4) and (6-5) rotational transitions at from the z = 5.7722 +/- 0.0006 from the host galaxy of the SDSS quasar J0927 + 2001 using the Plateau de Bure Interferometer. The peak line flux density for the CO(5-4) line is 0.72 +/- 0.09 mJy, with a line FWHM 610 +/- 110 km s(-1). The implied molecular gas mass is (1.6 +/- 0.3) x 10(10) M-circle dot. We also detect the 90 GHz continuum at 0.12 +/- 0.03 mJy, consistent with a 47 K dust spectrum extrapolated from higher frequencies. J0927 + 2001 is the second example of a huge molecular gas reservoir within the host galaxy of a quasar within 1 Gyr of the big bang. Observations of J0927 + 2001 are consistent with a massive starburst coeval with a bright quasar phase in the galaxy, suggesting the rapid formation of both a supermassive black hole through accretion, and the stellar host spheroid, at a time close to the end of cosmic reionization.Astronomy & AstrophysicsSCI(E)0ARTICLE1L9-L1266