The ALMA-QUARKS survey: Evidence of a candidate high-mass prestellar core aside a bright-rimmed cloud IRAS 18290-0924

Although frequently reported in observations, the definitive confirmation of high-mass prestellar cores has remained elusive, presenting a persistent challenge in star formation studies. Using two-band observational data from the 3mm ATOMS and 1.3mm QUARKS surveys, we report a high-mass prestellar core candidate, C2, located on the side of the bright-rimmed cloud IRAS 18290-0924. The C2 core identified from the 3mm continuum data of the ATOMS survey ($\sim$2 arcsecond, $\rm\sim 10000~au$ at 5.3 kpc) has a mass ranging from 27-68 $M_{\odot}$ for temperatures 10-22K within a radius of $\sim$2800 au. The highest-resolution ($\sim$0.3 arcsecond, $\rm\sim 1500 au$) observations of this source presented to date from the QUARKS survey reveal no evidence of further fragmentation. Further analysis of a total $\sim$10 GHz band width of molecular line survey does not find star-formation activity (e.g., outflows, ionized gas) associated with the core, with a few molecular lines of cold gas detected only. Additionally, virial analysis indicates the C2 core is gravitationally bound ($α_{\rm vir} \sim0.1-0.3$) and thus could be undergoing collapse toward star formation. These results strongly establish a candidate for a high-mass prestellar core, contributing to the very limited number of such sources known to date.