251 research outputs found
Do We Expect Most AGN to Live in Disks?
Recent observations have indicated that a large fraction of the low to
intermediate luminosity AGN population lives in disk-dominated hosts, while the
more luminous quasars live in bulge-dominated hosts, in conflict with some
previous model predictions. We therefore build and compare a semi-empirical
model for AGN fueling which accounts for both merger and non-merger
'triggering.' In particular, we show that the 'stochastic accretion' model - in
which fueling in disk galaxies is essentially a random process arising whenever
dense gas clouds reach the nucleus - provides a good match to the present
observations at low/intermediate luminosities. However it falls short of the
high-luminosity population. We combine this with models for major
merger-induced AGN fueling, which lead to rarer but more luminous events, and
predict the resulting abundance of disk-dominated and bulge-dominated AGN host
galaxies as a function of luminosity and redshift. We compile and compare
observational constraints from z~0-2. The models and observations generically
show a transition from disk to bulge dominance in hosts near the Seyfert-quasar
transition, at all redshifts. 'Stochastic' fueling dominates AGN by number
(dominant at low luminosity), and dominates BH growth below the knee in the
present-day BH mass function (<10^7 M_sun). However it accounts for just ~10%
of BH mass growth at masses >10^8 M_sun. In total, fueling in disky hosts
accounts for ~30% of the total AGN luminosity density/BH mass density. The
combined model also accurately predicts the AGN luminosity function and
clustering/bias as a function of luminosity and redshift; however, we argue
that these are not sensitive probes of BH fueling mechanisms.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, PDF updated to match published versio
AGN accretion and black hole growth across compact and extended galaxy evolution phases
The extent of black hole growth during different galaxy evolution phases and
the connection between galaxy compactness and AGN activity remain poorly
understood. We use Hubble Space Telescope imaging of the CANDELS fields to
identify star-forming and quiescent galaxies at z=0.5-3 in both compact and
extended phases and use Chandra X-ray imaging to measure the distribution of
AGN accretion rates and track black hole growth within these galaxies.
Accounting for the impact of AGN light changes ~20% of the X-ray sources from
compact to extended galaxy classifications. We find that ~10-25% of compact
star-forming galaxies host an AGN, a mild enhancement (by a factor ~2) compared
to extended star-forming galaxies or compact quiescent galaxies of equivalent
stellar mass and redshift. However, AGN are not ubiquitous in compact
star-forming galaxies and this is not the evolutionary phase, given its
relatively short timescale, where the bulk of black hole mass growth takes
place. Conversely, we measure the highest AGN fractions (~10-30%) within the
relatively rare population of extended quiescent galaxies. For massive galaxies
that quench at early cosmic epochs, substantial black hole growth in this
extended phase is crucial to produce the elevated black hole mass-to-galaxy
stellar mass scaling relation observed for quiescent galaxies at z~0. We also
show that AGN fraction increases with compactness in star-forming galaxies and
decreases in quiescent galaxies within both the compact and extended
sub-populations, demonstrating that AGN activity depends closely on the
structural properties of galaxies.Comment: 29 pages, 18 figures, submitted to MNRAS. Primary results are shown
in Fig 7 and summarised by Fig 12. See Fig 16 and 17 for key
interpretation/conclusion
The Violent Youth of Bright and Massive Cluster Galaxies and their Maturation over 7 Billion Years
In this study we investigate the formation and evolution mechanisms of the
brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) over cosmic time. At high redshift
(), we selected BCGs and most massive cluster galaxies (MMCGs) from
the Cl1604 supercluster and compared them to low-redshift ()
counterparts drawn from the MCXC meta-catalog, supplemented by SDSS imaging and
spectroscopy. We observed striking differences in the morphological, color,
spectral, and stellar mass properties of the BCGs/MMCGs in the two samples.
High-redshift BCGs/MMCGs were, in many cases, star-forming, late-type galaxies,
with blue broadband colors, properties largely absent amongst the low-redshift
BCGs/MMCGs. The stellar mass of BCGs was found to increase by an average factor
of from to . Through this and other
comparisons we conclude that a combination of major merging (mainly wet or
mixed) and \emph{in situ} star formation are the main mechanisms which build
stellar mass in BCGs/MMCGs. The stellar mass growth of the BCGs/MMCGs also
appears to grow in lockstep with both the stellar baryonic and total mass of
the cluster. Additionally, BCGs/MMCGs were found to grow in size, on average, a
factor of , while their average S\'ersic index increased by 0.45
from to , also supporting a scenario involving major
merging, though some adiabatic expansion is required. These observational
results are compared to both models and simulations to further explore the
implications on processes which shape and evolve BCGs/MMCGs over the past
7 Gyr.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA
The Origin of [O II] Emission in Recently Quenched Active Galaxy Nucleus Hosts
We have employed emission-line diagnostics derived from DEIMOS and NIRSPEC spectroscopy to determine the origin of the [O II] emission line observed in six active galactic nucleus (AGN) hosts at z ~ 0.9. These galaxies are a subsample of AGN hosts detected in the Cl1604 supercluster that exhibit strong Balmer absorption lines in their spectra and appear to be in a post-starburst or post-quenched phase, if not for their [O II] emission. Examining the flux ratio of the [N II] to Hα lines, we find that in five of the six hosts the dominant source of ionizing flux is AGN continuum emission. Furthermore, we find that four of the six galaxies have over twice the [O II] line luminosity that could be generated by star formation alone given their Hα line luminosities. This strongly suggests that AGN-excited narrow-line emission is contaminating the [O II] line flux. A comparison of star formation rates calculated from extinction-corrected [O II] and Hα line luminosities indicates that the former yields a five-fold overestimate of the current activity in these galaxies. Our findings reveal the [O II] line to be a poor indicator of star formation activity in a majority of these moderate-luminosity Seyferts. This result bolsters our previous findings that an increased fraction of AGN at high redshifts is hosted by galaxies in a post-starburst phase. The relatively high fraction of AGN hosts in the Cl1604 supercluster that show signs of recently truncated star formation activity may suggest that AGN feedback plays an increasingly important role in suppressing ongoing activity in large-scale structures at high redshift
No Evidence of Quasar-Mode Feedback in a Four-Way Group Merger at z~0.84
We report on the results of a Chandra search for evidence of triggered
nuclear activity within the Cl0023+0423 four-way group merger at z ~ 0.84. The
system consists of four interacting galaxy groups in the early stages of
hierarchical cluster formation and, as such, provides a unique look at the
level of processing and evolution already under way in the group environment
prior to cluster assembly. We present the number counts of X-ray point sources
detected in a field covering the entire Cl0023 structure, as well as a
cross-correlation of these sources with our extensive spectroscopic database.
Both the redshift distribution and cumulative number counts of X-ray sources
reveal little evidence to suggest that the system contains X-ray luminous
active galactic nuclei (AGNs) in excess to what is observed in the field
population. If preprocessing is under way in the Cl0023 system, our
observations suggest that powerful nuclear activity is not the predominant
mechanism quenching star formation and driving the evolution of Cl0023
galaxies. We speculate that this is due to a lack of sufficiently massive
nuclear black holes required to power such activity, as previous observations
have found a high late-type fraction among the Cl0023 population. It may be
that disruptive AGN-driven outflows become an important factor in the
preprocessing of galaxy populations only during a later stage in the evolution
of such groups and structures when sufficiently massive galaxies (and central
black holes) have built up, but prior to hydrodynamical processes stripping
them of their gas reservoirs.Comment: Published in ApJ
Do we expect most AGN to live in discs?
Recent observations have indicated that a large fraction of the low- to intermediate-luminosity AGN population lives in disc-dominated hosts, while the more luminous quasars live in bulge-dominated hosts (that may or may not be major merger remnants), in conflict with some previous model predictions. We therefore build and compare a semi-empirical model for AGN fuelling which accounts for both merger and non-merger ‘triggering’. In particular, we show that the ‘stochastic accretion’ model – in which fuelling in disc galaxies is essentially a random process arising whenever dense gas clouds reach the nucleus – provides a good match to the present observations at low/intermediate luminosities. However, it falls short of the high-luminosity population. We combine this with models for major merger-induced AGN fueling, which lead to rarer but more luminous events, and predict the resulting abundance of disc-dominated and bulge-dominated AGN host galaxies as a function of luminosity and redshift. We compile and compare observational constraints from z ∼ 0 to 2. The models and observations generically show a transition from disc to bulge dominance in hosts near the Seyfert-quasar transition, at all redshifts. ‘Stochastic’ fuelling dominates AGN by number (dominant at low luminosity), and dominates black hole (BH) growth below the ‘knee’ in the present-day BH mass function ( ≲ 10^7  M_⊙). However, it accounts for just ∼10 per cent of BH mass growth at masses ≳ 10^8  M_⊙. In total, fuelling in discy hosts accounts for ∼30 per cent of the total AGN luminosity density/BH mass density. The combined model also accurately predicts the AGN luminosity function and clustering/bias as a function of luminosity and redshift; however, we argue that these are not sensitive probes of BH fuelling mechanisms
Our Peculiar Motion Away from the Local Void
The peculiar velocity of the Local Group of galaxies manifested in the Cosmic
Microwave Background dipole is found to decompose into three dominant
components. The three components are clearly separated because they arise on
distinct spatial scales and are fortuitously almost orthogonal in their
influences. The nearest, which is distinguished by a velocity discontinuity at
~7 Mpc, arises from the evacuation of the Local Void. We lie in the Local Sheet
that bounds the void. Random motions within the Local Sheet are small. Our
Galaxy participates in the bulk motion of the Local Sheet away from the Local
Void. The component of our motion on an intermediate scale is attributed to the
Virgo Cluster and its surroundings, 17 Mpc away. The third and largest
component is an attraction on scales larger than 3000 km/s and centered near
the direction of the Centaurus Cluster. The amplitudes of the three components
are 259, 185, and 455 km/s, respectively, adding collectively to 631 km/s in
the reference frame of the Local Sheet. Taking the nearby influences into
account causes the residual attributed to large scales to align with observed
concentrations of distant galaxies and reduces somewhat the amplitude of motion
attributed to their pull. On small scales, in addition to the motion of our
Local Sheet away from the Local Void, the nearest adjacent filament, the Leo
Spur, is seen to be moving in a direction that will lead to convergence with
our filament. Finally, a good distance to an isolated galaxy within the Local
Void reveals that this dwarf system has a motion of at least 230 km/s away from
the void center. Given the velocities expected from gravitational instability
theory in the standard cosmological paradigm, the distance to the center of the
Local Void must be at least 23 Mpc from our position. The Local Void is large!Comment: Tentatively scheduled for Astrophysical Journal, 676 (March 20),
2008. 18 figures, 3 tables including web link for 2 tables, web links to 2
video
Star Formation and Quenching Among the Most Massive Galaxies at \u3cem\u3ez\u3c/em\u3e ∼ 1.7
We have conducted a detailed object-by-object study of a mass-complete (M* ≥ 1011 M⊙) sample of 56 galaxies at 1.4 ≤ z ≤ 2 in the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey-South field, showing that an accurate deblending in 24 μm images is essential to properly assign to each galaxy its own star formation rate (SFR), whereas an automatic procedure often fails. This applies especially to galaxies with SFRs below the main sequence (MS) value, which may be in their quenching phase. After that, the sample splits evenly between galaxies forming stars within a factor of 4 of the MS rate (∼45 per cent), and sub-MS galaxies with SFRs ∼10–1000 times smaller (∼55 per cent). We did not find a well-defined class of intermediate, transient objects below the MS, suggesting that the conversion of a massive MS galaxy into a quenched remnant may take a relatively short time (Gyr), though a larger sample should be analysed in the same way to set precise limits on the quenching time-scale. X-ray detected AGNs represent a ∼30 per cent fraction of the sample, and are found among both star-forming and quenched galaxies. The morphological analysis revealed that ∼50 per cent of our massive objects are bulge-dominated, and almost all MS galaxies with a relevant bulge component host an AGN. We also found sub-MS SFRs in many bulge-dominated systems, providing support to the notion that bulge growth, AGN activity and quenching of star formation are closely related to each other
A controlled study of cold dust content in galaxies from
At , the formation of new stars is dominated by dusty galaxies whose
far-IR emission indicates they contain colder dust than local galaxies of a
similar luminosity. We explore the reasons for the evolving IR emission of
similar galaxies over cosmic time using: 1) Local galaxies from GOALS ; 2) Galaxies at from the 5MUSES
(); 3) IR luminous galaxies spanning
from GOODS and Spitzer xFLS (). All
samples have Spitzer mid-IR spectra, and Herschel and ground-based
submillimeter imaging covering the full IR spectral energy distribution,
allowing us to robustly measure ,
, and for every galaxy. Despite similar infrared
luminosities, dusty star forming galaxies have a factor of 5 higher
dust masses and 5K colder temperatures. The increase in dust mass is linked
with an increase in the gas fractions with redshift, and we do not observe a
similar increase in stellar mass or star formation efficiency.
, a proxy
for , is strongly correlated with independently of redshift. We
measure merger classification and galaxy size for a subsample, and there is no
obvious correlation between these parameters and or . In dusty star forming galaxies, the
change in can fully
account for the observed colder dust temperatures, suggesting that any change
in the spatial extent of the interstellar medium is a second order effect.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 21 pages, 11 figure
Star Formation Quenching in High-redshift Large-scale Structure: Post-starburst Galaxies in the Cl1604 Supercluster at
The Cl1604 supercluster at is one of the most extensively
studied high redshift large scale structures, with more than 500
spectroscopically confirmed members. It consists of 8 clusters and groups, with
members numbering from a dozen to nearly a hundred, providing a broad range of
environments for investigating the large scale environmental effects on galaxy
evolution. Here we examine the properties of 48 post-starburst galaxies in
Cl1604, comparing them to other galaxy populations in the same supercluster.
Incorporating photometry from ground-based optical and near-infrared imaging,
along with mid-infrared observations, we derive stellar masses for
all Cl1604 members. The colors and stellar masses of the K+A galaxies support
the idea that they are progenitors of red sequence galaxies. Their
morphologies, residual star-formation rates, and spatial distributions suggest
galaxy mergers may be the principal mechanism producing post-starburst
galaxies. Interaction between galaxies and the dense intra-cluster medium is
also effective, but only in the cores of dynamically evolved clusters. The
prevalence of post-starburst galaxies in clusters correlates with the dynamical
state of the host cluster, as both galaxy mergers and the dense intra-cluster
medium produce post-starburst galaxies. We also investigate the incompleteness
and contamination of K+A samples selected by means of H and [OII]
equivalent widths. K+A samples may be up to incomplete due to the
presence of LINER/Seyferts and up to of K+A galaxies could have
substantial star formation activity.Comment: 19 pages, 13 figures, accepted by Ap
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