The VLA Survey of the Chandra Deep Field South. V. Evolution and Luminosity Functions of sub-mJy radio sources and the issue of radio emission in radio-quiet AGN

We present the evolutionary properties and luminosity functions of the radio sources belonging to the Chandra Deep Field South VLA survey, which reaches a flux density limit at 1.4 GHz of 43 microJy at the field center and redshift ~5, and which includes the first radio-selected complete sample of radio-quiet active galactic nuclei (AGN). We use a new, comprehensive classification scheme based on radio, far- and near-IR, optical, and X-ray data to disentangle star-forming galaxies from AGN and radio-quiet from radio-loud AGN. We confirm our previous result that star-forming galaxies become dominant only below 0.1 mJy. The sub-mJy radio sky turns out to be a complex mix of star-forming galaxies and radio-quiet AGN evolving at a similar, strong rate; non-evolving low-luminosity radio galaxies; and declining radio powerful (P > 3 10^24 W/Hz) AGN. Our results suggest that radio emission from radio-quiet AGN is closely related to star formation. The detection of compact, high brightness temperature cores in several nearby radio-quiet AGN can be explained by the co-existence of two components, one non-evolving and AGN-related and one evolving and star-formation-related. Radio-quiet AGN are an important class of sub-mJy sources, accounting for ~30% of the sample and ~60% of all AGN, and outnumbering radio-loud AGN at < 0.1 mJy. This implies that future, large area sub-mJy surveys, given the appropriate ancillary multi-wavelength data, have the potential of being able to assemble vast samples of radio-quiet AGN by-passing the problems of obscuration, which plague the optical and soft X-ray bands.Comment: 19 pages, 14 figures (8 in color), accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

Radio faint AGN: a tale of two populations

We study the Extended Chandra Deep Field South (E-CDFS) Very Large Array sample, which reaches a flux density limit at 1.4 GHz of 32.5 microJy at the field centre and redshift ~ 4, and covers ~ 0.3 deg^2. Number counts are presented for the whole sample while the evolutionary properties and luminosity functions are derived for active galactic nuclei (AGN). The faint radio sky contains two totally distinct AGN populations, characterised by very different evolutions, luminosity functions, and Eddington ratios: radio-quiet (RQ)/radiative-mode, and radio-loud/jet-mode AGN. The radio power of RQ AGN evolves ~ (1+z)^2.5, similarly to star-forming galaxies, while the number density of radio-loud ones has a peak at ~ 0.5 and then declines at higher redshifts. The number density of radio-selected RQ AGN is consistent with that of X-ray selected AGN, which shows that we are sampling the same population. The unbiased fraction of radiative-mode RL AGN, derived from our own and previously published data, is a strong function of radio power, decreasing from ~ 0.5 at P_1.4GHz ~ 10^24 W/Hz to ~ 0.04$ at P_1.4GHz ~ 10^22 W/Hz. Thanks to our enlarged sample, which now includes ~ 700 radio sources, we also confirm and strengthen our previous results on the source population of the faint radio sky: star-forming galaxies start to dominate the radio sky only below ~ 0.1 mJy, which is also where radio-quiet AGN overtake radio-loud ones.Comment: 19 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Observational evidence for buffeting induced kink waves in solar magnetic elements

The role of diffuse photospheric magnetic elements in the energy budget of the upper layers of the Sun's atmosphere has been the recent subject of many studies. This was made possible by the availability of high temporal and spatial resolution observations of the solar photosphere, allowing large numbers of magnetic elements to be tracked to study their dynamics. In this work we exploit a long temporal series of seeing-free magnetograms of the solar photosphere to study the effect of the turbulent convection in the excitation of kink oscillations in magnetic elements. We make use of the empirical mode decomposition technique (EMD) in order to study the transverse oscillations of several magnetic flux tubes. This technique permits the analysis of non-stationary time series like those associated to the horizontal velocities of these flux tubes which are continuously advected and dispersed by granular flows. Our primary findings reveal the excitation of low frequency modes of kink oscillations, which are sub-harmonics of a fundamental mode with a $7.6 \pm 0.2$ minute periodicity. These results constitute a strong case for observational proof of the excitation of kink waves by the buffeting of the convection cells in the solar photosphere, and are discussed in light of their possible role in the energy budget of the upper Sun's atmosphere.Comment: A&A accepte