No Arabic abstract
We describe observations of aromatic features at 7.7 and 11.3 um in AGN of three types including PG, 2MASS and 3CR objects. The feature has been demonstrated to originate predominantly from star formation. Based on the aromatic-derived star forming luminosity, we find that the far-IR emission of AGN can be dominated by either star formation or nuclear emission; the average contribution from star formation is around 25% at 70 and 160 um. The star-forming infrared luminosity functions of the three types of AGN are flatter than that of field galaxies, implying nuclear activity and star formation tend to be enhanced together. The star-forming luminosity function is also a function of the strength of nuclear activity from normal galaxies to the bright quasars, with luminosity functions becoming flatter for more intense nuclear activity. Different types of AGN show different distributions in the level of star formation activity, with 2MASS> PG> 3CR star formation rates.
The GaLactic and Extragalactic All-sky Murchison Widefield Array (GLEAM) is a radio continuum survey at 76-227 MHz of the entire southern sky (Declination $<+30deg$) with an angular resolution of $approx 2$ arcmin. In this paper, we combine GLEAM data with optical spectroscopy from the 6dF Galaxy Survey to construct a sample of 1,590 local (median $z approx 0.064$) radio sources with $S_{200,mathrm{MHz}} > 55$ mJy across an area of $approx 16,700~mathrm{deg}^{2}$. From the optical spectra, we identify the dominant physical process responsible for the radio emission from each galaxy: 73 per cent are fuelled by an active galactic nucleus (AGN) and 27 per cent by star formation. We present the local radio luminosity function for AGN and star-forming galaxies at 200 MHz and characterise the typical radio spectra of these two populations between 76 MHz and $sim 1$ GHz. For the AGN, the median spectral index between 200 MHz and $sim 1$ GHz, $alpha_{mathrm{high}}$, is $-0.600 pm 0.010$ (where $S propto u^{alpha}$) and the median spectral index within the GLEAM band, $alpha_{mathrm{low}}$, is $-0.704 pm 0.011$. For the star-forming galaxies, the median value of $alpha_{mathrm{high}}$ is $-0.650 pm 0.010$ and the median value of $alpha_{mathrm{low}}$ is $-0.596 pm 0.015$. Among the AGN population, flat-spectrum sources are more common at lower radio luminosity, suggesting the existence of a significant population of weak radio AGN that remain core-dominated even at low frequencies. However, around 4 per cent of local radio AGN have ultra-steep radio spectra at low frequencies ($alpha_{mathrm{low}} < -1.2$). These ultra-steep-spectrum sources span a wide range in radio luminosity, and further work is needed to clarify their nature.
We investigate the effect of active galactic nucleus (AGN) variability on the observed connection between star formation and black hole accretion in extragalactic surveys. Recent studies have reported relatively weak correlations between observed AGN luminosities and the properties of AGN hosts, which has been interpreted to imply that there is no direct connection between AGN activity and star formation. However, AGNs may be expected to vary significantly on a wide range of timescales (from hours to Myr) that are far shorter than the typical timescale for star formation (>~100 Myr). This variability can have important consequences for observed correlations. We present a simple model in which all star-forming galaxies host an AGN when averaged over ~100 Myr timescales, with long-term average AGN accretion rates that are perfectly correlated with the star formation rate (SFR). We show that reasonable prescriptions for AGN variability reproduce the observed weak correlations between SFR and L_AGN in typical AGN host galaxies, as well as the general trends in the observed AGN luminosity functions, merger fractions, and measurements of the average AGN luminosity as a function of SFR. These results imply there may be a tight connection between AGN activity and SFR over galaxy evolution timescales, and that the apparent similarities in rest-frame colors, merger rates, and clustering of AGNs compared to inactive galaxies may be due primarily to AGN variability. The results provide motivation for future deep, wide extragalactic surveys that can measure the distribution of AGN accretion rates as a function of SFR.
Mergers of galaxies have been suspected to be a major trigger of AGN activity for many years. However, when compared to carefully matched control samples, AGN host galaxies often show no enhanced signs of interaction. A common explanation for this lack of observed association between AGN and mergers has often been that while mergers are of importance for triggering AGN, they only dominate at the very high luminosity end of the AGN population. In this study, we compare the morphologies of AGN hosts to a carefully matched control sample and particularly study the role of AGN luminosity. We find no enhanced merger rates in AGN hosts and also find no trend for stronger signs of disturbance at higher AGN luminosities. While this study does not cover very high luminosity AGN, we can exclude a strong connection between AGN and mergers over a wide range of AGN luminosities and therefore for a large part of the AGN population.
Measurement of the evolution of both active galactic nuclei (AGN) and star-formation in galaxies underpins our understanding of galaxy evolution over cosmic time. Radio continuum observations can provide key information on these two processes, in particular via the mechanical feedback produced by radio jets in AGN, and via an unbiased dust-independent measurement of star-formation rates. In this paper we determine radio luminosity functions at 325 MHz for a sample of AGN and star-forming galaxies by matching a 138 deg sq. radio survey conducted with the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT), with optical imaging and redshifts from the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey. We find that the radio luminosity function at 325 MHz for star-forming galaxies closely follows that measured at 1.4 GHz. By fitting the AGN radio luminosity function out to $z = 0.5$ as a double power law, and parametrizing the evolution as ${Phi} propto (1 + z)^{k}$ , we find evolution parameters of $k = 0.92 pm 0.95$ assuming pure density evolution and $k = 2.13 pm 1.96$ assuming pure luminosity evolution. We find that the Low Excitation Radio Galaxies are the dominant population in space density at lower luminosities. Comparing our 325 MHz observations with radio continuum imaging at 1.4 GHz, we determine separate radio luminosity functions for steep and flat-spectrum AGN, and show that the beamed population of flat-spectrum sources in our sample can be shifted in number density and luminosity to coincide with the unbeamed population of steep-spectrum sources, as is expected in the orientation based unification of AGN.
There exist strong evidence supporting the co-evolution of central supermassive black holes and their host galaxies. It is however still unclear what the exact role of nuclear activity, in the form of accretion onto these supermassive black holes, in this co-evolution is. We use a rich multi-wavelength dataset available for the North Ecliptic Pole field, most notably surveyed by the AKARI satellite infrared telescope to study the host galaxy properties of AGN. In particular we are interested in investigating star-formation in the host galaxies of radio-AGN and the putative radio feedback mechanism, potentially responsible for the eventual quenching of star-formation. Using both broadband SED modeling and optical spectroscopy, we simultaneously study the nu- clear and host galaxy components of our sources, as a function of their radio luminosity, bolo- metric luminosity, and radio-loudness. Here we present preliminary results concerning the AGN content of the radio sources in this field, while offering tentative evidence that jets are inefficient star-formation quenchers, except in their most powerful state.