No Arabic abstract
We post-process galaxy star formation histories in cosmological hydrodynamics simulations to test quenching mechanisms associated with AGN. By comparing simulation results to color-magnitude diagrams and luminosity functions of SDSS galaxies, we examine whether quasar mode or radio mode AGN feedback can yield a realistic red sequence. Both cases yield red sequences distinct from the blue cloud, decent matches to the luminosity function, and galaxies that are too blue by about 0.1 magnitudes in g-r. Our merger-based prescription for quasar mode feedback, however, yields a red sequence build-up inconsistent with observations: the luminosity function lacks a characteristic knee, and the brightest galaxies include a small number of young stars.
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.
Using a sample of 229618 narrow emission-line galaxies, we have determined the normal star formation histories (SFHs) for galaxies with different activity types: star forming galaxies (SFGs), transition type objects (TOs), Seyfert 2s (Sy2s) and LINERs. We find that the variation of the SFH with the activity type is explained by the mass of the galaxies and the importance of their bulge: the LINERs reside in massive early-type galaxies, the Sy2s and TOs are hosted by intermediate mass galaxies with intermediate morphological types, and the SFGs are found in lower mass late-type spirals. Except for the Sy2s, the more massive galaxies formed the bulk of their stars more rapidly than the less massive ones. The Sy2s formed their stars more slowly and show presently an excess in star formation. We have also found that the maximum in star formation rate in the past increases with the virial mass within the aperture (VMA), the VMA increasing from the SFGs to the TOs, to the Sy2s, culminating in the LINERs. This correlation suggests that the bulges and the supermassive black holes at the center of galaxies grow in parallel, in good agreement with the M(BH)-sigma relation.
Galaxies undergoing ram pressure stripping in clusters are an excellent opportunity to study the effects of environment on both the AGN and the star formation activity. We report here on the most recent results from the GASP survey. We discuss the AGN-ram pressure stripping connection and some evidence for AGN feedback in stripped galaxies. We then focus on the star formation activity, both in the disks and the tails of these galaxies, and conclude drawing a picture of the relation between multi-phase gas and star formation.
We present the first systematic search for extended metal-line [OII]{lambda}{lambda}3726,3729 nebulae, or [OII] blobs (OIIBs), at z=1.2 using deep narrowband imaging with a survey volume of 1.9x10^5 Mpc^3 on the 0.62 deg^2 sky of Subaru-XMM Deep Survey (SXDS) field. We discover a giant OIIB, dubbed OIIB 1, with a spatial extent over ~75 kpc at a spectroscopic redshift of z=1.18, and also identify a total of twelve OIIBs with a size of >30 kpc. Our optical spectrum of OIIB 1 presents [NeV]{lambda}3426 line at the 6{sigma} level, indicating that this object harbors an obscured type-2 AGN. The presence of gas outflows in this object is suggested by two marginal detections of FeII{lambda}2587 absorption and FeII*{lambda}2613 emission lines both of which are blueshifted at as large as 500-600 km/s, indicating that the heating source of OIIB 1 is AGN or associated shock excitation rather than supernovae produced by starbursts. The number density of OIIB 1-type giant blobs is estimated to be ~5x10^{-6} Mpc^{-3} at z~1.2, which is comparable with that of AGNs driving outflow at a similar redshift, suggesting that giant OIIBs are produced only by AGN activity. On the other hand, the number density of small OIIBs, 6x10^{-5} Mpc^{-3}, compared to that of z~1 galaxies in the blue cloud in the same M_B range, may imply that 3% of star-forming galaxies at z~1 are quenching star formation through outflows involving extended [OII] emission.
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.