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Register a new userAGN clustering in the local Universe: an unbiased picture from Swift-BAT
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We present the clustering measurement of hard X-ray selected AGN in the local Universe. We used a sample of 199 sources spectroscopically confirmed detected by Swift-BAT in its 15-55 keV all-sky survey. We measured the real space projected auto-correlation function and detected a signal significant on projected scales lower than 200 Mpc/h. We measured a correlation length of r0=5.56+0.49-0.43 Mpc/h and a slope {gamma}=1.64-0.08 -0.07. We also measured the auto-correlation function of Type I and Type II AGN and found higher correlation length for Type I AGN. We have a marginal evidence of luminosity dependent clustering of AGN, as we detected a larger correlation length of luminous AGN than that of low luminosity sources. The corresponding typical host DM halo masses of Swift-BAT are log(MDMH) 12-14 h^-1 M/M_sun, depending on the subsample. For the whole sample we measured log(MDMH)sim 13.15 h-1 M/M_sun which is the typical mass of a galaxy group. We estimated that the local AGN population has a typical lifetime tau_AGN sim 0.7 Gyr, it is powered by SMBH with mass MBH sim 1-10x10^8 M_odot and accreting with very low efficiency, log(epsilon)-2.0. We also conclude that local AGN host galaxies are typically red-massive galaxies with stellar mass of the order 2-80x10^10 h^-1 M_sun. We compared our results with clustering predictions of merger-driven AGN triggering models and found a good agreement.
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We characterize the environments of local accreting supermassive black holes by measuring the clustering of AGN in the Swift/BAT Spectroscopic Survey (BASS). With 548 AGN in the redshift range 0.01<z<0.1 over the full sky from the DR1 catalog, BASS provides the largest, least biased sample of local AGN to date due to its hard X-ray selection (14-195 keV) and rich multiwavelength/ancillary data. By measuring the projected cross-correlation function between the AGN and 2MASS galaxies, and interpreting it via halo occupation distribution (HOD) and subhalo-based models, we constrain the occupation statistics of the full sample, as well as in bins of absorbing column density and black hole mass. We find that AGN tend to reside in galaxy group environments, in agreement with previous studies of AGN throughout a large range of luminosity and redshift, and that on average they occupy their dark matter halos similar to inactive galaxies of comparable stellar mass. We also find evidence that obscured AGN tend to reside in denser environments than unobscured AGN, even when samples were matched in luminosity, redshift, stellar mass, and Eddington ratio. We show that this can be explained either by significantly different halo occupation distributions or statistically different host halo assembly histories. Lastly, we see that massive black holes are slightly more likely to reside in central galaxies than black holes of smaller mass.
We present a multi wavelength analysis of 28 of the most luminous low-redshift narrow-line, ultra-hard X-ray selected active galactic nuclei (AGN) drawn from the 70 month Swift/BAT all-sky survey, with bolometric luminosities of log(L_bol/erg/s) > 45.25. The broad goal of our study is to determine whether these objects have any distinctive properties, potentially setting them aside from lower-luminosity obscured AGN in the local Universe. Our analysis relies on the first data release of the BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey (BASS/DR1) and on dedicated observations with the VLT, Palomar, and Keck observatories. We find that the vast majority of our sources agree with commonly used AGN selection criteria which are based on emission line ratios and on mid-infrared colours. Our AGN are predominantly hosted in massive galaxies (9.8 < log(M_*/M_sun) < 11.7); based on visual inspection of archival optical images, they appear to be mostly ellipticals. Otherwise, they do not have distinctive properties. Their radio luminosities, determined from publicly available survey data, show a large spread of almost 4 orders of magnitude - much broader than what is found for lower X-ray luminosity obscured AGN in BASS. Moreover, our sample shows no preferred combination of black hole masses (M_BH) and/or Eddington ratio (lambda_Edd), covering 7.5 < log(M_BH/M_sun) < 10.3 and 0.01 < lambda_Edd < 1. Based on the distribution of our sources in the lambda_Edd-N_H plane, we conclude that our sample is consistent with a scenario where the amount of obscuring material along the line of sight is determined by radiation pressure exerted by the AGN on the dusty circumnuclear gas.
Hard X-ray ($geq 10$ keV) observations of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) can shed light on some of the most obscured episodes of accretion onto supermassive black holes. The 70-month Swift/BAT all-sky survey, which probes the 14-195 keV energy range, has currently detected 838 AGN. We report here on the broad-band X-ray (0.3-150 keV) characteristics of these AGN, obtained by combining XMM-Newton, Swift/XRT, ASCA, Chandra, and Suzaku observations in the soft X-ray band ($leq 10$ keV) with 70-month averaged Swift/BAT data. The non-blazar AGN of our sample are almost equally divided into unobscured ($N_{rm H}< 10^{22}rm cm^{-2}$) and obscured ($N_{rm H}geq 10^{22}rm cm^{-2}$) AGN, and their Swift/BAT continuum is systematically steeper than the 0.3-10 keV emission, which suggests that the presence of a high-energy cutoff is almost ubiquitous. We discuss the main X-ray spectral parameters obtained, such as the photon index, the reflection parameter, the energy of the cutoff, neutral and ionized absorbers, and the soft excess for both obscured and unobscured AGN.
The search for diffuse non-thermal, inverse Compton (IC) emission from galaxy clusters at hard X-ray energies has been underway for many years, with most detections being either of low significance or controversial. In this work, we investigate 14-195 keV spectra from the Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) all-sky survey for evidence of non-thermal excess emission above the exponentially decreasing tail of thermal emission in the flux-limited HIFLUGCS sample. To account for the thermal contribution at BAT energies, XMM-Newton EPIC spectra are extracted from coincident spatial regions so that both thermal and non-thermal spectral components can be determined simultaneously. We find marginally significant IC components in six clusters, though after closer inspection and consideration of systematic errors we are unable to claim a clear detection in any of them. The spectra of all clusters are also summed to enhance a cumulative non-thermal signal not quite detectable in individual clusters. After constructing a model based on single-temperature fits to the XMM-Newton data alone, we see no significant excess emission above that predicted by the thermal model determined at soft energies. This result also holds for the summed spectra of various subgroups, except for the subsample of clusters with diffuse radio emission. For clusters hosting a diffuse radio halo, a relic, or a mini-halo, non-thermal emission is initially detected at the sim5-sigma confidence level - driven by clusters with mini-halos - but modeling and systematic uncertainties ultimately degrade this significance. In individual clusters, the non-thermal pressure of relativistic electrons is limited to sim10% of the thermal electron pressure, with stricter limits for the more massive clusters, indicating that these electrons are likely not dynamically important in the central regions of clusters.
Using a sample of 208 broad-line active galactic nuclei (AGNs) from Swift/BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey in ultra-hard X-ray band ($14-195$ keV), the hot corona properties are investigated, i.e. the fraction of gravitational energy dissipated in the hot corona and the hard X-ray photon index. The bolometric luminosity, lb, is calculated from host-corrected luminosity at 5100 AA. Virial supermassive black hole masses (SMBH, mbh) are calculated from the $rm Hbeta$ line width and the corresponding broad line region size-luminosity empirical relation at 5100 AA. We find a strong anti-correlation between the fraction of energy released in corona ($F_x equiv L_{14-195 keV}/L_{rm Edd}$) and the Eddington ratio ($ varepsilon equiv L_{rm Bol}/L_{rm Edd}$), $F_x propto varepsilon^{-0.60pm 0.1}$. It is found that this fraction also has a correlation with the SMBH mass, $F_x propto varepsilon^{-0.74pm 0.14} M_{rm BH}^{-0.30pm 0.03}$. Assuming that magnetic buoyancy and feild reconnection lead to the formation of a hot corona, our result favours the shear stress tensor being a proportion of the gas pressure. For our entire sample, it is found that the hard X-ray photon index $Gamma$ has a weak but significant correlation with the Eddington ratio, $ Gamma=2.17+0.21log varepsilon$. However, this correlation is not robust because the relation is not statistically significant for its subsample of 32 RM AGNs with relatively reliable $M_{rm BH}$ or its subsample of 166 AGNs with single-epoch $M_{rm BH}$. We do not find a statistically significant relation between the photon index and the Eddington ratio taking into account an additional dependence on $F_x$.
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