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Register a new userNowhere to Hide: Radio-faint AGN in the GOODS-N field. II. Multi-wavelength AGN selection techniques and host galaxy properties
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J. F. Radcliffe
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Obtaining a census of active galactic nuclei (AGN) activity across cosmic time is critical to our understanding of galaxy evolution and formation. Many AGN classification techniques are compromised by dust obscuration. However, very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) can be used to identify compact emission that can only be attributed to AGN activity. This is the second in a series of papers dealing with the compact radio population in the GOODS-N field. We review 14 different AGN classification techniques in the context of a VLBI-detected sample, and use these to investigate the nature of the AGN as well as their host galaxies. We find that no single identification technique can identify all VLBI objects as AGN. Infrared colour-colour selection is most notably incomplete. However, the usage of multiple classification schemes can identify all VLBI-selected AGN, independently verifying similar approaches used in other deep field surveys. In the era of large area surveys with instruments such as the SKA and ngVLA, multi-wavelength coverage, which relies heavily upon observations from space, is often unavailable. Therefore, VLBI remains an integral component in detecting AGN of the jetted efficient and inefficient accretion types. A substantial fraction (46%) of the VLBI AGN have no X-ray counterpart, which is most likely due to lack of sensitivity in the X-ray band. A high fraction of the VLBI AGN reside in low or intermediate redshift dust-poor early-type galaxies. These most likely exhibit inefficient accretion. Finally, a significant fraction of the VLBI AGN reside in symbiotic dusty starburst - AGN systems. We present an extensive compilation of the multi-wavelength properties of all the VLBI-selected AGN in GOODS-N in the Appendix.
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(Abridged) Conventional radio surveys of deep fields ordinarily have arc-second scale resolutions often insufficient to reliably separate radio emission in distant galaxies originating from star-formation and AGN-related activity. Very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) can offer a solution by identifying only the most compact radio emitting regions in galaxies at cosmological distances where the high brightness temperatures (in excess of $10^5$ K) can only be reliably attributed to AGN activity. We present the first in a series of papers exploring the faint compact radio population using a new wide-field VLBI survey of the GOODS-N field. The unparalleled sensitivity of the European VLBI Network (EVN) will probe a luminosity range rarely seen in deep wide-field VLBI observations, thus providing insights into the role of AGN to radio luminosities of the order $10^{22}~mathrm{W,Hz^{-1}}$ across cosmic time. The newest VLBI techniques are used to completely cover an entire 7.5 radius area to milliarcsecond resolutions, while bright radio sources ($S > 0.1$ mJy) are targeted up to 25 arcmin from the pointing centre. Multi-source self-calibration, and a primary beam model for the EVN array are used to correct for residual phase errors and primary beam attenuation respectively. This paper presents the largest catalogue of VLBI detected sources in GOODS-N comprising of 31 compact radio sources across a redshift range of 0.11-3.44, almost three times more than previous VLBI surveys in this field. We provide a machine-readable catalogue and introduce the radio properties of the detected sources using complementary data from the e-MERLIN Galaxy Evolution survey (eMERGE).
We present results from the MOSFIRE Deep Evolution Field (MOSDEF) survey on the identification, selection biases, and host galaxy properties of 55 X-ray, IR and optically-selected active galactic nuclei (AGN) at $1.4 < z < 3.8$. We obtain rest-frame optical spectra of galaxies and AGN and use the BPT diagram to identify optical AGN. We examine the uniqueness and overlap of the AGN identified at different wavelengths. There is a strong bias against identifying AGN at any wavelength in low mass galaxies, and an additional bias against identifying IR AGN in the most massive galaxies. AGN hosts span a wide range of star formation rate (SFR), similar to inactive galaxies once stellar mass selection effects are accounted for. However, we find (at $sim 2-3sigma$ significance) that IR AGN are in less dusty galaxies with relatively higher SFR and optical AGN in dusty galaxies with relatively lower SFR. X-ray AGN selection does not display a bias with host galaxy SFR. These results are consistent with those from larger studies at lower redshifts. Within star-forming galaxies, once selection biases are accounted for, we find AGN in galaxies with similar physical properties as inactive galaxies, with no evidence for AGN activity in particular types of galaxies. This is consistent with AGN being fueled stochastically in any star-forming host galaxy. We do not detect a significant correlation between SFR and AGN luminosity for individual AGN hosts, which may indicate the timescale difference between the growth of galaxies and their supermassive black holes.
We investigate the effect of environment on the presence and fuelling of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) by identifying galaxies hosting AGN in massive galaxy clusters and the fields around them. We have identified AGN candidates via optical variability (178), X-ray emission (74), and mid-IR SEDs (64) in multi- wavelength surveys covering regions centered on 12 galaxy clusters at redshifts 0.5 < z < 0.9. In this paper, we present the radial distribution of AGN in clusters to examine how local environment affects the presence of an AGN and its host galaxy. While distributions vary from cluster to cluster, we find that the radial distribution of AGN generally differs from that of normal galaxies. AGN host galaxies also show a different colour distribution than normal galaxies, with many AGN hosts displaying galaxy colours in the green valley between the red sequence and blue star-forming normal galaxies. This result is similar to those found in field galaxy studies. The colour distribution of AGN hosts is more pronounced in disturbed clusters where minor mergers, galaxy harassment, and interactions with cluster substructure may continue to prompt star-formation in the hosts. However, we find no relationship between host galaxy colour and cluster radius among AGN hosts. This may indicate that processes related to the accreting supermassive black hole have a greater impact on the star-forming properties of the host galaxy than the intracluster medium and/or local galaxy environment.
The coeval AGN and galaxy evolution and the observed local relations between SMBHs and galaxy properties suggest some connection or feedback between SMBH growth and galaxy build-up. We looked for correlations between properties of X-ray detected AGN and their FIR detected host galaxies, to find quantitative evidences for this connection, highly debated in the latest years. We exploit the rich multi-wavelength data set available in the COSMOS field for a large sample (692 sources) of AGN and their hosts, in the redshift range $0.1<z<4$. We use X-ray data to select AGN and determine their properties (intrinsic luminosity and nuclear obscuration), and broad-band SED fitting to derive host galaxy properties (stellar mass $M_*$ and star formation rate SFR). We find that the AGN 2-10 keV luminosity ($L_{rm X}$) and the host $8-1000~mu m$ star formation luminosity ($L_{rm IR}^{rm SF}$) are significantly correlated. However, the average host $L_{rm IR}^{rm SF}$ has a flat distribution in bins of AGN $L_{rm X}$, while the average AGN $L_{rm X}$ increases in bins of host $L_{rm IR}^{rm SF}$, with logarithmic slope of $sim0.7$, in the redshifts range $0.4<z<1.2$. We also discuss the comparison between the distribution of these two quantities and the predictions from hydro-dynamical simulations. Finally we find that the average column density ($N_H$) shows a positive correlation with the host $M_*$, at all redshifts, but not with the SFR (or $L_{rm IR}^{rm SF}$). This translates into a negative correlation with specific SFR. Our results are in agreement with the idea that BH accretion and SF rates are correlated, but occur with different variability time scales. The presence of a positive correlation between $N_H$ and host $M_*$ suggests that the X-ray $N_H$ is not entirely due to the circum-nuclear obscuring torus, but may also include a contribution from the host galaxy.
A complete, flux density limited sample of 96 faint ($> 0.5$ mJy) radio sources is selected from the 10C survey at 15.7 GHz in the Lockman Hole. We have matched this sample to a range of multi-wavelength catalogues, including SERVS, SWIRE, UKIDSS and optical data; multi-wavelength counterparts are found for 80 of the 96 sources and spectroscopic redshifts are available for 24 sources. Photometric reshifts are estimated for the sources with multi-wavelength data available; the median redshift of the sample is 0.91 with an interquartile range of 0.84. Radio-to-optical ratios show that at least 94 per cent of the sample are radio loud, indicating that the 10C sample is dominated by radio galaxies. This is in contrast to samples selected at lower frequencies, where radio-quiet AGN and starforming galaxies are present in significant numbers at these flux density levels. All six radio-quiet sources have rising radio spectra, suggesting that they are dominated by AGN emission. These results confirm the conclusions of Paper I that the faint, flat-spectrum sources which are found to dominate the 10C sample below $sim 1$ mJy are the cores of radio galaxies. The properties of the 10C sample are compared to the SKADS Simulated Skies; a population of low-redshift starforming galaxies predicted by the simulation is not found in the observed sample.
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