Radio-AGN activity across the galaxy population: dependence on stellar mass, star formation rate, and redshift
ABSTRACT We characterize the co-evolution of radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGN) and their galaxies by mapping the dependence of radio-loud AGN activity on stellar mass and star formation rate (SFR) across cosmic time (out to $z \sim 1.5$). Deep LOFAR radio observations are combined with large galaxy samples to study the incidence of radio-loud AGN across the galaxy population; the AGN are further split into low-excitation radio galaxies (LERGs) and high-excitation radio galaxies (HERGs). We find that LERG activity occurs over a wide range of SFRs, whereas HERGs are typically found in galaxies with ongoing star formation. The LERGs are then split based on their SFRs relative to the main sequence, across redshift. Within quiescent galaxies, LERG activity shows a steep stellar mass dependence with the same normalization across the past $\sim$10 Gyr; this indicates that hot gas fuels LERGs in quiescent galaxies across cosmic time. In massive galaxies [$\log _{10}(M/\rm {{\rm M}_{\odot }}) \gtrsim 11$], the incidence of LERGs is roughly constant across the galaxy population, suggesting that LERGs in massive galaxies may be fuelled by hot gas regardless of the star formation activity. At lower masses, however, LERG activity is significantly more enhanced (by a factor of up to 10) in star-forming galaxies compared to quiescent galaxies; this suggests that an additional fuelling mechanism, likely associated with cold gas, may fuel the LERGs in galaxies with higher SFRs. We find that HERGs typically accrete above 1 per cent of the Eddington-scaled accretion rate, and the LERGs typically accrete below this level.
Authors
- B. Mingo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5649-938X)
- G. K. Miley (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2884-7214)
- H. J. A. Röttgering (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8887-2257)
- C. Tasse
- R. Kondapally (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6127-8151)
- I. Prandoni (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9680-7092)
- M. Magliocchetti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9158-4838)
- R. K. Cochrane (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8855-6107)
- K. Małek (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3080-9778)
- K. J. Duncan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6889-8388)
- S. Das (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3493-6638)
- P. Haskell
- P. N. Best (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5081-4801)
- D. J. B. Smith (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9708-253X)
- A. L. Patrick (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0645-6853)
- M. J. Hardcastle (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4223-1117)
- W. L. Williams (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7315-1596)
- M I Arnaudova (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1128-0592)
- Tanja Holc
Institutions
- Leiden University (NL)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- University of Hertfordshire (GB)
- Rhodes University (ZA)
- The Open University (GB)
- Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (FR)
- National Centre for Nuclear Research (PL)
- Galaxies, Etoiles, Physique et Instrumentation (FR)
- Royal Observatory (GB)
- SKA Observatory (GB)
- Janssen (Switzerland) (CH)
- Istituto di Radioastronomia di Bologna (IT)
- Columbia University (US)
- National Institute for Astrophysics (IT)
- University of Edinburgh (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Published
- 2024-11-15
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stae2567
- Citations
- 6
- Primary Topic
- Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.99
Funders
- Michelson Prize and Grants
- Santa Fe Institute
- UK Research and Innovation
- Science Foundation Ireland
- Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
- Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
- Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
- Université d'Orléans
- Ministerium für Innovation, Wissenschaft und Forschung des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen
- Institut sur la Nutrition et les Aliments Fonctionnels
- Observatoire de Paris, Université de Recherche Paris Sciences et Lettres
- Science and Technology Facilities Council