A super-linear ‘radio-AGN main sequence’ links mean radio-AGN power and galaxy stellar mass since z ∼ 3

I. Delvecchio; E. Daddi; M. T. Sargent; J. Aird; J. R. Mullaney; B. Magnelli; D. Elbaz; L. Bisigello; L. Ceraj; S. Jin; B. S. Kalita; D. Liu; M. Novak; I. Prandoni; J. F. Radcliffe; C. Spingola; G. Zamorani; V. Allevato; G. Rodighiero; V. Smolcic

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202244639

A super-linear ‘radio-AGN main sequence’ links mean radio-AGN power and galaxy stellar mass since z ∼ 3

I. Delvecchio^*, E. Daddi, M. T. Sargent, J. Aird, J. R. Mullaney, B. Magnelli, D. Elbaz, L. Bisigello, L. Ceraj, S. Jin, B. S. Kalita, D. Liu, M. Novak, I. Prandoni, J. F. Radcliffe, C. Spingola, G. Zamorani, V. Allevato, G. Rodighiero, V. Smolcic

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Physics and Astronomy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Mapping the average active galactic nucleus (AGN) luminosity across galaxy populations and over time reveals important clues regarding the interplay between supermassive black hole and galaxy growth. This paper presents the demography, mean power, and cosmic evolution of radio AGN across star-forming galaxies (SFGs) of different stellar masses (ℳ*). We exploit deep VLA-COSMOS 3 GHz data to build the rest-frame 1.4 GHz AGN luminosity functions at 0.1 ≤ z ≤ 4.5 hosted in SFGs. Splitting the AGN luminosity function into different ℳ* bins reveals that, at all redshifts, radio AGN are both more frequent and more luminous in higher ℳ* than in lower ℳ* galaxies. The cumulative kinetic luminosity density exerted by radio AGN in SFGs peaks at z ∼ 2, and it is mostly driven by galaxies with 10.5 ≤ log(ℳ*/ℳ⊙) < 11. Averaging the cumulative radio AGN activity across all SFGs at each (ℳ*,z) results in a ‘radio-AGN main sequence’ that links the time-averaged radio-AGN power ⟨L1.4AGN⟩ and galaxy stellar mass, in the form: log ⟨[L1.4AGN/ W Hz−1]⟩ = (20.97 ± 0.16) + (2.51 ± 0.34)⋅ log(1+z) + (1.41 ± 0.09)⋅(log[ℳ*/ℳ⊙] – 10). The super-linear dependence on ℳ*, at fixed redshift, suggests enhanced radio-AGN activity in more massive SFGs as compared to star formation. We ascribe this enhancement to both a higher radio AGN duty cycle and a brighter radio-AGN phase in more massive SFGs. A remarkably consistent ℳ* dependence is seen for the evolving X-ray AGN population in SFGs. This similarity is interpreted as possibly driven by secular cold gas accretion fuelling both radio and X-ray AGN activity in a similar fashion over the galaxy’s lifetime.

Original language	English
Article number	A81
Pages (from-to)	1-27
Number of pages	27
Journal	Astronomy and Astrophysics
Volume	668
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202244639
Publication status	Published - 7 Dec 2022

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astro-ph.GA

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https://arxiv.org/abs/2209.12585

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Delvecchio, I., Daddi, E., Sargent, M. T., Aird, J., Mullaney, J. R., Magnelli, B., Elbaz, D., Bisigello, L., Ceraj, L., Jin, S., Kalita, B. S., Liu, D., Novak, M., Prandoni, I., Radcliffe, J. F., Spingola, C., Zamorani, G., Allevato, V., Rodighiero, G., & Smolcic, V. (2022). A super-linear ‘radio-AGN main sequence’ links mean radio-AGN power and galaxy stellar mass since z ∼ 3. Astronomy and Astrophysics, 668, 1-27. Article A81. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202244639

@article{2e9434351b2940d9b01ebfe56dc6e2f1,

title = "A super-linear {\textquoteleft}radio-AGN main sequence{\textquoteright} links mean radio-AGN power and galaxy stellar mass since z ∼ 3",

abstract = "Mapping the average active galactic nucleus (AGN) luminosity across galaxy populations and over time reveals important clues regarding the interplay between supermassive black hole and galaxy growth. This paper presents the demography, mean power, and cosmic evolution of radio AGN across star-forming galaxies (SFGs) of different stellar masses (ℳ*). We exploit deep VLA-COSMOS 3 GHz data to build the rest-frame 1.4 GHz AGN luminosity functions at 0.1 ≤ z ≤ 4.5 hosted in SFGs. Splitting the AGN luminosity function into different ℳ* bins reveals that, at all redshifts, radio AGN are both more frequent and more luminous in higher ℳ* than in lower ℳ* galaxies. The cumulative kinetic luminosity density exerted by radio AGN in SFGs peaks at z ∼ 2, and it is mostly driven by galaxies with 10.5 ≤ log(ℳ*/ℳ⊙) < 11. Averaging the cumulative radio AGN activity across all SFGs at each (ℳ*,z) results in a {\textquoteleft}radio-AGN main sequence{\textquoteright} that links the time-averaged radio-AGN power ⟨L1.4AGN⟩ and galaxy stellar mass, in the form: log ⟨[L1.4AGN/ W Hz−1]⟩ = (20.97 ± 0.16) + (2.51 ± 0.34)⋅ log(1+z) + (1.41 ± 0.09)⋅(log[ℳ*/ℳ⊙] – 10). The super-linear dependence on ℳ*, at fixed redshift, suggests enhanced radio-AGN activity in more massive SFGs as compared to star formation. We ascribe this enhancement to both a higher radio AGN duty cycle and a brighter radio-AGN phase in more massive SFGs. A remarkably consistent ℳ* dependence is seen for the evolving X-ray AGN population in SFGs. This similarity is interpreted as possibly driven by secular cold gas accretion fuelling both radio and X-ray AGN activity in a similar fashion over the galaxy{\textquoteright}s lifetime.",

keywords = "astro-ph.GA",

author = "I. Delvecchio and E. Daddi and Sargent, {M. T.} and J. Aird and Mullaney, {J. R.} and B. Magnelli and D. Elbaz and L. Bisigello and L. Ceraj and S. Jin and Kalita, {B. S.} and D. Liu and M. Novak and I. Prandoni and Radcliffe, {J. F.} and C. Spingola and G. Zamorani and V. Allevato and G. Rodighiero and V. Smolcic",

note = "Accepted for publication in A&A. 20 pages + Appendices",

year = "2022",

month = dec,

day = "7",

doi = "10.1051/0004-6361/202244639",

language = "English",

volume = "668",

pages = "1--27",

journal = "Astronomy and Astrophysics",

issn = "0004-6361",

publisher = "EDP Sciences",

}

Delvecchio, I, Daddi, E, Sargent, MT, Aird, J, Mullaney, JR, Magnelli, B, Elbaz, D, Bisigello, L, Ceraj, L, Jin, S, Kalita, BS, Liu, D, Novak, M, Prandoni, I, Radcliffe, JF, Spingola, C, Zamorani, G, Allevato, V, Rodighiero, G & Smolcic, V 2022, 'A super-linear ‘radio-AGN main sequence’ links mean radio-AGN power and galaxy stellar mass since z ∼ 3', Astronomy and Astrophysics, vol. 668, A81, pp. 1-27. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202244639

TY - JOUR

T1 - A super-linear ‘radio-AGN main sequence’ links mean radio-AGN power and galaxy stellar mass since z ∼ 3

AU - Delvecchio, I.

AU - Daddi, E.

AU - Sargent, M. T.

AU - Aird, J.

AU - Mullaney, J. R.

AU - Magnelli, B.

AU - Elbaz, D.

AU - Bisigello, L.

AU - Ceraj, L.

AU - Jin, S.

AU - Kalita, B. S.

AU - Liu, D.

AU - Novak, M.

AU - Prandoni, I.

AU - Radcliffe, J. F.

AU - Spingola, C.

AU - Zamorani, G.

AU - Allevato, V.

AU - Rodighiero, G.

AU - Smolcic, V.

N1 - Accepted for publication in A&A. 20 pages + Appendices

PY - 2022/12/7

Y1 - 2022/12/7

N2 - Mapping the average active galactic nucleus (AGN) luminosity across galaxy populations and over time reveals important clues regarding the interplay between supermassive black hole and galaxy growth. This paper presents the demography, mean power, and cosmic evolution of radio AGN across star-forming galaxies (SFGs) of different stellar masses (ℳ*). We exploit deep VLA-COSMOS 3 GHz data to build the rest-frame 1.4 GHz AGN luminosity functions at 0.1 ≤ z ≤ 4.5 hosted in SFGs. Splitting the AGN luminosity function into different ℳ* bins reveals that, at all redshifts, radio AGN are both more frequent and more luminous in higher ℳ* than in lower ℳ* galaxies. The cumulative kinetic luminosity density exerted by radio AGN in SFGs peaks at z ∼ 2, and it is mostly driven by galaxies with 10.5 ≤ log(ℳ*/ℳ⊙) < 11. Averaging the cumulative radio AGN activity across all SFGs at each (ℳ*,z) results in a ‘radio-AGN main sequence’ that links the time-averaged radio-AGN power ⟨L1.4AGN⟩ and galaxy stellar mass, in the form: log ⟨[L1.4AGN/ W Hz−1]⟩ = (20.97 ± 0.16) + (2.51 ± 0.34)⋅ log(1+z) + (1.41 ± 0.09)⋅(log[ℳ*/ℳ⊙] – 10). The super-linear dependence on ℳ*, at fixed redshift, suggests enhanced radio-AGN activity in more massive SFGs as compared to star formation. We ascribe this enhancement to both a higher radio AGN duty cycle and a brighter radio-AGN phase in more massive SFGs. A remarkably consistent ℳ* dependence is seen for the evolving X-ray AGN population in SFGs. This similarity is interpreted as possibly driven by secular cold gas accretion fuelling both radio and X-ray AGN activity in a similar fashion over the galaxy’s lifetime.

AB - Mapping the average active galactic nucleus (AGN) luminosity across galaxy populations and over time reveals important clues regarding the interplay between supermassive black hole and galaxy growth. This paper presents the demography, mean power, and cosmic evolution of radio AGN across star-forming galaxies (SFGs) of different stellar masses (ℳ*). We exploit deep VLA-COSMOS 3 GHz data to build the rest-frame 1.4 GHz AGN luminosity functions at 0.1 ≤ z ≤ 4.5 hosted in SFGs. Splitting the AGN luminosity function into different ℳ* bins reveals that, at all redshifts, radio AGN are both more frequent and more luminous in higher ℳ* than in lower ℳ* galaxies. The cumulative kinetic luminosity density exerted by radio AGN in SFGs peaks at z ∼ 2, and it is mostly driven by galaxies with 10.5 ≤ log(ℳ*/ℳ⊙) < 11. Averaging the cumulative radio AGN activity across all SFGs at each (ℳ*,z) results in a ‘radio-AGN main sequence’ that links the time-averaged radio-AGN power ⟨L1.4AGN⟩ and galaxy stellar mass, in the form: log ⟨[L1.4AGN/ W Hz−1]⟩ = (20.97 ± 0.16) + (2.51 ± 0.34)⋅ log(1+z) + (1.41 ± 0.09)⋅(log[ℳ*/ℳ⊙] – 10). The super-linear dependence on ℳ*, at fixed redshift, suggests enhanced radio-AGN activity in more massive SFGs as compared to star formation. We ascribe this enhancement to both a higher radio AGN duty cycle and a brighter radio-AGN phase in more massive SFGs. A remarkably consistent ℳ* dependence is seen for the evolving X-ray AGN population in SFGs. This similarity is interpreted as possibly driven by secular cold gas accretion fuelling both radio and X-ray AGN activity in a similar fashion over the galaxy’s lifetime.

KW - astro-ph.GA

U2 - 10.1051/0004-6361/202244639

DO - 10.1051/0004-6361/202244639

M3 - Article

SN - 0004-6361

VL - 668

SP - 1

EP - 27

JO - Astronomy and Astrophysics

JF - Astronomy and Astrophysics

M1 - A81

ER -

A super-linear ‘radio-AGN main sequence’ links mean radio-AGN power and galaxy stellar mass since z ∼ 3

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