Projects per year
Abstract / Description of output
Feedback from low-excitation radio galaxies (LERGs) plays a key role in the lifecycle of massive galaxies in the local Universe; their evolution, and the impact of these active galactic nuclei on early galaxy evolution, however, remain poorly understood. We use a sample of 10 481 LERGs from the first data release of the LOFAR Two-meter Sky Survey Deep Fields, covering ∼ 25 deg2, to present the first measurement of the evolution of the radio luminosity function (LF) of LERGs out to z ∼ 2.5; this shows relatively mild evolution. We split the LERGs into those hosted by quiescent and star-forming galaxies, finding a new dominant population of LERGs hosted by star-forming galaxies at high redshifts. The incidence of LERGs in quiescent galaxies shows a steep dependence on stellar-mass out to z ∼ 1.5, consistent with local Universe measurements of accretion occurring from cooling of hot gas haloes. The quiescent-LERGs dominate the LFs at z < 1, showing a strong decline in space density with redshift, tracing that of the available host galaxies, while there is an increase in the characteristic luminosity. The star-forming LERG LF increases with redshift, such that this population dominates the space densities at most radio-luminosities by z ∼ 1. The incidence of LERGs in star-forming galaxies shows a much weaker stellar-mass dependence, and increases with redshift, suggesting a different fuelling mechanism compared to their quiescent counterparts, potentially associated with the cold gas supply present in the star-forming galaxies.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 3742-3767 |
Number of pages | 26 |
Journal | Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society |
Volume | 513 |
Issue number | 3 |
Early online date | 26 Apr 2022 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Jul 2022 |
Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)
- accretion, accretion discs
- galaxies: active
- galaxies: evolution
- galaxies: jets
- galaxies: luminosity function, mass function
- radio continuum: galaxies
Fingerprint
Dive into the research topics of 'Cosmic evolution of low-excitation radio galaxies in the LOFAR Two-meter Sky Survey Deep Fields'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.-
-
Studying The Influence Of Dark Matter Environments On Galaxy Evolution Over Time
Hale, C.
1/11/20 → 31/10/23
Project: Research
-
HIZRAD: How the monsters were made: the formation of the most massive black holes in the Universe
1/09/20 → 31/08/22
Project: Research