The host galaxies of radio-loud AGN: mass dependencies, gas cooling and AGN feedback

By P. Best, G. Kauffmann, T. Heckman, J. Brinchmann, S. Charlot, Željko Ivezic´, Simon D. M. White. 2005

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The properties of the host galaxies of a well-defined sample of 2215 radio-loud AGN with redshifts 0.03 10^23 W/Hz is a strong function of stellar mass, rising from nearly zero below a stellar mass of 10^10 Msun to more than 30% at 5x10^11 Msun. The integral radio luminosity function is derived in six ranges of stellar and black hole mass. Its shape is very similar in all of these ranges and can be well fitted by a broken power-law. Its normalisation varies strongly with mass, as M_*^2.5 or M_BH^1.6; this scaling only begins to break down when the predicted radio-loud fraction exceeds 20-30%. There is no correlation between radio and emission line luminosities for the radio-loud AGN in the sample and the probability that a galaxy of given mass is radio-loud is independent of whether it is optically classified as an AGN. The host galaxies of the radio-loud AGN have properties similar to those of ordinary galaxies of the same mass. All of these findings support the conclusion that the optical AGN and low radio luminosity AGN phenomena are independent and are triggered by different physical mechanisms. Intriguingly, the dependence on black hole mass of the radio-loud AGN fraction mirrors that of the rate at which gas cools from the hot atmospheres of elliptical galaxies. It is speculated that gas cooling provides a natural explanation for the origin of the radio-loud AGN activity, and it is argued that AGN heating could plausibly balance the cooling of the gas over time. [Abridged]

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/06dddeb548c5cfb2470f32e1be9341bb140f193c

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Star formation and AGN activity in SDSS cluster galaxies (2009, background): “Weak optical AGN and radio-selected AGN, onthe other hand, are found predominantly in massive galaxies with old stellar populations (Kauffmann et al. 2003; Best et al. 2005).”
FEEDBACK IN LUMINOUS OBSCURED QUASARS (2011, background): “…review in McNamara & Nulsen 2007), although the efficiency of coupling the accretion energy to the gas remains uncertain (e.g., Bîrzan et al. 2004; Best et al. 2005; Heinz et al. 2006), as does the relative importance of heating by the active nucleus as opposed to other possible sources (e.g.,…”
Semi‐empirical analysis of Sloan Digital Sky Survey galaxies – III. How to distinguish AGN hosts (2006, background): “The SDSS is revolutionizing our ways to attack this problem (e.g. Fukugita et al. 2004; Heckman et al. 2004; Kauffmann et al. 2004; Best et al. 2005; Hao et al. 2005a,b; Pasquali, Kauffmann & Heckman 2005), and deeper surveys will follow.”
A New Sample of Low-Mass Black Holes in Active Galaxies (2007, background): “Also, Best et al. (2005) find a strong preference for radio sources to live in massive galaxies.”
Galaxy Interactions Trigger Rapid Black Hole Growth: an unprecedented view from the Hyper Suprime-Cam Survey (2017, background): “…or cluster environments, evidence of AGN feedback due to radio emission from the BH present in the brightest cluster galaxy (so called, maintenance mode feedback) has long been established (e.g., Best et al. 2005; Rafferty et al. 2006; McNamara & Nulsen 2007; Kauffmann et al. 2008; Fabian 2012).”
Fueling Low-Level AGN Activity through Stochastic Accretion of Cold Gas (2006, background): “This rises to imply that a large fraction of galaxies host a low-luminosity AGN, with a high active fraction of∼ 20− 50% byMB & −12 (depending on the location of the cutoff) (e.g., Hao et al. 2005; Best et al. 2005).”
An Observational Determination of the Bolometric Quasar Luminosity Function (2006, background): “However, as radio-loud objects constitute a small fraction of the quasar population, this implies a maximum systematic effect ofP10% in the QLF (e.g., Best et al. 2005).”
Feedback and recycled wind accretion: assembling the z= 0 galaxy mass function (2009, background): “An example of preventive feedback affecting hot mode is “radio”-mode feedback (Best et al. 2005; Croton et al. 2006).”
Galaxy pairs in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey - IV: Interactions trigger AGN (2011, methodology): “The control sample is vital since the AGN fraction depends sensitively on galactic properties such as mass, luminosity, colour, morphology and concentration (Kauffmann et al. 2003b; Best et al. 2005; Choi, Woo & Park 2009; Ellison et al. 2008).”
Minor Galaxy Interactions: Star Formation Rates and Galaxy Properties (2007, result): “Our AGN fractions for the various pair samples are consistent with the observed trend of increasing AGN fraction with increasing galaxy luminosity (Kauffmann et al. 2003b; Best et al. 2005).”
The Radio-Loud Fraction of Quasars is a Strong Function of Redshift and Optical Luminosity (2006, background): “…probably powered by similar physical mechanisms (e.g., Barthel 1989; Urry & Padovani 1995), and their radio properties are also correlated with host galaxy properties, central black hole masses, black hole spins, and accretion rates (e.g., Baum et al. 1995; Urry & Padovani 1995;Best et al. 2005).”
The Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array Sky Survey (VLASS). Science Case and Survey Design (2019, background): “…two accretion modes appears to be strongly influenced by the environment (e.g., Tasse et al. 2008) while the presence or absence of a radioloud AGN appears to be a strong function of the stellar mass of the host galaxy (e.g., Best et al. 2005; Janssen et al. 2012; Williams & Röttgering 2015).”
Evidence for powerful AGN winds at high redshift: dynamics of galactic outflows in radio galaxies during the “Quasar Era” (2008, background): “Best et al. (2005, 2006) find more subtle, yet general evidence that radio sources may balance gas cooling in ∼ 2000 radio-loud early-type galaxies taken from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the NVSS and FIRST radio surveys.”
COLOR–MAGNITUDE RELATIONS OF ACTIVE AND NON-ACTIVE GALAXIES IN THE CHANDRA DEEP FIELDS: HIGH-REDSHIFT CONSTRAINTS AND STELLAR-MASS SELECTION EFFECTS (2010, result): “…for X-ray luminous AGNs), which agrees with the result obtained in § 5.2 that most AGNs reside in massive hosts and extends previous findings to higher redshifts (e.g., Kauffmann et al. 2003; Best et al. 2005; Bundy et al. 2008; Alonso-Herrero et al. 2009; Brusa et al. 2009; Silverman et al. 2009).”
Galaxies in a simulated ΛCDM Universe – I. Cold mode and hot cores (2008, background): “Best et al. 2005; Croton et al. 2006) and winds driven by supernovae are an example of ejective feedback (e.g. Dekel & Silk 1986; Springel & Hernquist 2003).”
Energetic galaxy-wide outflows in high-redshift ultraluminous infrared galaxies hosting AGN activity (2012, background): “In this scenario these galaxies will therefore be the progenitors of the radiatively weak, low-redshift AGN in massive galaxies which are observed to have mechanical heating that is preventing gas from cooling (Best et al. 2005, 2 06; Smolčić et al. 2009; Danielson et al. 2012).”
Hot and cold gas accretion and feedback in radio-loud active galaxies (2007, background): “…are not radio-selected, and in which the radio population (given the luminosity function) will therefore be dominated by low-luminosity radio galaxies accreting in the hot mode, we expect a strong correlation between radio activity and host galaxy/black hole mass, as found by Best et al. (2005).”