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25 April 2024

» arxiv » 1109.2588

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CANDELS: Constraining the AGN-Merger Connection with Host Morphologies at z~2
Dale D. Kocevski ; S.M. Faber ; Mark Mozena ; Anton M. Koekemoer ; Kirpal Nandra ; Cyprian Rangel ; Elise S. Laird ; Marcella Brusa ; Stijn Wuyts ; Jonathan R. Trump ; David C. Koo ; Rachel S. Somerville ; Eric F. Bell ; Jennifer M. Lotz ; David M Alexander ; Frederic Bournaud ; Christopher J. Conselice ; Tomas Dahlen ; Avashi Dekel ; Jennifer L. Donley ; James S. Dunlop ; Alexis Finoguenov ; Antonis Georgakakis ; Mauro Giavalisco ; Yicheng Guo ; Norman A. Grogin ; Nimish P. Hathi ; Stephanie Juneau ; Jeyhan S. Kartaltepe ; Ray A. Lucas ; Elizabeth J. McGrath ; Daniel H. McIntosh ; Bahram Mobasher ; Aday R. Robaina ; David Rosario ; Amber N. Straughn ; Arjen van der Wel ; Carolin Villforth ;
Date:	12 Sep 2011
Abstract:	Using HST/WFC3 imaging taken as part of the Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS), we examine the role that major galaxy mergers play in triggering active galactic nuclei (AGN) activity at z~2. Our sample consists of 72 moderate-luminosity (Lx ~ 1E42-1E44 erg/s) AGN at 1.5<z<2.5 that are selected using the 4 Msec Chandra observations in the Chandra Deep Field South, the deepest X-ray observations to date. Employing visual classifications, we have analyzed the rest-frame optical morphologies of the AGN host galaxies and compared them to a mass-matched control sample of 216 non-active galaxies at the same redshift. We find that most of the AGN reside in disk galaxies (51.4%), while a smaller percentage are found in spheroids (27.8%). Roughly 16.7% of the AGN hosts have highly disturbed morphologies and appear to be involved in a major merger or interaction, while most of the hosts (55.6%) appear relatively relaxed and undisturbed. These fractions are statistically consistent with the fraction of control galaxies that show similar morphological disturbances. These results suggest that the hosts of moderate-luminosity AGN are no more likely to be involved in an ongoing merger or interaction relative to non-active galaxies of similar mass at z~2. The high disk fraction observed among the AGN hosts also appears to be at odds with predictions that merger-driven accretion should be the dominant AGN fueling mode at z~2, even at moderate X-ray luminosities. Although we cannot rule out that minor mergers are responsible for triggering these systems, the presence of a large population of relatively undisturbed disk-like hosts suggests that secular processes play a greater role in fueling AGN activity at z~2 than previously thought.
Source:	arXiv, 1109.2588
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