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Are Compton-Thick AGN the Missing Link Between Mergers and Black Hole Growth? | | Dale D. Kocevski
; Murray Brightman
; Kirpal Nandra
; Anton M. Koekemoer
; Mara Salvato
; James Aird
; Eric F. Bell
; Li-Ting Hsu
; Jeyhan S. Kartaltepe
; David C. Koo
; Jennifer M. Lotz
; Daniel H. McIntosh
; Mark Mozena
; David Rosario
; Jonathan R. Trump
; | | Date: |
11 Sep 2015 | | Abstract: | We examine the host morphologies of heavily obscured active galactic nuclei
(AGN) at $zsim1$ to test whether obscured supermassive black hole growth at
this epoch is preferentially linked to galaxy mergers. Our sample consists of
154 obscured AGN with $N_{
m H}>10^{23.5}$ cm$^{-2}$ and $z<1.5$. Using visual
classifications, we compare the morphologies of these AGN to control samples of
moderately obscured ($10^{22}$ cm$^{-2}$ $<N_{
m H}< 10^{23.5}$ cm$^{-2}$) and
unobscured ($N_{
m H}<10^{22}$ cm$^{-2}$) AGN. These control AGN are matched
in redshift and intrinsic X-ray luminosity to our heavily obscured AGN. We find
that heavily obscured AGN at z~1 are twice as likely to be hosted by late-type
galaxies relative to unobscured AGN ($65.3^{+4.1}_{-4.6}\%$ vs
$34.5^{+2.9}_{-2.7}\%$) and three times as likely to exhibit merger or
interaction signatures ($21.5^{+4.2}_{-3.3}\%$ vs $7.8^{+1.9}_{-1.3}\%$). The
increased merger fraction is significant at the 3.8$sigma$ level. We also find
that the incidence of point-like morphologies is inversely proportional to
obscuration. If we exclude all point sources and consider only extended hosts,
we find the correlation between merger fraction and obscuration is still
evident, however at a reduced statistical significance ($2.5sigma$). The fact
that we observe a different disk/spheroid fraction versus obscuration indicates
that viewing angle cannot be the only thing differentiating our three AGN
samples, as a simple unification model would suggest. The increased fraction of
disturbed morphologies with obscuration supports an evolutionary scenario, in
which Compton-thick AGN are a distinct phase of obscured SMBH growth following
a merger/interaction event. Our findings also suggest that some of the
merger-triggered SMBH growth predicted by recent AGN fueling models may be
hidden among the heavily obscured, Compton-thick population. | | Source: | arXiv, 1509.3629 | | Services: | Forum | Review | PDF | Favorites | |
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