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The X-ray View of Merger-Induced AGN Activity at Low Redshift
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ( IF 4.7 ) Pub Date : 2020-06-30 , DOI: 10.1093/mnras/staa1692
Nathan J Secrest 1 , Sara L Ellison 2 , Shobita Satyapal 3 , Laura Blecha 4
Affiliation  

Galaxy mergers are predicted to trigger accretion onto the central supermassive black holes, with the highest rates occurring during final coalescence. Previously, we have shown elevated rates of both optical and mid-IR selected active galactic nuclei (AGN) in post-mergers, but to date the prevalence of X-ray AGN has not been examined in the same systematic way. We present XMM-Newton data of 43 post-merger galaxies selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey along with 430 non-interacting control galaxies matched in stellar mass, redshift, and environment in order to test for an excess of hard X-ray (2-10 keV) emission in post-mergers attributable to triggered AGN. We find 2 X-ray detections in the post-mergers (4.7^{+9.3}_{-3.8}%) and 9 in the controls (2.1^{+1.5}_{-1.0}%), an excess of 2.22^{+4.44}_{-2.22}, where the confidence intervals are 90%. While we therefore do not find statistically significant evidence for an X-ray AGN excess in post-mergers (p = 0.26), we find a factor of ~17 excess of mid-IR AGN in our sample, consistent with past work and inconsistent with the observed X-ray excess (p = 2.7 x 10^{-4}). Dominant, luminous AGN are therefore more frequent in post-mergers, and the lack of a comparable excess of 2-10 keV X-ray AGN suggests that AGN in post-mergers are more likely to be heavily obscured. Our results are consistent with the post-merger stage being characterised by enhanced AGN fueling, heavy AGN obscuration, and more intrinsically luminous AGN, in line with theoretical predictions.

中文翻译:

低红移下合并诱导的 AGN 活动的 X 射线视图

预计星系合并会触发中心超大质量黑洞的吸积,最高速度发生在最终合并期间。以前,我们已经证明在合并后光学和中红外选定活动星系核 (AGN) 的比率升高,但迄今为止,尚未以相同的系统方式检查 X 射线 AGN 的流行情况。我们提供了从斯隆数字巡天中选出的 43 个合并后星系的 XMM-牛顿数据以及在恒星质量、红移和环境方面匹配的 430 个非相互作用控制星系,以测试是否存在过量的硬 X 射线(2 -10 keV) 在合并后的排放归因于触发的 AGN。我们在合并后发现了 2 个 X 射线检测(4.7^{+9.3}_{-3.8}%),在控制中发现了 9 个(2.1^{+1.5}_{-1.0}%),超过了 2.22 ^{+4.44}_{-2.22},其中置信区间为 90%。因此,虽然我们没有发现合并后 X 射线 AGN 过量的统计显着证据(p = 0.26),但我们发现样本中中红外 AGN 过量约 17 倍,这与过去的工作一致,但与观察到的 X 射线过量(p = 2.7 x 10^{-4})。因此,占主导地位的、发光的 AGN 在合并后更频繁,并且缺乏 2-10 keV X 射线 AGN 的可比过剩表明合并后的 AGN 更有可能被严重遮蔽。我们的结果与合并后阶段的特征是增强的 AGN 燃料、重度 AGN 遮蔽和更本质上发光的 AGN,与理论预测一致。与过去的工作一致,与观察到的 X 射线过量(p = 2.7 x 10^{-4})不一致。因此,占主导地位的、发光的 AGN 在合并后更频繁,并且缺乏 2-10 keV X 射线 AGN 的可比过剩表明合并后的 AGN 更有可能被严重遮蔽。我们的结果与合并后阶段的特征是增强的 AGN 燃料、重度 AGN 遮蔽和更本质上发光的 AGN,与理论预测一致。与过去的工作一致,与观察到的 X 射线过量(p = 2.7 x 10^{-4})不一致。因此,占主导地位的、发光的 AGN 在合并后更频繁,并且缺乏 2-10 keV X 射线 AGN 的可比过剩表明合并后的 AGN 更有可能被严重遮蔽。我们的结果与合并后阶段的特征是增强的 AGN 燃料、重度 AGN 遮蔽和更本质上发光的 AGN,与理论预测一致。
更新日期:2020-06-30
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