The suppression of star formation by powerful active galactic nuclei
Nature 485:7397 (2012) 213-216
Abstract:
The old, red stars that constitute the bulges of galaxies, and the massive black holes at their centres, are the relics of a period in cosmic history when galaxies formed stars at remarkable rates and active galactic nuclei (AGN) shone brightly as a result of accretion onto black holes. It is widely suspected, but unproved, that the tight correlation between the mass of the black hole and the mass of the stellar bulge results from the AGN quenching the surrounding star formation as it approaches its peak luminosity. X-rays trace emission from AGN unambiguously, whereas powerful star-forming galaxies are usually dust-obscured and are brightest at infrared and submillimetre wavelengths. Here we report submillimetre and X-ray observations that show that rapid star formation was common in the host galaxies of AGN when the Universe was 2-6 billion years old, but that the most vigorous star formation is not observed around black holes above an X-ray luminosity of 1044 ergs per second. This suppression of star formation in the host galaxy of a powerful AGN is a key prediction of models in which the AGN drives an outflow, expelling the interstellar medium of its host and transforming the galaxy’s properties in a brief period of cosmic time. © 2012 Macmillan Publishers Limited.The Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey: SPIRE-mm photometric redshifts
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 419:4 (2012) 2758-2773
Abstract:
We investigate the potential of submm-mm and submm-mm-radio photometric redshifts using a sample of mm-selected sources as seen at 250, 350 and 500μm by the SPIRE instrument on Herschel. From a sample of 63 previously identified mm sources with reliable radio identifications in the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey North and Lockman Hole North fields, 46 (73per cent) are found to have detections in at least one SPIRE band. We explore the observed submm/mm colour evolution with redshift, finding that the colours of mm sources are adequately described by a modified blackbody with constant optical depth τ= (ν/nu 0) β, where β=+1.8 and ν 0=c/100μm. We find a tight correlation between dust temperature and IR luminosity. Using a single model of the dust temperature and IR luminosity relation, we derive photometric redshift estimates for the 46 SPIRE-detected mm sources. Testing against the 22 sources with known spectroscopic or good quality optical/near-IR photometric redshifts, we find submm/mm photometric redshifts offer a redshift accuracy of |Δz|/(1 +z) = 0.16(〈|Δz|〉= 0.51). Including constraints from the radio-far-IR correlation, the accuracy is improved to |Δz|/(1 +z) = 0.15(〈|Δz|〉= 0.45). We estimate the redshift distribution of mm-selected sources finding a significant excess at z > 3 when compared to ∼ 850μm selected samples. © 2011 The Authors Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society © 2011 RAS.A POPULATION OF DUST-RICH QUASARS AT z ∼ 1.5
ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL 753:1 (2012) ARTN 33
LOCAL LUMINOUS INFRARED GALAXIES. II. ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS ACTIVITY FROM SPITZER/INFRARED SPECTROGRAPH SPECTRA
ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL 744:1 (2012) ARTN 2
PHOTOMETRY AND PHOTOMETRIC REDSHIFT CATALOGS FOR THE LOCKMAN HOLE DEEP FIELD
ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL SUPPLEMENT SERIES 198:1 (2012) ARTN 1