We present radio active galactic nuclei (AGN) luminosity functions over the redshift range 0.005 < z < 0.75. The sample from which the luminosity functions are constructed is an optical spectroscopic ...survey of radio galaxies, identified from matched Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-cm survey (FIRST) sources and Sloan Digital Sky Survey images. The radio AGN are separated into low-excitation radio galaxies (LERGs) and high-excitation radio galaxies (HERGs) using the optical spectra. We derive radio luminosity functions for LERGs and HERGs separately in the three redshift bins (0.005 < z < 0.3, 0.3 < z < 0.5 and 0.5 < z < 0.75). The radio luminosity functions can be well described by a double power law. Assuming this double power-law shape the LERG population displays little or no evolution over this redshift range evolving as
${\sim } (1+z)^{0.06^{+0.17}_{-0.18}}$
assuming pure density evolution or
${\sim } (1+z)^{0.46^{+0.22}_{-0.24}}$
assuming pure luminosity evolution. In contrast, the HERG population evolves more rapidly, best fitted by
${\sim } (1+z)^{2.93^{+0.46}_{-0.47}}$
assuming a double power-law shape and pure density evolution. If a pure luminosity model is assumed, the best-fitting HERG evolution is parametrized by
${\sim } (1+z)^{7.41^{+0.79}_{-1.33}}$
. The characteristic break in the radio luminosity function occurs at a significantly higher power (≳1 dex) for the HERG population in comparison to the LERGs. This is consistent with the two populations representing fundamentally different accretion modes.
Abstract
This paper presents a study of the redshift evolution of radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGN) as a function of the properties of their galaxy hosts in the Boötes field. To achieve this we ...match low-frequency radio sources from deep 150-MHz LOFAR (LOw Frequency ARray) observations to an I-band-selected catalogue of galaxies, for which we have derived photometric redshifts, stellar masses, and rest-frame colours. We present spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting to determine the mid-infrared AGN contribution for the radio sources and use this information to classify them as high- versus low-excitation radio galaxies (HERGs and LERGs) or star-forming galaxies. Based on these classifications, we construct luminosity functions for the separate redshift ranges going out to z = 2. From the matched radio-optical catalogues, we select a sub-sample of 624 high power (P150 MHz > 1025 W Hz−1) radio sources between 0.5 ≤ z < 2. For this sample, we study the fraction of galaxies hosting HERGs and LERGs as a function of stellar mass and host galaxy colour. The fraction of HERGs increases with redshift, as does the fraction of sources in galaxies with lower stellar masses. We find that the fraction of galaxies that host LERGs is a strong function of stellar mass as it is in the local Universe. This, combined with the strong negative evolution of the LERG luminosity functions over this redshift range, is consistent with LERGs being fuelled by hot gas in quiescent galaxies.
We present an analysis of four complete samples of radio-loud active galactic nucleus (AGN; 3CRR, 2Jy, 6CE and 7CE) using near- and mid-IR data taken by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer ...(WISE). The combined sample consists of 79 quasars and 273 radio galaxies, and covers a redshift range 0.003 < z < 3.395. The dichotomy in the mid-IR properties of low- and high-excitation radio galaxies (LERGs and HERGs) is analysed for the first time using large complete samples. Our results demonstrate that a division in the accretion modes of LERGs and HERGs clearly stands out in the mid-IR-radio plane (L
22 μm = 5 × 1043 erg s−1). This means that WISE data can be effectively used to diagnose accretion modes in radio-loud AGN. The mid-IR properties of all objects were analysed to test the unification between quasars and radio galaxies, consistent with earlier work, and we argue that smooth torus models best reproduce the observation. Quasars are found to have higher mid-IR luminosities than radio galaxies. We also studied all the sources in the near-IR to gain insights into evolution of AGN host galaxies. A relation found between the near-IR luminosity and redshift, well known in the near-IR, is apparent in the two near-IR WISE bands, supporting the idea that radio sources are hosted by massive elliptical galaxies that formed their stars at high redshifts and evolved passively thereafter. Evaluation of the positions of the sample objects in WISE colour–colour diagrams shows that widely used WISE colour cuts are not completely reliable in selecting AGN.
ABSTRACT
We report the discovery of two new giant radio galaxies (GRGs) using the MeerKAT International GHz Tiered Extragalactic Exploration (MIGHTEE) survey. Both GRGs were found within a ...${\sim}1\,$ deg2 region inside the COSMOS field. They have redshifts of z = 0.1656 and z = 0.3363 and physical sizes of 2.4 and 2.0 Mpc, respectively. Only the cores of these GRGs were clearly visible in previous high-resolution Very Large Array observations, since the diffuse emission of the lobes was resolved out. However, the excellent sensitivity and uv coverage of the new MeerKAT telescope allowed this diffuse emission to be detected. The GRGs occupy an unpopulated region of radio power – size parameter space. Based on a recent estimate of the GRG number density, the probability of finding two or more GRGs with such large sizes at z < 0.4 in a ${\sim}1\,$ deg2 field is only 2.7 × 10−6, assuming Poisson statistics. This supports the hypothesis that the prevalence of GRGs has been significantly underestimated in the past due to limited sensitivity to low surface brightness emission. The two GRGs presented here may be the first of a new population to be revealed through surveys like MIGHTEE that provide exquisite sensitivity to diffuse, extended emission.
ABSTRACT
MIGHTEE is a galaxy evolution survey using simultaneous radio continuum, spectropolarimetry, and spectral line observations from the South African MeerKAT telescope. When complete, the ...survey will image ∼20 deg2 over the COSMOS, E-CDFS, ELAIS-S1, and XMM-Newton Large Scale Structure field (XMM-LSS) extragalactic deep fields with a central frequency of 1284 MHz. These were selected based on the extensive multiwavelength data sets from numerous existing and forthcoming observational campaigns. Here, we describe and validate the data processing strategy for the total intensity continuum aspect of MIGHTEE, using a single deep pointing in COSMOS (1.6 deg2) and a three-pointing mosaic in XMM-LSS (3.5 deg2). The processing includes the correction of direction-dependent effects, and results in thermal noise levels below 2 $\mathrm{\mu }$Jy beam−1 in both fields, limited in the central regions by classical confusion at ∼8 arcsec angular resolution, and meeting the survey specifications. We also produce images at ∼5 arcsec resolution that are ∼3 times shallower. The resulting image products form the basis of the Early Science continuum data release for MIGHTEE. From these images we extract catalogues containing 9896 and 20 274 radio components in COSMOS and XMM-LSS, respectively. We also process a close-packed mosaic of 14 additional pointings in COSMOS and use these in conjunction with the Early Science pointing to investigate methods for primary beam correction of broad-band radio images, an analysis that is of relevance to all full-band MeerKAT continuum observations, and wide-field interferometric imaging in general. A public release of the MIGHTEE Early Science continuum data products accompanies this article.
We present a large-scale clustering analysis of radio galaxies in the Very Large Array Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-cm survey over the Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey area, limited ...to S
1.4 GHz > 1 mJy with spectroscopic and photometric redshift limits up to r < 19.8 and <22 mag, respectively. For the GAMA spectroscopic matches, we present the redshift space and projected correlation functions, the latter of which yielding a correlation length r
0 ∼ 8.2 h
−1 Mpc and linear bias of ∼1.9 at z ∼ 0.34. Furthermore, we use the angular two-point correlation function w(θ) to determine spatial clustering properties at higher redshifts. We find r
0 to increase from ∼6 to ∼14 h
−1 Mpc between z = 0.3 and 1.55, with the corresponding bias increasing from ∼2 to ∼10 over the same range. Our results are consistent with the bias prescription implemented in the SKA Design Study simulations at low redshift, but exceed these predictions at z > 1. This is indicative of an increasing (rather than fixed) halo mass and/or active galactic nuclei fraction at higher redshifts or a larger typical halo mass for the more abundant Fanaroff and Riley Class I sources.
The Lockman Hole is a well-studied extragalactic field with extensive multi-band ancillary data covering a wide range in frequency, essential for characterizing the physical and evolutionary ...properties of the various source populations detected in deep radio fields (mainly star-forming galaxies and AGNs). In this paper, we present new 150-MHz observations carried out with the LOw-Frequency ARray (LOFAR), allowing us to explore a new spectral window for the faint radio source population. This 150-MHz image covers an area of 34.7 square degrees with a resolution of 18.6 x 14.7 arcsec and reaches an rms of 160 mu Jy beam super( -1) at the centre of the field. As expected for a low-frequency selected sample, the vast majority of sources exhibit steep spectra, with a median spectral index of ... The median spectral index becomes slightly flatter (increasing from ... with decreasing flux density down to S sub( 150) ~10 mJy before flattening out and remaining constant below this flux level. For a bright subset of the 150-MHz selected sample, we can trace the spectral properties down to lower frequencies using 60-MHz LOFAR observations, finding tentative evidence for sources to become flatter in spectrum between 60 and 150 MHz. Using the deep, multi-frequency data available in the Lockman Hole, we identify a sample of 100 ultra-steep-spectrum sources and 13 peaked-spectrum sources. We estimate that up to 21 per cent of these could have z > 4 and are candidate high-z radio galaxies, but further follow-up observations are required to confirm the physical nature of these objects. (ProQuest: ... denotes formulae/symbols omitted.)
Abstract
We present dynamical measurements for 586 Hα-detected star-forming galaxies from the KMOS (K-band Multi-Object Spectrograph) Redshift One Spectroscopic Survey (KROSS). The sample represents ...typical star-forming galaxies at this redshift (z = 0.6–1.0), with a median star formation rate of ≈7 M⊙ yr−1 and a stellar mass range of log (M⋆M⊙) ≈ 9–11. We find that the rotation velocity–stellar mass relationship (the inverse of the Tully–Fisher relationship) for our rotationally dominated sources (vC/σ0 > 1) has a consistent slope and normalization as that observed for z = 0 discs. In contrast, the specific angular momentum (j⋆; angular momentum divided by stellar mass) is ≈0.2–0.3 dex lower on average compared to z = 0 discs. The specific angular momentum scales as $j_{\rm s}\propto M_{\star }^{0.6\pm 0.2}$, consistent with that expected for dark matter (i.e. $j_{\rm DM}\propto M_{\rm DM}^{2/3}$). We find that z ≈ 0.9 star-forming galaxies have decreasing specific angular momentum with increasing Sérsic index. Visually, the sources with the highest specific angular momentum, for a given mass, have the most disc-dominated morphologies. This implies that an angular momentum–mass–morphology relationship, similar to that observed in local massive galaxies, is already in place by z ≈ 1.
We use the science demonstration field data of the Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey to study how star formation, traced by the far-infrared Herschel data, is related to both the ...accretion luminosity and redshift of quasars selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and the 2dF-SDSS luminous red galaxy (LRG) and Quasar Spectroscopic Catalogue survey. By developing a maximum-likelihood estimator to investigate the presence of correlations between the far-infrared and optical luminosities, we find evidence that the star formation in quasar hosts is correlated with both redshift and quasar accretion luminosity. Assuming a relationship of the form L
IR∝L
θ
QSO(1 +z)ζ, we find θ= 0.22 ± 0.08 and ζ= 1.6 ± 0.4, although there is substantial additional uncertainty in ζ of the order of ±1, due to uncertainties in the host galaxy dust temperature. We find evidence for a large intrinsic dispersion in the redshift dependence, but no evidence for intrinsic dispersion in the correlation between L
QSO and L
IR, suggesting that the latter may be due to a direct physical connection between star formation and black hole accretion. This is consistent with the idea that both the quasar activity and star formation are dependent on the same reservoir of cold gas, so that they are both affected by the influx of cold gas during mergers or heating of gas via feedback processes.
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