paper

Star formation in galaxies hosting Active Galactic Nuclei up to z~1

arXiv:0912.1160 · doi:10.1017/CBO9780511761386.006

Abstract

We review recent evidence for a clear association between accretion onto supermassive black holes and star formation up to z~1 in the zCOSMOS survey. Star formation rates (SFRs) are determined from the [OII] emission-line strength and a correction for the AGN contribution. We find that SFRs of X-ray selected AGN span a distribution of 1-100 solar masses per year and evolve in a manner that is indistinguishable from that of massive, star-forming galaxies. The close relationship between AGN activity and star formation is further supported by an increase in the AGN fraction with bluer rest-frame colors (U-V); we further illustrate how the location of AGNs in a color-magnitude diagram can be misleading in luminosity-limited samples due to the dependence of AGN activity on the stellar mass and the low mass-to-light ratios of blue cloud galaxies. To conclude, our results support a co-evolutionary scenario up to z~1 based on the constancy with redshift of the ratio between mass accretion rate and SFR.

Invited talk, to appear in the Proceedings of "AGN Feedback in Galaxy Formation", V.Antonuccio-Delogu and J. Silk, eds., in press

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