Enhanced Star Formation Efficiency in the Central Regions of Nearby Quasars Hosts

Abstract

We combine Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array and Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer observations tracing the molecular gas, millimeter continuum, and ionized gas emission in six low-redshift ($z\lesssim 0.06$) Palomar-Green quasar host galaxies to investigate their ongoing star formation at $\sim$kpc-scale resolution. The AGN contribution to the cold dust emission and the optical emission-line flux is carefully removed to derive spatial distributions of the star formation rate (SFR), which, complemented with the molecular gas data, enables the mapping of the depletion time ($t_{\mathrm{dep}}$). We report ubiquitous star formation activity within the quasar host galaxies, with the majority of the ongoing star formation occurring in the galaxy center. The rise of the star formation rate surface density (${\Sigma }_{\mathrm{SFR}}$) toward the nucleus is steeper than that observed for the cold molecular gas surface density, reaching values up to ${\Sigma }_{\mathrm{SFR}}\approx 0.15-0.80M_{\odot }$yr${}^{-1}$kpc${}^{-2}$. The gas in the nuclear regions is converted into stars at a shortened depletion time ($t_{\mathrm{dep}}\approx 0.2-2.0$Gyr), suggesting that those zones can be deemed as starbursts. At large galactocentric radius, we find that the ongoing star formation takes place within spiral arms or HII region complexes, with an efficiency comparable to that reported for nearby inactive spirals ($t_{\mathrm{dep}}\approx 1.8$Gyr). We find no evidence of star formation activity shutoff in the PG quasar host galaxies. On the contrary, these observations shed light on how the central environments of galaxies hosting actively accreting supermassive black holes builds up stellar mass.

arXiv comment29 pages, 11 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication in ApJ

References in corpus (186)

• SciPy 1.0--Fundamental Algorithms for Scientific Computing in Python
• Astropy: A Community Python Package for Astronomy
• The Astropy Project: Building an inclusive, open-science project and status of the v2.0 core package
• On the variation of the Initial Mass Function
• scikit-image: Image processing in Python
• Star Formation in Galaxies Along the Hubble Sequence
• The Dust Content and Opacity of Actively Star-Forming Galaxies
• The Global Schmidt Law in Star Forming Galaxies
• A Fundamental Relation Between Supermassive Black Holes and Their Host Galaxies
• Coevolution (Or Not) of Supermassive Black Holes and Host Galaxies
• The Demography of Massive Dark Objects in Galaxy Centres
• The Host Galaxies of AGN
• The many lives of active galactic nuclei: cooling flows, black holes and the luminosities and colours of galaxies
• A Relationship Between Nuclear Black Hole Mass and Galaxy Velocity Dispersion
• The EAGLE project: Simulating the evolution and assembly of galaxies and their environments
• Star Formation in the Milky Way and Nearby Galaxies
• Observational Evidence of AGN Feedback
• Theoretical Modeling of Starburst Galaxies
• The CO-to-H2 Conversion Factor
• Infrared Emission from Interstellar Dust. IV. The Silicate-Graphite-PAH Model in the Post-Spitzer Era
• The Star Formation Efficiency in Nearby Galaxies: Measuring Where Gas Forms Stars Effectively
• Stellar mass-to-light ratios and the Tully-Fisher relation
• Secular Evolution and the Formation of Pseudobulges in Disk Galaxies
• A Cosmological Framework for the Co-Evolution of Quasars, Supermassive Black Holes, and Elliptical Galaxies: I. Galaxy Mergers & Quasar Activity
• Rotating Nuclear Rings and Extreme Starbursts in Ultraluminous Galaxies
• A 3D Dust Map Based on Gaia, Pan-STARRS 1 and 2MASS
• The Co-Evolution of Galaxies and Supermassive Black Holes: Insights from Surveys of the Contemporary Universe
• Spectral Energy Distributions and Multiwavelength Selection of Type 1 Quasars
• A Semi-Analytic Model for the Co-evolution of Galaxies, Black Holes, and Active Galactic Nuclei
• Nuclear Activity in Nearby Galaxies
• Molecular Gas at High Redshift
• Calibrating Extinction-Free Star Formation Rate Diagnostics with 33GHz Free-Free Emission in NGC6946
• Molecular Gas and Star Formation in Nearby Disk Galaxies
• The Fourteenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey and from the second phase of the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment
• The Illustris simulation: the evolving population of black holes across cosmic time
• The CO-to-H2 Conversion Factor and Dust-to-Gas Ratio on Kiloparsec Scales in Nearby Galaxies
• BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey - V. X-ray properties of the Swift/BAT 70-month AGN catalog
• How Do Massive Black Holes Get Their Gas?
• The Horizon-AGN simulation: morphological diversity of galaxies promoted by AGN feedback
• Molecular line emission in NGC1068 imaged with ALMA. I An AGN-driven outflow in the dense molecular gas
• A Close Look at Star Formation around Active Galactic Nuclei
• The evolution of amorphous hydrocarbons in the ISM: dust modelling from a new vantage point
• X-ray Spectra of a large sample of Quasars with ASCA
• Major Galaxy Mergers Only Trigger the Most Luminous AGN
• The VLA-COSMOS 3 GHz Large Project: Continuum data and source catalog release
• AGN outflows and feedback twenty years on
• Quasi-Stellar Objects, Ultraluminous IR Galaxies, and Mergers
• The MUSE Hubble Ultra Deep Field Survey: I. Survey description, data reduction and source detection
• ZAP -- Enhanced PCA Sky Subtraction for Integral Field Spectroscopy
• The Last of FIRST: The Final Catalog and Source Identifications
• A Comparison of Stellar and Gaseous Kinematics in the Nuclei of Active Galaxies
• The Mean Star Formation Rate of X-ray selected Active Galaxies and its Evolution from z=2.5: Results from PEP-Herschel
• CAIXA: a Catalogue of AGN In the XMM-Newton Archive I. Spectral analysis
• The SCUBA-2 Cosmology Legacy Survey: ALMA resolves the rest-frame far-infrared emission of sub-millimeter galaxies
• Timing the starburst-AGN connection
• A Quick Look at the $3$GHz Radio Sky I. Source Statistics from the Very Large Array Sky Survey
• Radio-to-FIR Spectral Energy Distribution and Photometric Redshifts for Dusty Starburst Galaxies
• The case for super-critical accretion onto massive black holes at high redshift
• Dust Spectral Energy Distributions of Nearby Galaxies: an Insight from the Herschel Reference Survey
• Nuclear star formation activity and black hole accretion in nearby Seyfert galaxies
• The EDGE-CALIFA Survey: Interferometric Observations of 126 Galaxies with CARMA
• A Search for "Dwarf" Seyfert Nuclei. VI. Properties of Emission-Line Nuclei in Nearby Galaxies
• No clear submillimetre signature of suppressed star formation amongst X-ray luminous AGNs
• The KMOS AGN Survey at High redshift (KASHz): the prevalence and drivers of ionised outflows in the host galaxies of X-ray AGN
• Host Galaxy Properties of the Swift BAT Ultra Hard X-ray Selected AGN
• Quasar-Mode Feedback in Nearby Type 1 Quasars: Ubiquitous Kiloparsec-Scale Outflows and Correlations with Black Hole Properties
• A Deep HST H-Band Imaging Survey of Massive Gas-Rich Mergers. II. The QUEST PG QSOs
• Revisiting the Integrated Star Formation Law. Paper I: Non-Starbursting Galaxies
• Luminous Infrared Galaxies with the Submillimeter Array: II. Comparing the CO(3-2) Sizes and Luminosities of Local and High-Redshift Luminous Infrared Galaxies
• Revisiting the Integrated Star Formation Law. II. Starbursts and the Combined Global Schmidt Law
• Radio Variability of Radio Quiet and Radio Loud Quasars
• Vindicating single-T modified blackbody fits to Herschel SEDs (Research Note)
• SUPER-II: Spatially resolved ionized gas kinematics and scaling relations in z~2 AGN host galaxies
• Nuclear Activity is more prevalent in Star-Forming Galaxies
• Old and young stellar populations in DustPedia galaxies and their role in dust heating
• High Resolution Mid-Infrared Imaging of Infrared Luminous Starburst Galaxies
• Structure and star formation in disk galaxies III. Nuclear and circumnuclear H alpha emission
• The Host Galaxies of Optical Bright QSOs: Molecular Gas in Z < 0.1 PG-QSOs
• On the Gas Content and Efficiency of AGN Feedback in Low-redshift Quasars
• Integral field spectroscopy of nearby QSOs: I. ENLR size-luminosity relation, ongoing star formation & resolved gas-phase metallicities
• The properties of the extended warm ionised gas around low-redshift QSOs and the lack of extended high-velocity outflows
• The multiphase gas structure and kinematics in the circumnuclear region of NGC 5728
• Jet directions in Seyfert galaxies: Radio continuum imaging data
• The mean star formation rates of unobscured QSOs: searching for evidence of suppressed or enhanced star formation
• Hubble Space Telescope Ultraviolet Images of Five Circumnuclear Star-Forming Rings
• Galaxies hosting an AGN: a view from the CALIFA survey
• Dense Molecular Gas and the Role of Star Formation in the Host Galaxies of Quasi-Stellar Objects
• An Ultraviolet through Infrared Look at Star Formation and Super Star Clusters in Two Circumnuclear Starburst Rings
• Radio-emitting narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies in the JVLA perspective
• The diverse cold molecular gas contents, morphologies, and kinematics of type-2 quasars as seen by ALMA
• Major Galaxy Mergers and the Growth of Supermassive Black Holes in Quasars
• The Origin of the Intrinsic Scatter in the Relation Between Black Hole Mass and Bulge Luminosity for Nearby Active Galaxies
• The star formation rates of active galactic nuclei host galaxies
• AGN Feedback and Star Formation of Quasar Host Galaxies: Insights from the Molecular Gas
• Quenching star formation: insights from the local main sequence
• Large-scale outflows in luminous QSOs revisited: The impact of beam smearing on AGN feedback efficiencies
• Resolving the nuclear obscuring disk in the Compton-thick Seyfert galaxy NGC5643 with ALMA
• BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey-XX: Molecular Gas in Nearby Hard X-ray Selected AGN Galaxies
• Starburst-AGN mixing: II. Optically-selected active galaxies
• The far-infrared emitting region in local galaxies and QSOs: Size and scaling relations
• ALMACAL IV: A catalogue of ALMA calibrator continuum observations
• Dissecting Galaxies: Spatial and Spectral Separation of Emission Excited by Star Formation and AGN Activity
• Quasar Feedback Survey: Multi-phase outflows, turbulence and evidence for feedback caused by low power radio jets inclined into the galaxy disk
• A Revised Calibration of the Virial Mass Estimator for Black Holes in Active Galaxies Based on Single-epoch H$\beta$ Spectra
• The EDGE-CALIFA survey: Variations in the Molecular Gas Depletion Time in Local Galaxies
• The Close AGN Reference Survey (CARS). A massive multi-phase outflow impacting the edge-on galaxy HE1353-1917
• Molecular Gas in Infrared-Excess, Optically-Selected QSOs and the Connection with Infrared Luminous Galaxies
• High molecular gas content and star formation rates in local galaxies that host quasars, outflows and jets
• Starburst-AGN mixing: I. NGC 7130
• Magellan Spectroscopy of Low-Redshift Active Galactic Nuclei
• The Infrared Emission and Opening Angle of the Torus in Quasars
• The EDGE-CALIFA Survey: Using Optical Extinction to Probe the Spatially-Resolved Distribution of Gas in Nearby Galaxies
• SDSS-IV MaNGA: Identification of active galactic nuclei in optical integral field unit surveys
• Properties of Active Galaxies Deduced from H I Observations
• ALMA observations of cold molecular gas in AGN hosts at z~1.5 - Evidence of AGN feedback?
• Identifying the subtle signatures of feedback from distant AGN using ALMA observations and the EAGLE hydrodynamical simulations
• Stellar Photometric Structures of the Host Galaxies of Nearby Type 1 Active Galactic Nuclei
• Deep GEMINI GMOS-IFU spectroscopy of BAL QSOs: I. Decoupling the BAL, QSO, starburst, NLR, supergiant bubbles and galactic wind in Mrk 231
• BASS XXXII: Studying the Nuclear Mm-wave Continuum Emission of AGNs with ALMA at Scales $\lesssim$ 100-200 pc
• Multiphase gas flows in the nearby Seyfert galaxy ESO428-G14
• Molecular Gas in Infrared Ultraluminous QSO Hosts
• The Interplay Between Star Formation and Black Hole Accretion in Nearby Active Galaxies
• Infrared spectra and photometry of complete samples of PG and 2MASS quasars
• An accreting supermassive black hole irradiating molecular gas in NGC 2110
• Exploring AGN and Star Formation Activity of Massive Galaxies at Cosmic Noon
• Radio Properties of Low Redshift Broad Line Active Galactic Nuclei
• The Host Galaxy and Rapidly Evolving Broad-line Region in the Changing-look Active Galactic Nucleus 1ES 1927+654
• Integral field spectroscopy of nearby QSOs II. The molecular gas content and condition for star formation
• No signs of star formation being regulated in the most luminous quasars at z~2 with ALMA
• Evidence for feedback in action from the molecular gas content in the z~1.6 outflowing QSO XID2028
• An ALMA CO(2-1) Survey of Nearby Palomar-Green Quasars
• Black Hole Accretion Correlates with Star Formation Rate and Star Formation Efficiency in Nearby Luminous Type 1 Active Galaxies
• Extreme star formation events in quasar hosts over $0.5<\text{z}<4$
• The ALMaQUEST Survey: II. What drives central starbursts at z~0?
• Gas Content Regulates the Lifecycle of Star Formation and Black Hole Accretion in Galaxies
• Nuclear/Circumnuclear Starbursts and Active Galactic Nuclei Mass Accretion in Seyfert Galaxies
• The Infrared Emission and Vigorous Star Formation of Low-redshift Quasars
• Herschel Survey of the Palomar-Green QSOs at Low Redshift
• Jet-driven galaxy-scale gas outflows in the hyper-luminous quasar 3C273
• Infrared 3-4 Micron Spectroscopy of Nearby PG QSOs and AGN-Nuclear Starburst Connections in High-luminosity AGN Populations
• A Catalog of AGN Host Galaxies Observed with HST/ACS: Correlations between Star Formation and AGN Activity
• An enhanced fraction of starbursting galaxies among high Eddington ratio AGNs
• Distributions of quasar hosts on the galaxy main-sequence plane
• Inferring a difference in the star-forming properties of lower versus higher X-ray luminosity AGNs
• Extinction and Dust Geometry in M83 HII Regions: A Hubble Space Telescope/WFC3 Study
• Dirt-cheap Gas Scaling Relations: Using Dust Absorption, Metallicity and Galaxy Size to Predict Gas Masses for Large Samples of Galaxies
• Testing the Evolutionary Link between Type 1 and Type 2 Quasars with Measurements of the Interstellar Medium
• The Close AGN Reference Survey (CARS): IFU survey data and the BH mass dependence of long-term AGN variability
• Do Most Active Galactic Nuclei Live in High Star Formation Nuclear Cusps?
• Intermediate-Age Stellar Populations in Classical QSO Host Galaxies
• Radio activity of supermassive black holes with extremely high accretion rates
• The AGNIFS survey: distribution and excitation of the hot molecular and ionised gas in the inner kpc of nearby AGN hosts
• The Diverse Morphology, Stellar Population, and Black Hole Scaling Relations of the Host Galaxies of Nearby Quasars
• Spatial decomposition of on-nucleus spectra of quasar host galaxies
• Molecular Gas Feeding the Circumnuclear Disk of the Galactic Center
• Probing the origin of low-frequency radio emission in PG quasars with the uGMRT -- I
• A New Method to Measure Star Formation Rates in Active Galaxies Using Mid-infrared Neon Emission Lines
• The Close AGN Reference Survey (CARS): No obvious signature of AGN feedback on star formation, but subtle trends
• SUPER V. ALMA continuum observations of z~2 AGN and the elusive evidence of outflows influencing star formation
• The first 62 AGN observed with SDSS-IV MaNGA -- III: stellar and gas kinematics
• The impact of ionised outflows from z$\sim$2.5 quasars is not through instantaneous in-situ quenching: the evidence from ALMA and VLT/SINFONI
• Ionized Outflows in Nearby Quasars are Poorly Coupled to their Host Galaxies
• A Hubble Space Telescope Imaging Survey of Low-Redshift Swift-BAT Active Galaxies
• Radio morphology of southern narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies with Very Large Array observations
• The PG-RQS survey. Building the radio spectral distribution of radio-quiet quasars. I. The 45-GHz data
• MACER improved: AGN feedback computed in rotating early-type galaxies at high resolution
• The Correlation between Black Hole Mass and Stellar Mass for Classical Bulges and the Cores of Ellipticals
• The Ionization and Destruction of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Powerful Quasars
• The Type II AGN-host galaxy connection: insights from the VVDS and VIPERS surveys
• The molecular gas properties in local Seyfert 2 galaxies
• A Comparison between Nuclear Ring Star Formation in LIRGs and Normal Galaxies with the Very Large Array
• Integral field spectroscopy of QSO host galaxies
• Resolving the Interstellar Medium in Ultraluminous Infrared QSO Hosts with ALMA
• Evidence for a Young Stellar Population in Nearby Type 1 Active Galaxies
• Compact molecular gas emission in local LIRGs among low- and high-z galaxies
• Young stellar populations in type II quasars: timing the onset of star formation and nuclear activity
• Duality in spatially resolved star-formation relations in local LIRGs
• A binning-free method reveals a continuous relationship between galaxies' AGN power and offset from main sequence
• The Accretion History of AGN: A Newly Defined Population of Cold Quasars
• Locating Star-Forming Regions in Quasar Host Galaxies
• Compact Molecular Gas Distribution in Quasar Host Galaxies
• Local Swift-BAT active galactic nuclei prefer circumnuclear star formation
• The Close AGN Reference Survey (CARS): Tracing the circumnuclear star formation in the super-Eddington NLS1 Mrk 1044
• The Activation of Galactic Nuclei and Their Accretion Rates are Linked to the Star Formation Rates and Bulge-types of Their Host Galaxies
• Stellar populations in local AGNs: evidence for enhanced star formation in the inner 100pc
• The Star-Formation Properties of the Observed and Simulated AGN Universe: BAT vs EAGLE

Cited by in corpus (9)

• The Interaction between AGN and Starburst Activity in the Circumnuclear Region of NGC 7469 as Viewed with JWST
• Lack of Correlations between Cold Molecular Gas and AGN Properties in Type 1 AGNs at $z\lesssim 0.5$
• BASS XLVII: 22 GHz Radio Atlas of Swift-BAT Selected AGN
• Probing the roles of orientation and multi-scale gas distributions in shaping the obscuration of Active Galactic Nuclei through cosmic time
• Dynamics of Molecular Gas in the Central Region of the Quasar IZwicky1
• A systematic study of AGN feedback in a disk galaxy I: global overview
• QSO MUSEUM III: the circumgalactic medium in Ly$\alpha$ emission around 120 $z\sim 3$ quasars covering the SDSS parameter space. Witnessing the instantaneous AGN feedback on halo scales
• Quiescent Host Galaxies of Extended Quasars Revealed by Spectrophotometric Decomposition
• Cold Quasar Investigation: Comparing Star Formation Rates to Black Hole Growth