paper

The relationship between the incidence of X-ray selected AGN in nearby galaxies and star-formation rate

arXiv:2306.10868 · doi:10.1093/mnras/stad1723

Abstract

We present the identification and analysis of an X-ray selected AGN sample that lie within the local () galaxy population. From a parent sample of 22,079 MPA-JHU (based on SDSS DR8) galaxies, we identified 917 galaxies with central, excess X-ray emission (from 3XMM-DR7) likely originating from an AGN. We measured the host galaxies' star formation rates and classified them as either star-forming or quiescent based on their position relative to main sequence of star formation. Only 72% of the X-ray selected sample were identified as AGN using BPT selection; this technique is much less effective in quiescent hosts, only identifying 50% of the X-ray AGN. We also calculated the growth rates of the black holes powering these AGN in terms of their specific accretion rate () and found quiescent galaxies, on average, accrete at a lower rate than star-forming galaxies. Finally, we measured the sensitivity function of 3XMM so we could correct for observational bias and construct probability distributions as a function of accretion rate. AGN were found in galaxies across the full range of star formation rates () in both star-forming and quiescent galaxies. The incidence of AGN was enhanced by a factor 2 (at a 3.5 significance) in star-forming galaxies compared to quiescent galaxies of equivalent stellar mass and redshift, but we also found a significant population of AGN hosted by quiescent galaxies.

arXiv comment14 pages, 8 figures, 2 appendices; published in MNRAS

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