The AGN fraction - velocity dispersion relation in clusters of galaxies

Abstract

Some previous investigations have found that the fraction (f_AGN) of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is lower in clusters than in the field. This can result from the suppression of galaxy-galaxy mergers in high-velocity dispersion (sigma_v) clusters, if the formation and/or fueling of AGNs is directly related to the merging process. We investigate the existence of a relation between f_AGN and sigma_v in galaxy clusters in order to shed light on the formation and evolution processes of AGNs and cluster galaxies. Using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey we determine f_AGN and sigma_v for the clusters in two samples, extracted from the catalogs of Popesso et al. (2006a) and Miller et al. (2005), and excluding clusters with significant evidence for substructures. We find a significant f_AGN-sigma_v anti-correlation. Clusters with sigma_v lower and, respectively, higher than 500 km/s have AGN fractions of $0.21\pm 0.01$ and $0.15\pm 0.01$, on average. The f_AGN-sigma_v relation can be described by a model that assumes f_AGN is proportional to the galaxies merging rate, plus a constant. Since f_AGN increases with decreasing sigma_v, AGNs are likely to have played a significant role in heating the intra-cluster medium and driving galaxy evolution in cluster precursors and groups.

4 pages, 3 figures, A&A Letter accepted for publication

References in corpus (3)

• The DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey: The Relationship Between Galaxy Properties and Environment at z ~ 1
• On the efficiency and reliability of cluster mass estimates based on member galaxies
• Spectroscopic Confirmation of a Large AGN Population in Clusters of Galaxies

Cited by in corpus (22)

• Euclid. I. Overview of the Euclid mission
• The Evolution of Active Galactic Nuclei in Clusters of Galaxies to Redshift 1.3
• Radio Sources in Galaxy Clusters: Radial Distribution, and 1.4 GHz and K-band Bivariate Luminosity Function
• The Distribution of AGN in Clusters of Galaxies
• The census of nuclear activity of late-type galaxies in the Virgo cluster
• RASS-SDSS Galaxy Cluster Survey. VI. The dependence of the cluster SFR on the cluster global properties
• X-ray selected AGN in groups at redshifts z~1
• Wide-Field Chandra X-Ray Observations of AGN in Abell 85 & Abell 754
• Do AGN triggering mechanisms vary with radio power? II. The importance of mergers as a function of radio power and optical luminosity
• Do AGN triggering mechanisms vary with radio power? I.Optical morphologies of radio-intermediate HERGs
• Effect of richness on AGN and star formation activities in SDSS galaxy groups
• K-CLASH: Strangulation and Ram Pressure Stripping in Galaxy Cluster Members at 0.3 < z < 0.6
• GLACE survey: OSIRIS/GTC Tuneable Filter H$\alpha$ imaging of the rich galaxy cluster ZwCl 0024.0+1652 at z = 0.395. Part I -- Survey presentation, TF data reduction techniques and catalogue
• Occurrence of LINER galaxies within the galaxy group environment
• AGNs in Small Galaxy Systems: comparing the main properties of active objects in pairs, triplets and groups
• Cosmic evolution of the incidence of Active Galactic Nuclei in massive clusters: Simulations versus observations
• Overdensity of galaxies in the environment of quasar pairs
• The impact of environmental effects on AGN: a decline in the incidence of ionized outflows
• XXL-HSC: Host properties of X-ray detected AGNs in XXL clusters
• Enhanced AGN Activity in Overdense Galactic Environments at $2<z<4$
• On the relation of host properties and environment of AGN galaxies across the standard optical diagnostic diagram
• Investigating the Impacts of AGN Activities on Dwarf Galaxies with FAST HI Observations