The properties of AGN in dwarf galaxies identified via SED fitting

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Bichang'a, B., Kaviraj, S., Lazar, I., Jackson, R. A., Das, S., Smith, D. J. B., Watkins, A. E., Martin, G.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Bichang'a, B.
Kaviraj, S.
Lazar, I.
Jackson, R. A.
Das, S.
Smith, D. J. B.
Watkins, A. E.
Martin, G.
author_facet Bichang'a, B.
Kaviraj, S.
Lazar, I.
Jackson, R. A.
Das, S.
Smith, D. J. B.
Watkins, A. E.
Martin, G.
contents Given their dominance of the galaxy number density, dwarf galaxies are central to our understanding of galaxy formation. While the incidence of AGN and their impact on galaxy evolution has been extensively studied in massive galaxies, much less is known about the role of AGN in the evolution of dwarfs. We search for radiatively-efficient AGN in the nearby (0.1 < z < 0.3) dwarf (10^8 MSun < M < 10^10 MSun) population, using SED fitting (via Prospector) applied to deep ultraviolet to mid-infrared photometry of 508 dwarf galaxies. Around a third (32 +/- 2 per cent) of our dwarfs show signs of AGN activity. We compare the properties of our dwarf AGN to control samples, constructed from non-AGN, which have the same distributions of redshift and stellar mass as their AGN counterparts. KS tests between the AGN and control distributions indicates that the AGN do not show differences in their distances to nodes, filaments and nearby massive galaxies from their control counterparts. This indicates that AGN triggering in the dwarf regime is not strongly correlated with local environment. The fraction of AGN hosts with early-type morphology and those that are interacting are also indistinguishable from the controls within the uncertainties, suggesting that interactions do not play a significant role in inducing AGN activity in our sample. Finally, the star formation activity in dwarf AGN is only slightly lower than that in their control counterparts, suggesting that the presence of radiatively-efficient AGN does not lead to significant, prompt quenching of star formation in these systems.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2406_11962
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The properties of AGN in dwarf galaxies identified via SED fitting
Bichang'a, B.
Kaviraj, S.
Lazar, I.
Jackson, R. A.
Das, S.
Smith, D. J. B.
Watkins, A. E.
Martin, G.
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Given their dominance of the galaxy number density, dwarf galaxies are central to our understanding of galaxy formation. While the incidence of AGN and their impact on galaxy evolution has been extensively studied in massive galaxies, much less is known about the role of AGN in the evolution of dwarfs. We search for radiatively-efficient AGN in the nearby (0.1 < z < 0.3) dwarf (10^8 MSun < M < 10^10 MSun) population, using SED fitting (via Prospector) applied to deep ultraviolet to mid-infrared photometry of 508 dwarf galaxies. Around a third (32 +/- 2 per cent) of our dwarfs show signs of AGN activity. We compare the properties of our dwarf AGN to control samples, constructed from non-AGN, which have the same distributions of redshift and stellar mass as their AGN counterparts. KS tests between the AGN and control distributions indicates that the AGN do not show differences in their distances to nodes, filaments and nearby massive galaxies from their control counterparts. This indicates that AGN triggering in the dwarf regime is not strongly correlated with local environment. The fraction of AGN hosts with early-type morphology and those that are interacting are also indistinguishable from the controls within the uncertainties, suggesting that interactions do not play a significant role in inducing AGN activity in our sample. Finally, the star formation activity in dwarf AGN is only slightly lower than that in their control counterparts, suggesting that the presence of radiatively-efficient AGN does not lead to significant, prompt quenching of star formation in these systems.
title The properties of AGN in dwarf galaxies identified via SED fitting
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.11962