Large-scale environments of star-forming active galactic nuclei: How black hole mass, accretion rate, and luminosity connect to dark matter halos

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Main Authors: Mountrichas, G., Carrera, F. J., Shankar, F., Georgakakis, A.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Mountrichas, G.
Carrera, F. J.
Shankar, F.
Georgakakis, A.
author_facet Mountrichas, G.
Carrera, F. J.
Shankar, F.
Georgakakis, A.
contents Understanding the relative roles of large-scale environment and internal host-galaxy processes in shaping AGN activity is essential for constraining models of black-hole growth and galaxy evolution. We investigate how the environment of X-ray selected active galactic nuclei (AGN) relates to black-hole growth and accretion properties, and whether these introduce an environmental dependence beyond that expected from the host galaxy itself. Combining the XXL and Stripe 82X surveys, we construct samples of 427 broad-line AGN at $0.5<z<1.2$ and more than $20,000$ galaxies, with host-galaxy properties derived consistently using the same spectral energy distribution fitting methodology. Dark matter halo (DMH) masses are inferred from AGN--galaxy cross-correlation functions, while a multivariate nearest-neighbour matching algorithm is used to isolate trends with black-hole mass ($M_{\mathrm{BH}}$), Eddington ratio ($λ_{\mathrm{Edd}}$), and X-ray luminosity ($L_{\mathrm{X}}$) under controlled host-galaxy conditions. Within the uncertainties of the present dataset, X-ray AGN typically reside in halos of $\log(M_{\mathrm{DMH}}/h^{-1}M_\odot)\simeq13$, with no significant variation as a function of $M_{\mathrm{BH}}$, $λ_{\mathrm{Edd}}$, or $L_{\mathrm{X}}$. These results suggest that neither long-term black-hole growth nor short-term accretion variability is strongly linked to large-scale environment, and instead support a scenario in which AGN properties are regulated primarily by internal host-galaxy processes, while large-scale structure sets the broader boundary conditions for gas supply and duty cycle.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_11169
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Large-scale environments of star-forming active galactic nuclei: How black hole mass, accretion rate, and luminosity connect to dark matter halos
Mountrichas, G.
Carrera, F. J.
Shankar, F.
Georgakakis, A.
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Understanding the relative roles of large-scale environment and internal host-galaxy processes in shaping AGN activity is essential for constraining models of black-hole growth and galaxy evolution. We investigate how the environment of X-ray selected active galactic nuclei (AGN) relates to black-hole growth and accretion properties, and whether these introduce an environmental dependence beyond that expected from the host galaxy itself. Combining the XXL and Stripe 82X surveys, we construct samples of 427 broad-line AGN at $0.5<z<1.2$ and more than $20,000$ galaxies, with host-galaxy properties derived consistently using the same spectral energy distribution fitting methodology. Dark matter halo (DMH) masses are inferred from AGN--galaxy cross-correlation functions, while a multivariate nearest-neighbour matching algorithm is used to isolate trends with black-hole mass ($M_{\mathrm{BH}}$), Eddington ratio ($λ_{\mathrm{Edd}}$), and X-ray luminosity ($L_{\mathrm{X}}$) under controlled host-galaxy conditions. Within the uncertainties of the present dataset, X-ray AGN typically reside in halos of $\log(M_{\mathrm{DMH}}/h^{-1}M_\odot)\simeq13$, with no significant variation as a function of $M_{\mathrm{BH}}$, $λ_{\mathrm{Edd}}$, or $L_{\mathrm{X}}$. These results suggest that neither long-term black-hole growth nor short-term accretion variability is strongly linked to large-scale environment, and instead support a scenario in which AGN properties are regulated primarily by internal host-galaxy processes, while large-scale structure sets the broader boundary conditions for gas supply and duty cycle.
title Large-scale environments of star-forming active galactic nuclei: How black hole mass, accretion rate, and luminosity connect to dark matter halos
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.11169