Radio Luminosity Function, Importance of Jet Power, and Radio Properties of Nearby Low-Luminosity Active Galactic Nuclei

Abstract

We present the completed results of a high resolution radio imaging survey of all (around 200) low-luminosity active galactic nuclei (LLAGNs) in the Palomar spectroscopic Sample of all (around 470) nearby bright northern galaxies. The high incidence of pc-scale radio nuclei, with implied brightness temperatures of the order of 10E7 K, and sub-parsec jets argue for accreting black holes in 50% of all LLAGNs; there is no evidence against all LLAGNs being mini-AGNs.The detected parsec-scale radio nuclei are preferentially found in massive ellipticals and in type 1 nuclei (i.e. nuclei with broad Halpha emission). The radio luminosity function (RLF) of Palomar Sample LLAGNs extends three orders of magnitude below, and is continuous with, that of "classical" AGNs.We find marginal evidence for a low-power turnover in the RLF; nevertheless LLAGNs are responsible for a significant fraction of accretion in the local universe. The accretion energy output in LLAGNs is dominated by the energy in the observed jets rather than the radiated bolometric luminosity. The Palomar LLAGNs follow the same scaling between jet power and narrow line region (NLR) luminosity as the parsec to kilo-parsec jets in powerful radio galaxies. Low accretion rates (of 10E-2 to 10E-6 of the Eddington rate) are impliedin both advection- and jet-type models, with evidence for increasing "radio-loudness" with decreasing Eddington fraction. The jets are energetically more significant than supernovae in the LLAGN host galaxies, and are potentially able to dump sufficient energy into the innermost parsecs to significantly slow the accretion inflow. Detailed results can be found in Nagar et al. (2002a) and Nagar et al. (2004, to appear in Astronomy & Astrophysics).