arXiv subjects

Elise Laird

Publications and source records attributed to Elise Laird.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2015

X-ray Surface Brightness Profiles of Active Galactic Nuclei in the Extended Groth Strip: Implications for AGN Feedback

Using data from the All Wavelength Extended Groth Strip International Survey (AEGIS) we statistically detect the extended X-ray emission in the interstellar medium (ISM)/intra-cluster medium (ICM) in both active and normal galaxies at 0.3 <= z <= 1.3. For both active galactic nuclei (AGN) host galaxy and normal galaxy samples that are matched in restframe color, luminosity, and redshift distribution, we tentatively detect excess X-ray emission at scales of 1--10 arcsec at a few sigma significance in the surface brightness profiles. The exact significance of this detection is sensitive to the true characterization of Chandra's point spread function. The observed excess in the surface brightness profiles is suggestive of lower extended emission in AGN hosts compared to normal galaxies. This is qualitatively similar to theoretical predictions of the X-ray surface brightness profile from AGN feedback models, where feedback from AGN is likely to evacuate the gas from the center of the galaxy/cluster. We propose that AGN that are intrinsically under-luminous in X-rays, but have equivalent bolometric luminosities to our sources will be the ideal sample to study more robustly the effect of AGN feedback on diffuse ISM/ICM gas.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2015

X-ray Emission in Non-AGN Galaxies at z ~ 1

Using data from the DEEP2 galaxy redshift survey and the All Wavelength Extended Groth Strip International Survey we obtain stacked X-ray maps of galaxies at 0.7 < z < 1.0 as a function of stellar mass. We compute the total X-ray counts of these galaxies and show that in the soft band (0.5--2,kev) there exists a significant correlation between galaxy X-ray counts and stellar mass at these redshifts. The best-fit relation between X-ray counts and stellar mass can be characterized by a power law with a slope of 0.58 +/- 0.1. We do not find any correlation between stellar mass and X-ray luminosities in the hard (2--7,kev) and ultra-hard (4--7,kev) bands. The derived hardness ratios of our galaxies suggest that the X-ray emission is degenerate between two spectral models, namely point-like power-law emission and extended plasma emission in the interstellar medium. This is similar to what has been observed in low redshift galaxies. Using a simple spectral model where half of the emission comes from power-law sources and the other half from the extended hot halo we derive the X-ray luminosities of our galaxies. The soft X-ray luminosities of our galaxies lie in the range 10^39-8x10^40, ergs/s. Dividing our galaxy sample by the criteria U-B > 1, we find no evidence that our results for X-ray scaling relations depend on optical color.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2012

X-ray properties of BzK-selected galaxies in the deepest X-ray fields

We investigate the X-ray properties of BzK-selected galaxies at z $\sim$ 2 using deep X-ray data in the Chandra Deep Field South and North (CDFS and CDFN). Of these we directly detect in X-rays 49 sBzKs in CDFS and 32 sBzKs in CDFN. Stacking the undetected sources also reveals a significant X-ray signal. Investigating the X-ray detection rate and stacked flux versus the IR excess parameter (i.e. SFRtotal/SFRUV,corr), we find no strong evidence for an increased X-ray detection rate, or a harder X-ray spectrum in IR Excess sBzKs. This is particularly the case when one accounts for the strong correlation between the IR excess parameter and the bolometric IR luminosity (LIR), e.g. when controlling for LIR, the IR Non-Excess sBzKs show a detection rate at least as high. While both direct detections and stacking suggest that the AGN fraction in sBzK galaxies is high, there is no clear evidence for widespread Compton thick activity in either the sBzK population generally, or the IR Excess sBzK subsample. The very hard X-ray signal obtained for the latter in earlier work was most likely contaminated by a few hard X-ray sources now directly detected in deeper X-ray data. The X-ray detection fraction of passive BzK galaxies in our sample is if anything higher than that of sBZKs, so there is no evidence for coeval black hole growth and star formation from X-ray analysis of the BzK populations. Because increased AGN activity in the IR excess population is not indicated by our X-ray analysis, it appears that the bulk of the IR Excess sBzK population are luminous star-forming galaxies whose SFRs are either overestimated at 24 microns, underestimated in the UV, or both. This conclusion reinforces recent results from Herschel which show similar effects.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2007

AEGIS: New Evidence Linking Active Galactic Nuclei to the Quenching of Star Formation

Utilizing Chandra X-ray observations in the All-wavelength Extended Groth Strip International Survey (AEGIS) we identify 241 X-ray selected Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs, L > 10^{42} ergs/s) and study the properties of their host galaxies in the range 0.4 < z < 1.4. By making use of infrared photometry from Palomar Observatory and BRI imaging from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, we estimate AGN host galaxy stellar masses and show that both stellar mass and photometric redshift estimates (where necessary) are robust to the possible contamination from AGNs in our X-ray selected sample. Accounting for the photometric and X-ray sensitivity limits of the survey, we construct the stellar mass function of X-ray selected AGN host galaxies and find that their abundance decreases by a factor of ~2 since z~1, but remains roughly flat as a function of stellar mass. We compare the abundance of AGN hosts to the rate of star formation quenching observed in the total galaxy population. If the timescale for X-ray detectable AGN activity is roughly 0.5-1 Gyr--as suggested by black hole demographics and recent simulations--then we deduce that the inferred AGN "trigger" rate matches the star formation quenching rate, suggesting a link between these phenomena. However, given the large range of nuclear accretion rates we infer for the most massive and red hosts, X-ray selected AGNs may not be directly responsible for quenching star formation.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2006

The DEEP Groth Strip Survey VI. Spectroscopic, Variability, and X-ray Detection of AGN

We identify active galactic nuclei (AGN) in the Groth-Westphal Survey Strip (GSS) using the independent and complementary selection techniques of optical spectroscopy and photometric variability. We discuss the X-ray properties of these AGN using Chandra/XMM data for this region. From a sample of 576 galaxies with high quality spectra we identify 31 galaxies with AGN signatures. Seven of these have broad emission lines (Type 1 AGNs). We also identify 26 galaxies displaying nuclear variability in HST WFPC2 images of the GSS separated by ~7 years. The primary overlap of the two selected AGN samples is the set of broad-line AGNs, of which 80% appear as variable. Only a few narrow-line AGNs approach the variability threshold. The broad-line AGNs have an average redshift of z~1.1 while the other spectroscopic AGNs have redshifts closer to the mean of the general galaxy population (z~0.7). Eighty percent of the identified broad-line AGNs are detected in X-rays and these are among the most luminous X-ray sources in the GSS. Only one narrow-line AGN is X-ray detected. Of the variable nuclei galaxies within the X-ray survey, 27% are X-ray detected. We find that 1.9+/-0.6% of GSS galaxies to V=24 are broad-line AGNs, 1.4+/-0.5% are narrow-line AGNs, and 4.5+/-1.4% contain variable nuclei. The fraction of spectroscopically identified BLAGNs and NLAGNs at z~1 reveals a marginally significant increase of 1.3+/-0.9% when compared to the local population.

astro-ph↗