arXiv subjects

Fan Zou

Publications and source records attributed to Fan Zou.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2024

A Rapidly Accreting Active Galactic Nucleus Hidden in a Dust-Obscured Galaxy at $z \sim 0.8$

Dust-obscured galaxies (DOGs) containing central supermassive black holes (SMBHs) that are rapidly accreting (i.e., having high Eddington ratios, $λ_\mathrm{Edd}$) may represent a key phase closest to the peak of both the black-hole and galaxy growth in the coevolution framework for SMBHs and galaxies. In this work, we present a 68 ks XMM-Newton observation of the high-$λ_\mathrm{Edd}$ DOG J1324+4501 at \mbox{$z \sim 0.8$}, which was initially observed by Chandra. We analyze the XMM-Newton spectra jointly with archival Chandra spectra. In performing a detailed \mbox{X-ray} spectral analysis, we find that the source is intrinsically \mbox{X-ray} luminous with $\log (L_\mathrm{X}$/erg s$^{-1}) = 44.71^{+0.08}_{-0.12}$ and heavily obscured with $\log (N_\mathrm{H}/\mathrm{cm}^{-2}) = 23.43^{+0.09}_{-0.13}$. We further utilize UV-to-IR archival photometry to measure and fit the source's spectral energy distribution (SED) to estimate its host-galaxy properties. We present a supplementary comparison sample of 21 \mbox{X-ray} luminous DOGs from the XMM-SERVS survey with sufficient ($> 200$) $0.5-10$ keV counts to perform a similarly detailed X-ray spectral analysis. Of the X-ray luminous DOGs in our sample, we find that J1324+4501 is the most remarkable, possessing one of the highest \mbox{X-ray} luminosities, column densities, and star-formation rates. We demonstrate that J1324+4501 is in an extreme evolutionary stage where SMBH accretion and galaxy growth are at their peaks.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

Dust-Obscured Galaxies in the XMM-SERVS Fields: Selection, Multiwavelength Characterization, and Physical Nature

Dust-obscured galaxies (DOGs) are enshrouded by dust, and many are believed to host accreting supermassive black holes (SMBHs), which makes them unique objects for probing the coevolution of galaxies and SMBHs. We select and characterize DOGs in the $13\,deg^2$ XMM-Spitzer Extragalactic Representative Volume Survey (XMM-SERVS), leveraging the superb multiwavelength data from X-rays to radio. We select 3738 DOGs at $z\approx1.6-2.1$ in XMM-SERVS, while maintaining good data quality without introducing significant bias. This represents the largest DOG sample with thorough multiwavelength source characterization. Spectral energy distribution (SED) modeling shows DOGs are a heterogeneous population consisting of both normal galaxies and active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Our DOGs are massive ($\log M_\bigstar/M_\odot\approx10.7-11.3$), 174 are detected in X-rays, and they are generally radio-quiet systems. X-ray detected DOGs are luminous and are moderately to heavily obscured in X-rays. Stacking analyses for the X-ray undetected DOGs show highly significant average detections. Critically, we compare DOGs with matched galaxy populations. DOGs have similar AGN fractions compared with typical galaxy populations. X-ray detected DOGs have higher $M_\bigstar$ and higher X-ray obscuration, but they are not more star-forming than typical X-ray AGNs. The results potentially challenge the relevance of the merger-driven galaxy-SMBH coevolution framework for X-ray detected DOGs.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

The Cosmic Evolution of the Supermassive Black Hole Population: A Hybrid Observed Accretion and Simulated Mergers Approach

Supermassive black holes (SMBHs) can grow through both accretion and mergers. It is still unclear how SMBHs evolve under these two channels from high redshifts to the SMBH population we observe in the local universe. Observations can directly constrain the accretion channel but cannot effectively constrain mergers yet, while cosmological simulations provide galaxy merger information but can hardly return accretion properties consistent with observations. In this work, we combine the observed accretion channel and the simulated merger channel, taking advantage of both observations and cosmological simulations, to depict a realistic evolution pattern of the SMBH population. With this methodology, we can derive the scaling relation between the black-hole mass ($M_\mathrm{BH}$) and host-galaxy stellar mass ($M_\star$) and the local black-hole mass function (BHMF). Our scaling relation is lower than those based on dynamically measured $M_\mathrm{BH}$, supporting the claim that dynamically measured SMBH samples may be biased. We show that the scaling relation has little redshift evolution. The BHMF steadily increases from $z=4$ to $z=1$ and remains largely unchanged from $z=1$ to $z=0$. The overall SMBH growth is generally dominated by the accretion channel, with possible exceptions at high mass ($M_\mathrm{BH}\gtrsim10^{8}~M_\odot$ or $M_\star\gtrsim10^{11}~M_\odot$) and low redshift ($z\lesssim1$). We also predict that around 25% of the total SMBH mass budget in the local universe may be locked within long-lived, wandering SMBHs, and the wandering mass fraction and wandering SMBH counts increase with $M_\star$.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

The Remarkable X-ray Spectra and Variability of the Ultraluminous Weak-Line Quasar SDSS J1521+5202

We present a focused X-ray and multiwavelength study of the ultraluminous weak-line quasar (WLQ) SDSS J1521+5202, one of the few X-ray weak WLQs that is amenable to basic X-ray spectral and variability investigations. J1521+5202 shows striking X-ray variability during 2006--2023, by up to a factor of $\approx 32$ in 0.5--2 keV flux, and our new 2023 Chandra observation caught it in its brightest X-ray flux state to date. Concurrent infrared/optical observations show only mild variability. The 2023 Chandra spectrum can be acceptably described by a power law with intrinsic X-ray absorption, and it reveals a nominal intrinsic level of X-ray emission relative to its optical/ultraviolet emission. In contrast, an earlier Chandra spectrum from 2013 shows apparent spectral complexity that is not well fit by a variety of models, including ionized-absorption or standard Compton-reflection models. Overall, the observations are consistent with the thick-disk plus outflow model previously advanced for WLQs, where a nominal level of underlying X-ray emission plus variable absorption lead to the remarkable observed X-ray variability. In the case of J1521+5202 it appears likely that the outflow, and not the thick disk itself, lies along our line-of-sight and causes the X-ray absorption.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

Numerical Insights into noise amplification of high-energy mid-infrared supercontinuum generation in normal dispersion multimode fibers

We report on the noise properties of high-energy mid-infrared supercontinuum (MIR-SC) generation in normal dispersion multimode fibers from the numerical perspective. Noise amplification in multi-modes is primarily due to the stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) effect. This leads to the emergence of "incoherent cloud formation" and "incoherent optical wave breaking", similar to those observed in single-mode fibers. Increasing the pump technical noise from 0.1 % to 1 % significantly shortens the lumped coherence length L_C and exacerbates the influence of incoherent broadening dynamics competing with coherent dynamics, resulting in MIR-SC being a strong consistency in the collapse evolution of amplitude noise and phase coherence. To minimize this noise amplification and achieve high-energy low-noise MIR-SC in practical applications, it is essential to use short-pulse pumping with low amplitude noise, ensuring that L_C>>L_OWB (where L_OWB denotes the optical wave breaking length).

physics.optics↗

arXiv2024

Mapping the Growth of Supermassive Black Holes as a Function of Galaxy Stellar Mass and Redshift

The growth of supermassive black holes is strongly linked to their galaxies. It has been shown that the population mean black-hole accretion rate ($\overline{\mathrm{BHAR}}$) primarily correlates with the galaxy stellar mass ($M_\star$) and redshift for the general galaxy population. This work aims to provide the best measurements of $\overline{\mathrm{BHAR}}$ as a function of $M_\star$ and redshift over ranges of $10^{9.5}<M_\star<10^{12}~M_\odot$ and $z<4$. We compile an unprecedentedly large sample with eight thousand active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and 1.3 million normal galaxies from nine high-quality survey fields following a wedding-cake design. We further develop a semiparametric Bayesian method that can reasonably estimate $\overline{\mathrm{BHAR}}$ and the corresponding uncertainties, even for sparsely populated regions in the parameter space. $\overline{\mathrm{BHAR}}$ is constrained by X-ray surveys sampling the AGN accretion power and UV-to-infrared multi-wavelength surveys sampling the galaxy population. Our results can independently predict the X-ray luminosity function (XLF) from the galaxy stellar mass function (SMF), and the prediction is consistent with the observed XLF. We also try adding external constraints from the observed SMF and XLF. We further measure $\overline{\mathrm{BHAR}}$ for star-forming and quiescent galaxies and show that star-forming $\overline{\mathrm{BHAR}}$ is generally larger than or at least comparable to the quiescent $\overline{\mathrm{BHAR}}$.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

Investigating the Star Formation Rates of AGN Hosts Relative to the Star-Forming Main Sequence

A fundamental question in galaxy and black-hole evolution remains how galaxies and their supermassive black holes have evolved together over cosmic time. Specifically, it is still unclear how the position of X-ray active galactic nucleus (AGN) host galaxies with respect to the star-forming main sequence (MS) may change with the X-ray luminosity ($L_\mathrm{X}$) of the AGN or the stellar mass ($M_\star$) of the host galaxy. We use data from XMM-SERVS to probe this issue. XMM-SERVS is covered by the largest medium-depth X-ray survey (with superb supporting multiwavelength data) and thus contains the largest sample to date for study. To ensure consistency, we locally derive the MS from a large reference galaxy sample. In our analysis, we demonstrate that the turnover of the galaxy MS does not allow reliable conclusions to be drawn for high-mass AGNs, and we establish a robust safe regime where the results do not depend upon the choice of MS definition. Under this framework, our results indicate that less-massive AGN host-galaxies ($\log M_\star\sim9.5-10.5$ $M_\odot$) generally possess enhanced SFRs compared to their normal-galaxy counterparts while the more-massive AGN host galaxies ($\log M_\star\sim10.5-11.5$ $M_\odot$) lie on or below the star-forming MS. Further, we propose an empirical model for how the placement of an AGN with respect to the MS (SFR$_{norm}$) evolves as a function of both $M_\star$ and $L_\mathrm{X}$.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2023

Stellar Masses and Star-Formation Rates of Galaxies and AGNs in the eFEDS GAMA09 Field

The eFEDS is a wide $\approx$ 140 deg$^2$ field that has extensive multiwavelength coverage. To improve the utility of the existing data, we use CIGALE to fit source Spectral Energy Distributions (SEDs) from X-rays to far-infrared (FIR) mainly to derive stellar masses (M*) and star-formation rates (SFRs) for normal galaxies and X-ray Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs). The catalog consists of 2,057,027 galaxies and 10,373 X-ray AGNs located in the $\approx$ 60 deg$^2$ GAMA09 sub-field. Comparing our M* with other available catalogs and our SFRs with FIR-derived SFRs, we demonstrate the general reliability of our SED-fitting measurements. Our catalog is publicly available at 10.5281/zenodo.10127224.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2023

Investigation of Stellar Kinematics and Ionized gas Outflows in Local (U)LIRGs

We explore properties of stellar kinematics and ionized gas in a sample of 1106 local (U)LIRGs from the AKARI telescope. We combine data from $Wide-field\ Infrared\ Survey\ Explorer$ (WISE) and Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 13 (DR13) to fit the spectral energy distribution (SED) of each source to constrain the contribution of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) to the total IR luminosity and estimate physical parameters such as stellar mass and star-formation rate (SFR). We split our sample into AGNs and weak/non-AGNs. We find that our sample is considerably above the main sequence. The highest SFRs and stellar masses are associated with ULIRGs. We also fit the H$β$ and H$α$ regions to characterize the outflows. We find that the incidence of ionized gas outflows in AGN (U)LIRGs ($\sim$ 72\%) is much higher than that in weak/non-AGN ones ($\sim$ 39\%). The AGN ULIRGs have extreme outflow velocities (up to $\sim$ 2300 km s$^{-1}$) and high mass-outflow rates (up to $\sim$ 60 \solarm~yr$^{-1}$). Our results suggest that starbursts are insufficient to produce such powerful outflows. We explore the correlations of SFR and specific SFR (sSFR) with ionized gas outflows. We find that AGN hosts with the highest SFRs exhibit a negative correlation between outflow velocity and sSFR. Therefore, in AGNs containing large amounts of gas, the negative feedback scenario might be suggested.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2023

Identification and Characterization of a Large Sample of Distant Active Dwarf Galaxies in XMM-SERVS

Active dwarf galaxies are important because they contribute to the evolution of dwarf galaxies and can reveal their hosted massive black holes. However, the sample size of such sources beyond the local universe is still highly limited. In this work, we search for active dwarf galaxies in the recently completed XMM-Spitzer Extragalactic Representative Volume Survey (XMM-SERVS). XMM-SERVS is currently the largest medium-depth X-ray survey covering 13 $\mathrm{deg}^2$ in three extragalactic fields, which all have well-characterized multi-wavelength information. After considering several factors that may lead to misidentifications, we identify 73 active dwarf galaxies at $z<1$, which constitutes the currently largest X-ray-selected sample beyond the local universe. Our sources are generally less obscured than predictions based on the massive-AGN (active galactic nucleus) X-ray luminosity function and have a low radio-excess fraction. We find that our sources reside in similar environments to inactive dwarf galaxies. We further quantify the accretion distribution of the dwarf-galaxy population after considering various selection effects and find that it decreases with X-ray luminosity, but redshift evolution cannot be statistically confirmed. Depending upon how we define an AGN, the active fraction may or may not show a strong dependence on stellar mass. Their Eddington ratios and X-ray bolometric corrections significantly deviate from the expected relation, which is likely caused by several large underlying systematic biases when estimating the relevant parameters for dwarf galaxies. Throughout this work, we also highlight problems in reliably measuring photometric redshifts and overcoming strong selection effects for distant active dwarf galaxies.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2023

Radio AGN Selection and Characterization in Three Deep-Drilling Fields of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time

The Australia Telescope Large Area Survey (ATLAS) and the VLA survey in the XMM-LSS/VIDEO deep field provide deep ($\approx 15$ $μ$Jybeam$^{-1}$) and high-resolution ($\approx$ 4.5--8 arcsec) radio coverage of the three XMM-SERVS fields (W-CDF-S, ELAIS-S1, and XMM-LSS). These data cover a total sky area of 11.3 deg$^2$ and contain $\approx 11000$ radio components. Furthermore, about 3~deg$^2$ of the XMM-LSS field also has deeper MIGHTEE data that achieve a median RMS of 5.6 $μ$Jy beam$^{-1}$ and detect more than 20000 radio sources. We analyze all these radio data and find source counterparts at other wavebands utilizing deep optical and IR surveys. The nature of these radio sources is studied using radio-band properties (spectral slope and morphology), and the IR-radio correlation. %and spectral energy distribution. Radio AGNs are selected and compared with those selected using other methods (e.g. X-ray). We found 1656 new AGNs that were not selected using X-ray and/or MIR methods. We constrain the FIR-to-UV SEDs of radio AGNs using {\sc cigale} and investigate the dependence of radio AGN fraction upon galaxy stellar mass and star-formation rate.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2023

The Most Obscured AGNs in the XMM-SERVS Fields

We perform X-ray spectral analyses to derive characteristics (e.g., column density, X-ray luminosity) of $\approx$10,200 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) in the XMM-Spitzer Extragalactic Representative Volume Survey (XMM-SERVS), which was designed to investigate the growth of supermassive black holes across a wide dynamic range of cosmic environments. Using physical torus models (e.g., Borus02) and a Bayesian approach, we uncover 22 representative Compton-thick (CT; $N_{\rm H} \;>\; 1.5\times10^{24}\; \rm cm^{-2}$) AGN candidates with good signal-to-noise ratios as well as a large sample of 136 heavily obscured AGNs. We also find an increasing CT fraction (\fct ) from low ($z<0.75$) to high ($z>0.75$) redshift. Our CT candidates tend to show hard X-ray spectral shapes and dust extinction in their SED fits, which may shed light on the connection between AGN obscuration and host-galaxy evolution.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2022

Reform and Practice of Computer Application Technology Major Construction and Development in Higher Vocational Colleges in China -- Taking Jiangxi Vocational College of Applied Technology as An Example

This study takes the development path of computer application technology specialty construction in Higher Vocational Colleges under the background of high-level higher vocational schools and specialty construction plan with Chinese characteristics (double high plan) as the main research object, and puts forward the core concept of computer application technology specialty construction and development in Higher Vocational Colleges in China through the practice of computer application technology specialty construction and development reform in recent years The main measures and construction objectives provide specific experience and solutions for deepening the reform of computer application technology specialty in higher vocational colleges.

cs.CY↗

arXiv2022

The Nature of Luminous Quasars with Very Large C IV Equivalent Widths

We report results for a complete sample of ten luminous radio-quiet quasars with large C IV equivalent widths (EW > 150 A). For 8/10 we performed Chandra snapshot observations. We find that, in addition to the enhanced C IV line EW, their He II and Mg II lines are enhanced, but the C III] line is not. Their X-ray emission is substantially stronger than expected from their ultraviolet luminosity. Additionally, these large C IV EW quasars show small C IV blueshifts and possibly low Eddington ratios, suggesting they are "extreme low Eigenvector 1 (EV1)" quasars. The mean excess He II EW is well-matched by Radiation Pressure Compression (RPC) photoionization models, with the harder aox ionizing spectrum. However, these results do not reproduce well the enhancement pattern of the C IV, Mg II, and C III] EWs, or the observed high C IV/Mg II ratio. RPC calculations indicate that the C IV/Mg II line ratio is an effective metallicity indicator, and models with sub-Solar metallicity gas and a hard ionizing continuum reproduce well the enhancement pattern of all four ultraviolet lines. We find that the C IV/Mg II line ratio in quasars is generally correlated with the excess X-ray emission. Extremely high EV1 quasars are characterized by high metallicity and suppressed X-ray emission. The underlying mechanism relating gas metallicity and X-ray emission is not clear, but may be related to radiation-pressure driven disk winds, which are enhanced at high metallicity, and consequent mass loading reducing coronal X-ray emission.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2022

Spectral Energy Distributions in Three Deep-Drilling Fields of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time: Source Classification and Galaxy Properties

W-CDF-S, ELAIS-S1, and XMM-LSS will be three Deep-Drilling Fields (DDFs) of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), but their extensive multi-wavelength data have not been fully utilized as done in the COSMOS field, another LSST DDF. To prepare for future science, we fit source spectral energy distributions (SEDs) from X-ray to far-infrared in these three fields mainly to derive galaxy stellar masses and star-formation rates. We use CIGALE v2022.0, a code that has been regularly developed and evaluated, for the SED fitting. Our catalog includes 0.8 million sources covering $4.9~\mathrm{deg^2}$ in W-CDF-S, 0.8 million sources covering $3.4~\mathrm{deg^2}$ in ELAIS-S1, and 1.2 million sources covering $4.9~\mathrm{deg^2}$ in XMM-LSS. Besides fitting normal galaxies, we also select candidates that may host active galactic nuclei (AGNs) or are experiencing recent star-formation variations and use models specifically designed for these sources to fit their SEDs; this increases the utility of our catalog for various projects in the future. We calibrate our measurements by comparison with those in well-studied smaller regions and briefly discuss the implications of our results. We also perform detailed tests of the completeness and purity of SED-selected AGNs. Our data can be retrieved from a public website.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2021

Deep learning piston aberration control of fiber laser phased array by spiral phase modulation

The stochastic parallel gradient descent (SPGD) algorithm is usually employed as the control strategy for phase-locking in fiber laser phased array systems. However, the convergence speed of the SPGD algorithm will slow down as the number of array elements increases. To improve the control bandwidth, the convolutional neural network is introduced to quickly calculate the initial piston aberration in a single step. In addition, the irrationality of the commonly used Mean Square Error (MSE) evaluation function in existing convolutional neural networks is analyzed. A new evaluation function NPCD (Normalized Phase Cosine Distance) is proposed to improve the accuracy of the neural networks. The results show that the piston aberration residual is 0.005 and the power in the bucket (PIB) is 0.993 after accurate preliminary compensation, which means that the system directly enters the co-phase state. We also demonstrate the robustness and scalability by adding additional disturbance and expanding the scale of the array.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2021

Photometric Redshifts in the W-CDF-S and ELAIS-S1 Fields Based on Forced Photometry from 0.36 -- 4.5 Microns

The W-CDF-S and ELAIS-S1 fields will be two of the LSST Deep Drilling fields, but the availability of spectroscopic redshifts within these two fields is still limited on deg^2 scales. To prepare for future science, we use EAZY to estimate photometric redshifts (photo-zs) in these two fields based on forced-photometry catalogs. Our photo-z catalog consists of ~0.8 million sources covering 4.9 deg^2 in W-CDF-S and ~0.8 million sources covering 3.4 deg^2 in ELAIS-S1, among which there are ~0.6 (W-CDF-S) and ~0.4 (ELAIS-S1) million sources having signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) > 5 detections in more than 5 bands. By comparing photo-zs and available spectroscopic redshifts, we demonstrate the general reliability of our photo-z measurements. Our photo-z catalog is publicly available at \doi{10.5281/zenodo.4603178}.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2021

A Multi-Band Forced-Photometry Catalog in the ELAIS-S1 Field

The ELAIS-S1 field will be an LSST Deep Drilling field, and it also has extensive multiwavelength coverage. To improve the utility of the existing data, we use The Tractor to perform forced-photometry measurements in this field. We compile data in 16 bands from the DeepDrill, VIDEO, DES, ESIS, and VOICE surveys. Using a priori information from the high-resolution fiducial images in VIDEO, we model the images in other bands and generate a forced-photometry catalog. This technique enables consistency throughout different surveys, deblends sources from low-resolution images, extends photometric measurements to a fainter magnitude regime, and improves photometric-redshift estimates. Our catalog contains over 0.8 million sources covering a 3.4 deg2 area in the VIDEO footprint and is available at 10.5281/zenodo.4540178.

astro-ph.GA↗