Chemical enrichment and accretion of nitrogen-loud quasars [GA]

We present rest-frame optical spectra of 12 nitrogen-loud quasars at z ~ 2.2, whose rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) spectra show strong nitrogen broad emission lines. To investigate their narrow-line region (NLR) metallicities, we measure the equivalent width (EW) of the [OIII]5007 emission line: if the NLR metallicity is remarkably high as suggested by strong UV nitrogen lines, the [OIII]5007 line flux should be very week due to the low equilibrium temperature of the ionized gas owing to significant metal cooling. In the result, we found that our spectra show moderate EW of the [OIII]5007 line similar to general quasars. This indicates nitrogen-loud quasars do not have extremely metal-rich gas clouds in NLRs. This suggests that strong nitrogen lines from broad-line regions (BLRs) are originated by exceptionally high abundances of nitrogen relative to oxygen without very high BLR metallicities. This result indicates that broad-emission lines of nitrogen are not good indicators of the BLR metallicity in some cases. On the other hand, we also investigate virial black-hole masses and Eddington ratios by using the Hbeta and CIV1549 lines for our sample. As a result, we found that black-hole masses and Eddington ratios of nitrogen-loud quasars tend to be low and high relative to normal quasars, suggesting that nitrogen-loud quasars seem to be in a rapidly-accreting phase. This can be explained in terms of a positive correlation between Eddington ratios and nitrogen abundances of quasars, that is probably caused by the connection between the mass accretion onto black holes and nuclear star formation.

K. Matsuoka, T. Nagao, R. Maiolino, et. al.
Fri, 22 Sep 17
20/75

Comments: 11 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in A&A

Modeling the Infrared Reverberation Response of the Circumnuclear Dusty Torus in AGN: The Effects of Cloud Orientation and Anisotropic Illumination [GA]

The obscuring circumnuclear torus of dusty molecular gas is one of the major components of active galactic nuclei (AGN). The torus can be studied by analyzing the time response of its infrared (IR) dust emission to variations in the AGN continuum luminosity, a technique known as reverberation mapping. The IR response is the convolution of the AGN ultraviolet/optical light curve with a transfer function that contains information about the size, geometry, and structure of the torus. Here, we describe a new computer model that simulates the reverberation response of a clumpy torus. Given an input optical light curve, the code computes the emission of a 3D ensemble of dust clouds as a function of time at selected IR wavelengths, taking into account light travel delays. We present simulated dust emission responses at 3.6, 4.5, and 30 $\mu$m that explore the effects of various geometrical and structural properties, dust cloud orientation, and anisotropy of the illuminating radiation field. We also briefly explore the effects of cloud shadowing (clouds are shielded from the AGN continuum source). Example synthetic light curves have also been generated, using the observed optical light curve of the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 6418 as the input. The torus response is strongly wavelength-dependent, due to the gradient in cloud surface temperature within the torus, and because the cloud emission is strongly anisotropic at shorter wavelengths. Anisotropic illumination of the torus also significantly modifies the torus response, reducing the lag between the IR and optical variations.

T. Almeyda, A. Robinson, M. Richmond, et. al.
Fri, 22 Sep 17
25/75

Comments: 17 pages, 14 figures, published in the Astrophysical Journal (2017 July 1)

On the Intermediate Line Region in AGNs [GA]

In this paper we explore the intermediate line region (ILR) by using the photoionisation simulations of the gas clouds present at different radial distances from the center, corresponding to the locations from BLR out to NLR in four types of AGNs. We let for the presence of dust whenever conditions allow for dust existence. All spectral shapes are taken from the recent multi-wavelength campaigns. The cloud density decreases with distance as a power law. We found that the slope of the power law density profile does not affect the line emissivity radial profiles of major emission lines: H${\beta}$, He~II, Mg~II, C~III] ~and [O~III]. When the density of the cloud at the sublimation radius is as high as 10$^{11.5}$ cm$^{-3}$, the ILR should clearly be seen in the observations independently of the shape of the illuminating radiation. Moreover, our result is valid for low ionization nuclear emission regions of active galaxies.

T. Adhikari, A. Rozanska, K. Hryniewicz, et. al.
Fri, 22 Sep 17
27/75

Comments: 8 pages, 2 figures, Accepted for publication in the Journal Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences

Galaxy evolution in protoclusters [GA]

We investigate galaxy evolution in protoclusters using a semi-analytic model applied to the Millennium Simulation, scaled to a Planck cosmology. We show that the model reproduces the observed behaviour of the star formation history (SFH) both in protoclusters and the field. The rate of star formation peaks $\sim0.7\,{\rm Gyr}$ earlier in protoclusters than in the field and declines more rapidly afterwards. This results in protocluster galaxies forming significantly earlier: 80% of their stellar mass is already formed by $z=1.4$, but only 45% of the field stellar mass has formed by this time. The model predicts that field and protocluster galaxies have similar average specific star-formation rates (sSFR) at $z>3$, and we find evidence of an enhancement of star formation in the dense protoclusters at early times. At $z<3$, protoclusters have lower sSFRs, resulting in the disparity between the SFHs. We show that the stellar mass functions of protoclusters are top-heavy compared with the field due to the early formation of massive galaxies, and the disruption and merging of low-mass satellite galaxies in the main haloes. The fundamental cause of the different SFHs and mass functions is that dark matter haloes are biased tracers of the dark matter density field: the high density of haloes and the top-heavy halo mass function in protoclusters result in the early formation then rapid merging and quenching of galaxies. We compare our results with observations from the literature, and highlight which observables provide the most informative tests of galaxy formation.

S. Muldrew, N. Hatch and E. Cooke
Fri, 22 Sep 17
37/75

Comments: 14 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

A census of radio-selected AGN on the COSMOS field and of their FIR properties [GA]

We use the new catalogue by Laigle et al. (2016) to provide a full census of VLA-COSMOS radio sources. We identify 90% of such sources and sub-divide them into AGN and star-forming galaxies on the basis of their radio luminosity. The AGN sample is COMPLETE with respect to radio selection at all z<3.5. Out of 704 AGN, 272 have a counterpart in the Herschel maps. By exploiting the better statistics of the new sample, we confirm the results of Magliocchetti et al. (2014): the probability for a radio-selected AGN to be detected at FIR wavelengths is both a function of radio luminosity and redshift, whereby powerful sources are more likely FIR emitters at earlier epochs. Such an emission is due to star-forming processes within the host galaxy. FIR emitters and non-FIR emitters only differentiate in the z<1 universe. At higher redshifts they are indistinguishable from each other, as there is no difference between FIR-emitting AGN and star-forming galaxies. Lastly, we focus on radio AGN which show AGN emission at other wavelengths. We find that MIR emission is mainly associated with ongoing star-formation and with sources which are smaller, younger and more radio luminous than the average parent population. X-ray emitters instead preferentially appear in more massive and older galaxies. We can therefore envisage an evolutionary track whereby the first phase of a radio-active AGN and of its host galaxy is associated with MIR emission, while at later stages the source becomes only active at radio wavelengths and possibly also in the X-ray.

M. Magliocchetti, P. Popesso, M. Brusa, et. al.
Fri, 22 Sep 17
39/75

Comments: 15 pages, 17 figures, to appear in MNRAS

A Detached Protostellar Disk around a $\sim$0.2 $M_{\odot}$ protostar in a Possible Site of a Multiple Star Formation in a Dynamical Environment in Taurus [GA]

We report ALMA observations in 0.87 mm continuum and $^{12}$CO ($J$ = 3–2) toward a very low-luminosity ($<$0.1 $L_{\odot}$) protostar, which is deeply embedded in one of the densest core, MC27/L1521F, in Taurus with an indication of multiple star formation in a highly dynamical environment. The beam size corresponds to $\sim$20 AU, and we have clearly detected blueshifted/redshifted gas in $^{12}$CO associated with the protostar. The spatial/velocity distributions of the gas show there is a rotating disk with a size scale of $\sim$10 AU, a disk mass of $\sim$10$^{-4}$ $M_{\odot}$ and a central stellar mass of $\sim$0.2 $M_{\odot}$. The observed disk seems to be detachedfrom the surrounding dense gas although it is still embedded at the center of the core whose density is $\sim$10$^{6}$ cm$^{-3}$. The current low outflow activity and the very-low luminosity indicate that the mass accretion rate onto the protostar is extremely low in spite of a very early stage of star formation. We may be witnessing the final stage of the formation of $\sim$0.2 $M_{\odot}$ protostar. However, we cannot explain the observed low-luminosity with the standard pre-main-sequence evolutionary track, unless we assume cold accretion with an extremely small initial radius of the protostar ($\sim$0.65 $R_\odot$). These facts may challenge our current understanding of the low-mass star formation, in particular, the mass accretion process onto the protostar and the circumstellar disk.

K. Tokuda, T. Onishi, K. Saigo, et. al.
Fri, 22 Sep 17
59/75

Comments: 9 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal

Multiple origins for the DLA at $z_\mathrm{abs}=0.313$ toward PKS 1127$-$145 indicated by a complex dust depletion pattern of Ca, Ti, and Mn [GA]

We investigate the dust depletion properties of optically thick gas in and around galaxies and its origin we study in detail the dust depletion patterns of Ti, Mn, and Ca in the multi-component damped Lyman-$\alpha$ (DLA) absorber at $z_\mathrm{abs}=0.313$ toward the quasar PKS 1127$-$145.} We performed a detailed spectral analysis of the absorption profiles of CaII, MnII, TiII, and NaI associated with the DLA toward PKS 1127$-$145, based on optical high-resolution data obtained with the UVES instrument at the Very Large Telescope (VLT). We obtained column densities and Doppler-parameters for the ions listed above and determine their gas-phase abundances, from which we conclude on their dust depletion properties. We compared the Ca and Ti depletion properties of this DLA with that of other DLAs. One of the six analyzed absorption components shows a striking underabundance of Ti and Mn in the gas-phase, indicating the effect of dust depletion for these elements and a locally enhanced dust-to-gas ratio. In this DLA and in other similar absorbers, the MnII abundance follows that of TiII very closely, implying that both ions are equally sensitive to the dust depletion effects. Our analysis indicates that the DLA toward PKS 1127$-$145 has multiple origins. With its narrow line width and its strong dust depletion, component 3 points toward the presence of a neutral gas disk from a faint LSB galaxy in front of PKS 1127$-$145, while the other, more diffuse and dust-poor, absorption components possibly are related to tidal gas features from the interaction between the various, optically confirmed galaxy-group members. In general, the Mn/CaII ratio in sub-DLAs and DLAs possibly serves as an important indicator to discriminate between dust-rich and dust-poor in neutral gas in and around galaxies.

C. Guber, P. Richter and M. Wendt
Fri, 22 Sep 17
60/75

Comments: 10 pages, 8 figures, accepted for A&A