The Co-Evolution of Star-Forming Galaxies and Their Supermassive Black Holes Across Cosmic Time
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The co-evolution of star-forming galaxies and their supermassive black holes across cosmic time Jo~aoCalhau Physics Department of Physics Lancaster University November 2019 A thesis submitted to Lancaster University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Science and Technology Supervised by: Dr. David Sobral Abstract It is now generally accepted that galaxies host supermassive black holes in their centres. Observational evidence for a correlation be- tween the supermassive black hole and the host galaxy properties are numerous, such as the relation between the mass of the black hole and the mass of the galaxy's bulge (MBH-Mbulge relation) and between the black hole mass and the velocity dispersion of a galaxy (MBH-σ rela- tion). However, attempts at correlating the growth of galaxies (star formation rate - SFR) with the growth of their supermassive black holes (black hole accretion rate - BHAR) yield conflicting results, de- pending on the properties of the selected sample. Furthermore, most samples used when studying the activity of SMBHs are taken from AGN-selected populations, which may introduce biases by restricting the studies to only high luminosity/high accreting sources. This thesis takes an alternative approach and probes the relation be- tween the SFR and BHAR for samples of star-forming galaxies across cosmic time from z 0:4 to z 6. It makes use of the High Red- ∼ ∼ shift Emission Line Survey (HiZELS) and the Slicing COSMOS with 4000 Lyman-α emitters (SC4K survey) to select a large sample of line- emitting star-forming galaxies (672 Hα emitters - HAEs - at z = 0:4 2 − for HiZELS and 3700 Lyman-α emitters - LAEs - at z = 2 6 for − SC4K). Making use of stacking and SED fitting techniques, as well as direct source extraction by using the publicly available data in the X-rays, radio and FIR bands for the COSMOS field, this work es- timates the BHARs and SFRs of star-forming galaxies and provides additional information on the SMBH/SF processes of star-forming galaxies across cosmic time. The results show that most star-forming galaxies at z < 2 do not have −1 AGN activity of note (average BHAR = 0:001 0:01 M yr ) with − −1 −1 SFRs ranging from 2 M yr at z = 0:4 to 40 M yr at z = 2:23, which means HAEs grow approximately 1000 times faster than their SMBHs. This BHAR/SFR ratio shows little to no evolution with redshift and has very little dependence on galaxy mass. Lyα emitters at higher redshifts (z = 2 6) are also shown to be − mostly star-forming galaxies with only 6:8% being detected in the ∼ X-rays. The X-ray luminosity of LAEs correlates with Lyα luminos- ity, suggesting Lyα acts as a tracer of black hole accretion. However this only happens for X-ray detected LAEs and most LAEs do not show this correlation. Most LAEs ( 93%) are not detected in the ∼ −1 X-rays, even when stacking, and have BHAR < 0:017 M yr . Only 3% of LAEs are detected in the radio and their 1.4 GHz luminosity ∼ is consistent with AGN sources. However, no correlation with Lyα is found. In further contrast with the X-ray results, there are significant detections (> 3σ) when stacking in the radio while excluding direct detections, allowing for the use of radio as an additional SFR estima- tor. The results from radio are found to be consistent with FIR and −1 Lyα results (total median SFR 7:2 M yr ). ∼ The BHAR/SFR ratio of LAEs (log (M_ =SFR) < 2:7) is compa- 10 BH − rable to that of lower redshift HAEs (log (M_ =SFR) = 3:3) and 10 BH − sets a trend where star-forming galaxies grow approximately 1000 times faster than their SMBHs. This thesis results are therefore con- sistent with a scenario of co-evolution between supermassive black holes and their host galaxies. To my Father, Mother and Sister. A long time has passed between looking up at stars from the scaffolding in our backyard to the completion of this thesis. Acknowledgements There would be no thesis, indeed no PhD, were it not for my super- visor David Sobral. The first acknowledgement must go to him, for all the help, guidance and patience he's shown throughout this en- deavour. He never gave up on trying to help me improve, even when I kept getting sidetracked or lost in some self-created problem. I am particularly thankful for all the observational opportunities he pro- vided during my PhD, including a trip to the Very Large Telescope in Chile, which remains the highlight of my short career and the ful- filling of a life-long dream. Thank you for giving this opportunity to a country-boy with no concept of what being a scientist really was. A special thanks as well to Catarina, for the bus rides to the University and for always receiving me so well whenever David and her invited me to their home. I also wish to thank the Lancaster University's Observational Astro- physics group for accepting me for the PhD and for the great experi- ence that was working there. I have never before felt more welcome in a research group and the good-natured fun and discussions during the many group lunches and tea-meetings helped me cementing the idea that science is fun. Thanks in particular to Professor Isobel Hook and Steven Williams for helping me settle in the University and the UK life in general, especially in first year. And of course to Drs. John Stott, Brooke Simmons and Julie Wardlow who, in conjunction with the previously mentioned Professor Hook and Dr. Sobral, put up with my antics in good fun. Thank you as well to my PhD siblings in the office and outside of it. Sergio Santos gets a special mention for sharing the rent of a house with me and managing not to go insane in the three years it took for me to finish the PhD. He is a good friend. Also thanks to Ana Afonso, Jorryt Matthee, Andra Stroe and Ali Khostovan, now doctors them- selves, for the support, discussions and fun provided during the PhD and for letting me tag along in observation runs. Thanks to Veronica Ferreiros Lopez for all the fashion advice and support - will use the white shirt for the thesis defence. Thanks as well to Nick Amos, John Carrick and Matthew Chan for vital information brought to my atten- tion, ridiculousness of rubber duck armies and the difference between deep learning and machine learning. Thanks also to Heather Wade for her love of puns and for being wrong on just about any twitter discussion where she did not agree with me. I wish to further acknowledge the help of members of the HiZELS team for putting up with my inexperience and guiding me through the process of writing my first first-author paper. They are Philip Best, Ian Smail, Bret Lehmer, Chris Harrison and Alasdair Thomson. Thank you for all the advice and patience on how to turn my ramblings into text sensible people are able to read. Thanks also to Nicholas Ross and Richard Bower for the interesting discussions across several DEX meetings on the evolution of galaxies and the importance and contribution of AGN. Further thanks to Francesca Civano, Francesca Fornasini and the Chandra team for all the comments, suggestions and discussions and for making the X-ray data and exposure maps used in this work fully available to me. A special thanks goes to my family, especially my father, mother and sister, for all the support they gave me, even if sometimes the songs were in poor taste or the chicken soup only had onions. You have been with me from the very beginning and that is impossible to repay. Obrigado. I also am grateful to the Isaac Newton Telescope and the ING group in La Palma, for being there whenever I went on an observing run. The many nights spent there observing with the soundtrack of Dire Straights and the company of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat were some of the best experiences of my life. Finally, I wish to acknowledge the Chandra, VLA and COSMOS teams for assembling and making public the tremendous amount of data available for the COSMOS field and used in this thesis. I further wish to thank the Lancaster University for the PhD Studentship that made all of this possible. Declaration This thesis is my own work and no portion of the work referred to in this thesis has been submitted in support of an application for another degree or qualification at this or any other institute of learning. The research presented in this thesis has been published in the relevant scientific journals in paper format, specifically Chapter 2, which is published in Calhau et al. (2017, MNRAS, 464, 1), and Chapters 3, 4 and 5 in Calhau et al. (2020, MNRAS, 493, 3). \Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known. We're made of star stuff. We are a way for the cosmos to know itself." Carl Sagan \If people sat outside and looked at the stars each night, I'll bet they'd live a lot differently." Bill Waterson vi Contents List of Figures xii 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Observational techniques: Emission lines and wavelengths in this study . .2 1.1.1 Hydrogen lines - Hα and Lyα as selectors of star forming galaxies . .2 1.1.2 X-ray emission - AGN selection and estimation of black hole accretion rates . .5 1.1.3 Radio emission - AGN selection and SFR estimation .