Abstract
Two main physical processes characterize the activity in the nuclear region of active galaxies: an intense star formation (starburst, SB) and an Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN). While the existence of a starburst-AGN connection is undisputed, still it is not clear which process dominates the energetic output in both local and high redshift Universe. Moreover there is no consensus on whether AGN fueling is synchronous with star formation or follows it during a post-starburst phase. Here I first review how to disentangle the relative SB-AGN contribution, then I focus on the physical and geometrical properties of the circumnuclear environment.
Highlights
The issue of Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) – star formation (AGN–SF) connection in local and distant galaxies is possibly relevant for understanding several processes: from galaxy formation and evolution, and the star formation and metal enrichment history of the Universe, to the the origin of the extragalactic background at low and high energies and the origin of nuclear activity in galaxies
AGNs trace the growth of supermassive black holes (SMBHs, with masses MBH > 106M ) and quiescent SMBHs are believed to dwell in almost all galaxy bulges as AGN relics, i.e. the result of a past AGN activity (Soltan 1982, Marconi et al 2004, Merloni & Heinz 2008)
Since a SB is a natural consequence of dissipative gaseous processes associated with spheroid formation (e.g. Barnes & Hernquist 1991) and AGN–SF connection dating back to the early Universe is implied by these results, a mergerdriven scenario is well suited to reproduce such scaling relations
Summary
The issue of AGN – star formation (AGN–SF) connection in local and distant galaxies is possibly relevant for understanding several processes: from galaxy formation and evolution, and the star formation and metal enrichment history of the Universe, to the the origin of the extragalactic background at low and high energies and the origin of nuclear activity in galaxies. It is well known that SF traces the growth of a galaxy in terms of stellar mass, and that galaxies assemble their mass through SB episodes. AGNs trace the growth of supermassive black holes (SMBHs, with masses MBH > 106M ) and quiescent SMBHs are believed to dwell in almost all galaxy bulges as AGN relics, i.e. the result of a past AGN activity (Soltan 1982, Marconi et al 2004, Merloni & Heinz 2008)
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