COSMOS2020: Ubiquitous AGN Activity of Massive Quiescent Galaxies at 0 < z < 5 Revealed by X-Ray and Radio Stacking

Abstract

Abstract We characterize the average X-ray and radio properties of quiescent galaxies (QGs) with log ( M ⋆ / M ⊙ ) > 10 at 0 < z < 5. QGs are photometrically selected from the latest COSMOS2020 catalog. We conduct the stacking analysis of X-ray images of the Chandra COSMOS Legacy Survey for individually undetected QGs. Thanks to the large sample and deep images, the stacked X-ray signal is significantly detected up to z ∼ 5. The average X-ray luminosity cannot be explained by the X-ray luminosity of X-ray binaries, suggesting that the low-luminosity active galactic nuclei (AGNs) ubiquitously exist in QGs. Moreover, the X-ray AGN luminosity of QGs at z > 1.5 is higher than that of star-forming galaxies (SFGs), derived in the same manner as QGs. The stacking analysis of the VLA-COSMOS images is conducted for the identical sample, and the radio signal for QGs is also detected up to z ∼ 5. We find that the radio AGN luminosity of QGs at z > 1.5 is also higher than SFGs, which is in good agreement with the X-ray analysis. The enhanced AGN activity in QGs suggested by the individual analysis in the X-ray and radio wavelength supports its important role for quenching at high redshift. Their enhanced AGN activity is less obvious at z < 1.5, which can be interpreted as an increasing role of others at lower redshifts, such as environmental quenching.