Galaxy mergers and active nuclei. I - The luminosity function. II - Cosmological evolution

Abstract

view Abstract Citations (36) References (35) Co-Reads Similar Papers Volume Content Graphics Metrics Export Citation NASA/ADS Galaxy mergers and active nuclei. I - The luminosity function. II - Cosmological evolution Roos, N. Abstract Theoretical models of active-galactic-nucleus (AGN) formation in galaxies with massive central black holes by the repopulation of stellar loss-cone orbits during galaxy mergers are investigated. A local AGN bolometric luminosity function is calculated for galaxies with Galaxy-like nuclear density distributions using a merging rate based on the two-point correlation function of galaxies and shown to be qualitatively similar to the observed luminosity functions in the visible, X-ray, and radio bands, with a power-law index of -1.4 at high luminosity and a break at radio luminosity about 10 to the 44th erg/s (corresponding to an interacting-galaxy mass ratio greater than 20). The cosmological evolution of the galaxy merging rate is considered, assuming galaxy formation at z = about 3 and galactic-stellar-luminosity-dependent evolution, and found to be faster at the bright end of the galaxy luminosity function. The merger rate outside rich clusters in an expanding universe is found to vary as the inverse of cosmic time. Publication: The Astrophysical Journal Pub Date: July 1985 DOI: 10.1086/163314 Bibcode: 1985ApJ...294..479R Keywords: Black Holes (Astronomy); Cosmology; Extragalactic Radio Sources; Galactic Clusters; Galactic Evolution; Galactic Nuclei; Interacting Galaxies; Luminosity; Active Galactic Nuclei; Astronomical Models; Bivariate Analysis; Mass Ratios; Quasars; Radio Galaxies; Red Shift; Seyfert Galaxies; Stellar Orbits; Astrophysics full text sources ADS |