Cosmic Evolution of Star Formation In SDSS Quasar Hosts Since z=1

TL;DR

This study uses Spitzer IRS data to analyze star formation in SDSS type-1 quasar hosts since z=1, revealing higher SFRs than field galaxies and a strong evolution with redshift.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed SFIR luminosity function for z~1 quasars and compares their evolution to field galaxies, highlighting their distinct star-forming properties.

Findings

Quasar hosts have higher SFRs than field galaxies at z~1.

The SFIR luminosity density in quasar hosts increases more rapidly with redshift.

A correlation exists between nuclear luminosity and star formation rate in quasars.

Abstract

We present Spitzer IRS observations of a complete sample of 57 SDSS type-1 quasars at z~1. Aromatic features at 6.2 and/or 7.7 um are detected in about half of the sample and show profiles similar to those seen in normal galaxies at both low- and high-redshift, indicating a star-formation origin for the features. Based on the ratio of aromatic to star-formation IR (SFIR) luminosities for normal star-forming galaxies at z~1, we have constructed the SFIR luminosity function (LF) of z~1 quasars. As we found earlier for low-redshift PG quasars, these z~1 quasars show a flatter SFIR LF than do z~1 field galaxies, implying the quasar host galaxy population has on average a higher SFR than the field galaxies do. As measured from their SFIR LF, individual quasar hosts have on average LIRG-level SFRs, which mainly arise in the circumnuclear regions. By comparing with similar measurements of low-redshift PG quasars, we find that the comoving SFIR luminosity density in quasar hosts shows a much larger increase with redshift than that in field galaxies. The behavior is consistent with pure density evolution since the average SFR and the average SFR/BH-accretion-rate in quasar hosts show little evolution with redshift. For individual quasars, we have found a correlation between the aromatic-based SFR and the luminosity of the nuclear radiation, consistent with predictions of some theoretical models. We propose that type 1 quasars reside in a distinct galaxy population that shows elliptical morphology but that harbors a significant fraction of intermediate-age stars and is experiencing intense circumnuclear star formation.