Radio stacking reveals evidence for star formation in the host galaxies of X-ray selected active galactic nuclei at z<1

TL;DR

This study uses radio stacking of X-ray selected AGNs at z<1 to detect faint star formation activity in their host galaxies, supporting the nuclear starburst hypothesis.

Contribution

It introduces a stacking method to detect faint radio emission linked to star formation in AGN hosts not visible in individual surveys.

Findings

Detected residual radio signals in 24 micron-detected AGNs indicating star formation.

Estimated star formation rates range from 3 to 29 solar masses per year.

Faint radio emission in non-24 micron-detected AGNs was not observed.

Abstract

Nuclear starbursts may contribute to the obscuration of active galactic nuclei (AGNs). The predicted star formation rates are modest, and, for the obscured AGNs that form the X-ray background at z < 1, the associated faint radio emission lies just beyond the sensitivity limits of the deepest surveys. Here, we search for this level of star formation by studying a sample of 359 X-ray selected AGNs at z < 1 from the COSMOS field that are not detected by current radio surveys. The AGNs are separated into bins based on redshift, X-ray luminosity, obscuration, and mid-infrared characteristics. An estimate of the AGN contribution to the radio flux density is subtracted from each radio image, and the images are then stacked to uncover any residual faint radio flux density. All of the bins containing 24 micron-detected AGNs are detected with a signal-to-noise >3sigma in the stacked radio images. In contrast, AGNs not detected at 24 microns are not detected in the resulting stacked radio images. This result provides strong evidence that the stacked radio signals are likely associated with star formation. The estimated star formation rates derived from the radio stacks range from 3 solar masses per year to 29 solar masses per year. Although it is not possible to associate the radio emission with a specific region of the host galaxies, these results are consistent with the predictions of nuclear starburst disks in AGN host galaxies.