A Cross-correlation Analysis of AGN and Galaxies using Virtual Observatory: Dependence on Virial Mass of Super-Massive Black Hole

TL;DR

This study analyzes the spatial correlation between AGNs and galaxies at redshift 0.1-1, revealing a dependence of clustering strength on SMBH mass, which suggests different growth mechanisms for black holes above and below 10^8 solar masses.

Contribution

It provides the first cross-correlation analysis of AGNs and galaxies using virtual observatory data, highlighting SMBH mass dependence on clustering.

Findings

Clustering scale length r_0 = 5.8 h^-1 Mpc for the sample.

Indication of increased clustering for SMBHs with M_BH > 10^8 Msun.

No significant SMBH mass dependence for M_BH < 10^8 Msun.

Abstract

We present results of the cross-correlation analysis between active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and galaxies at redshift 0.1-1. We obtain data of ~10,000 SDSS AGNs in which their virial masses with a super-massive black hole (SMBH) were estimated. The UKIDSS galaxy samples around the AGNs were obtained using the virtual observatory. The scale length of AGN-galaxy cross-correlation for all of the samples is measured to be r_0= 5.8+0.8-0.6 h^-1Mpc (for the fixed slope parameter \gamma=1.8). We also derived a dependence of r_0 on the BH mass, M_BH, and found an indication of an increasing trend of r_0 at M_BH > 10^8 Msun. It is suggested that the growth of SMBH is mainly driven by interactions with the surrounding environment for M_BH > 10^8 Msun. On the other hand, at M_BH <~10^8 Msun, we did not find the BH mass dependence. This would imply that, for less massive BHs, the mass growth process can be different from that for massive BHs.