Implications of the Environments of Radio-detected AGN in a Complex Protostructure at z$\sim$3.3

TL;DR

This study investigates two faint radio-loud active galactic nuclei within a high-redshift protostructure, revealing their host galaxy properties, environmental context, and suggesting merging events influence their current state.

Contribution

First detailed analysis of low-luminosity RAGNs in a z~3.3 protostructure, linking their properties to large-scale environment and galaxy evolution.

Findings

Both RAGNs are in massive, bright galaxies with different evolutionary stages.

They are located near overdensity peaks but not in the densest regions.

Merging events likely influenced their stellar mass and local environment.

Abstract

Radio Active Galactic Nuclei (RAGNs) are mainly found in dense structures (i.e., clusters/groups) at redshifts of z$<$2 and are commonly used to detect protoclusters at higher redshift. Here, we attempt to study the host and environmental properties of two relatively faint ($\mathrm L_\mathrm{1.4GHz} \sim10^{25}$ W Hz$^{-1}$) RAGNs in a known protocluster at z=3.3 in the PCl J0227-0421 field, detected using the latest radio observation obtained as part of the Observations of Redshift Evolution in Large-Scale Environments (ORELSE) Survey. Using new spectroscopic observations obtained from Keck/MOSFIRE as part of the Charting Cluster Construction with the VIMOS Ultra-Deep Survey (VUDS) and ORELSE (C3VO) survey and previous spectroscopic data obtained as part of the VIMOS-VLT Deep Survey (VVDS) and VUDS, we revise the three-dimensional overdensity field around this protocluster. The protocluster is embedded in a large scale overdensity protostructure. This protostructure has an estimated total mass of $\sim$2.6$\times10^{15} M_\odot$ and contains several overdensity peaks. Both RAGNs are hosted by very bright and massive galaxies, while their hosts show extreme differences color, indicating that they have different ages and are in different evolutionary stages. Furthermore, we find that they are not in the most locally dense parts of the protostructure, but are fairly close to the centers of their parent overdensity peaks. We propose a scenario where merging might already have happened in both cases, which lowered the local density of their surrounding area and boosted their stellar mass. This work is the first time that two RAGNs at low luminosity have been found and studied within a high redshift protostructure.