Hard-X-ray-selected Active Galactic Nuclei -- II. Spectral Energy Distributions in the 5-45 GHz domain

TL;DR

This study uses high-sensitivity JVLA radio observations across 5-45 GHz to analyze the spectral energy distributions of nearby AGN, revealing diverse spectral shapes, high detection rates, and correlations with X-ray emission, shedding light on AGN radiative mechanisms.

Contribution

It provides the first wide-frequency, high-sensitivity radio SEDs for a sample of hard-X-ray-selected AGN, highlighting spectral diversity and core-jet structures.

Findings

High detection rates at all frequencies (>95% at 5-15 GHz)

Diverse spectral shapes including flat, steep, and peaked spectra

Significant radio-X-ray correlations across frequencies

Abstract

A wide-frequency radio study of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) is crucial to evaluate the intervening radiative mechanisms responsible for the observed emission and relate them with the underlying accretion physics. We present wide frequency (5-45 GHz), high-sensitivity (few microJy/beam), (sub)-kpc JVLA observations of a sample of 30 nearby (0.003 < z < 0.3) AGN detected by INTEGRAL/IBIS at hard-X-ray. We find a high detection fraction of radio emission at all frequencies, i.e. > 95 per cent at 5, 10 and 15 GHz and > 80 per cent at 22 and 45 GHz. Two sources out of 30 remain undetected at our high sensitivities. The nuclear radio morphology is predominantly compact, sometimes accompanied by extended jet-like structures, or more complex features. The radio Spectral Energy Distributions (SEDs) of the radio cores appear either as a single or as a broken power-law, a minority of them exhibits a peaked component. The spectral slopes are either flat/inverted or steep, up to a break/peak or over the whole range. The sample mean SED shows a flat slope up to 15 GHz which steepens between 15 and 22 GHz and becomes again flat above 22 GHz. Significant radio-X-ray correlations are observed at all frequencies. About half of the sample features extended emission, clearly resolved by the JVLA, indicating low-power jets or large scale outflows. The unresolved cores, which often dominate the radio power, may be of jet, outflow, and/or coronal origin, depending on the observed frequency.