Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-4-2023
Department
Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
We use the Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) and the Deep Extragalactic Visible Legacy Survey (DEVILS) observational data sets to calculate the cosmic star formation rate (SFR) and active galactic nuclei (AGN) bolometric luminosity history (CSFH/CAGNH) over the last 12.5 billion years. SFRs and AGN bolometric luminosities were derived using the spectral energy distribution fitting code ProSpect, which includes an AGN prescription to self consistently model the contribution from both AGN and stellar emission to the observed rest-frame ultra-violet to far-infrared photometry. We find that both the CSFH and CAGNH evolve similarly, rising in the early Universe up to a peak at look-back time ≈ 10 Gyr (𝑧 ≈ 2), before declining toward the present day. The key result of this work is that we find the ratio of CAGNH to CSFH has been flat (≈ 1042.5 erg s−1M−1 ⊙ yr) for 11 Gyr up to the present day, indicating that star formation and AGN activity have been coeval over this time period. We find that the stellar masses of the galaxies that contribute most to the CSFH and CAGNH are similar, implying a common cause, which is likely gas inflow. The depletion of the gas supply suppresses cosmic star formation and AGN activity equivalently to ensure that they have experienced similar declines over the last 10 Gyr. These results are an important milestone for reconciling the role of star formation and AGN activity in the life cycle of galaxies.
Original Publication Information
Jordan C J D’Silva and others, GAMA/DEVILS: cosmic star formation and AGN activity over 12.5 billion years, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 524, Issue 1, September 2023, Pages 1448–1463, https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stad1974
ThinkIR Citation
D’Silva, Jordan C J; Driver, Simon P.; Lagos, Claudia D P; Robotham, Aaron S G; Bellstedt, Sabine; Davies, Luke J M; Thorne, Jessica E.; Bland-Hawthorn, Joss; Bravo, Matias; Holwerda, Benne; Phillipps, Steven; Seymour, Nick; Siudek, Malgorzata; and Windhorst, Rogier A., "GAMA/DEVILS: cosmic star formation and AGN activity over 12.5 billion years" (2023). Faculty and Staff Scholarship. 893.
https://ir.library.louisville.edu/faculty/893
DOI
10.1093/mnras/stad1974
ORCID
0000-0002-4884-6756
Comments
© 2023 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society This article is published and distributed under the terms of the Oxford University Press, Standard Journals Publication Model (https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model)