Linking galaxy structural properties and star formation activity to black hole activity with IllustrisTNG

Abstract

We study the connection between active galactic nuclei (AGN) and their host galaxies through cosmic time in the large-scale cosmological IllustrisTNG simulations. We first compare BH properties, i.e. the hard X-ray BH luminosity function, AGN galaxy occupation fraction, and distribution of Eddington ratios, to available observational constraints. The simulations produce a population of BHs in good agreement with observations, but we note an excess of faint AGN in hard X-ray (L_x∼ 10^{43-44} erg/s), and a lower number of bright AGN (L_x> 10^{44} erg/s), a conclusion that varies quantitatively but not qualitatively with BH luminosity estimation method. The lower Eddington ratios of the 10⁹ M_{\odot } BHs compared to observations suggest that AGN feedback may be too efficient in this regime. We study galaxy star formation activity and structural properties, and design sample-dependent criteria to identify different galaxy types (star-forming/quiescent, extended/compact) that we apply both to the simulations and observations from the CANDELS fields. We analyse how the simulated and observed galaxies populate the specific star formation rate - stellar mass surface density diagram. A large fraction of the z = 0 M_{\star }≥slant 10^{11} M_{\odot } quiescent galaxies first experienced a compaction phase (i.e. reduction of galaxy size) while still forming stars, and then a quenching event. We measure the dependence of AGN fraction on galaxies' locations in this diagram. After correcting the simulations with a redshift and AGN luminosity-dependent model for AGN obscuration, we find good qualitative and quantitative agreement with observations. The AGN fraction is the highest among compact star-forming galaxies (16-20{{ per cent}} at z ∼ 1.5-2), and the lowest among compact quiescent galaxies (6-10{{ per cent}} at z ∼ 1.5-2).