Revealing the differences in the SMBH accretion rate distributions of starburst and non-starburst galaxies. Issue 3 (6th June 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Grimmett, L P; Mullaney, J R; Jin, S; Bernhard, E; Daddi, E; Walters, K
• Is Part Of: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Volume 487:Issue 3(2019)
• Page Start: 4071
• Page End: 4082
• Publication Date: 2019-06-06
• Subjects: galaxies: active -- galaxies: evolution -- galaxies: statistics -- X-rays: galaxies; Astronomy -- Periodicals; Periodicals; 520.5
• DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stz1558
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0035-8711

Abstract

ABSTRACT: We infer and compare the specific X-ray luminosity distributions for a sample of massive (i.e. log10 ( M * /M⊙ ) > 10.5) galaxies split according to their far-infrared-derived star-forming properties (i.e. starburst and non-starburst) and redshift. We model each distribution as a power law with an upper and lower turnover, and adopt a maximum likelihood method to include information from non-detections in the form of upper limits. When we use our inferred distributions to calculate the ratios of high to low sL X active galactic nuclei (AGNs; corresponding to above and below 0.1λEdd, respectively), we find that starbursts have significantly higher proportions of high sL X AGNs compared to their non-starburst counterparts. These findings help explain the increase in average X-ray luminosity in bins of increasing star formation rates reported by previous studies.