Bibcode
Serjeant, S.; Bertoldi, F.; Blain, A. W.; Clements, D. L.; Cooray, A.; Danese, L.; Dunlop, J.; Dunne, L.; Eales, S.; Falder, J.; Hatziminaoglou, E.; Hughes, D. H.; Ibar, E.; Jarvis, M. J.; Lawrence, A.; Lee, M. G.; Michałowski, M.; Negrello, M.; Omont, A.; Page, M.; Pearson, C.; van der Werf, P. P.; White, G.; Amblard, A.; Auld, R.; Baes, M.; Bonfield, D. G.; Burgarella, D.; Buttiglione, S.; Cava, A.; Dariush, A.; de Zotti, G.; Dye, S.; Frayer, D.; Fritz, J.; Gonzalez-Nuevo, J.; Herranz, D.; Ivison, R. J.; Lagache, G.; Leeuw, L.; Lopez-Caniego, M.; Maddox, S.; Pascale, E.; Pohlen, M.; Rigby, E.; Rodighiero, G.; Samui, S.; Sibthorpe, B.; Smith, D. J. B.; Temi, P.; Thompson, M.; Valtchanov, I.; Verma, A.
Bibliographical reference
Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 518, id.L7
Advertised on:
7
2010
Journal
Citations
43
Refereed citations
36
Description
We present a derivation of the star formation rate per comoving volume
of quasar host galaxies, derived from stacking analyses of far-infrared
to mm-wave photometry of quasars with redshifts 0 < z < 6 and
absolute I-band magnitudes -22 > IAB > -32 We use the
science demonstration observations of the first ~16 deg2 from
the Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey (H-ATLAS) in
which there are 240 quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and
a further 171 from the 2dF-SDSS LRG and QSO (2SLAQ) survey. We
supplement this data with a compilation of data from IRAS, ISO, Spitzer,
SCUBA and MAMBO. H-ATLAS alone statistically detects the quasars in its
survey area at >5σ at 250,350 and 500 μm. From the
compilation as a whole we find striking evidence of downsizing in quasar
host galaxy formation: low-luminosity quasars with absolute magnitudes
in the range -22 > IAB > -24 have a comoving star
formation rate (derived from 100 μm rest-frame luminosities) peaking
between redshifts of 1 and 2, while high-luminosity quasars with
IAB < -26 have a maximum contribution to the star
formation density at z ~ 3. The volume-averaged star formation rate of
-22 > IAB > -24 quasars evolves as (1 +
z)2.3±0.7 at z < 2, but the evolution at higher
luminosities is much faster reaching (1 + z)10±1 at
-26 > IAB > -28. We tentatively interpret this as a
combination of a declining major merger rate with time and gas
consumption reducing fuel for both black hole accretion and star
formation.
Herschel is an ESA space observatory with science instruments provided
by European-led Principal Investigator consortia with important
participation from NASA.
Related projects
Formation and Evolution of Galaxies: Observations in Infrared and other Wavelengths
This IAC research group carries out several extragalactic projects in different spectral ranges, using space as well as ground-based telescopes, to study the cosmological evolution of galaxies and the origin of nuclear activity in active galaxies. The group is a member of the international consortium which built the SPIRE instrument for the
Ismael
Pérez Fournon