No Evidence for Feedback: Unexceptional Low-ionization Winds in Host Galaxies of Low Luminosity Active Galactic Nuclei at Redshift z ∼ 1

Hassen M. Yesuf, David C. Koo, S. M. Faber, J. Xavier Prochaska, Yicheng Guo, F. S. Liu, Emily C. Cunningham, Alison L. Coil, Puragra Guhathakurta
2017 Astrophysical Journal  
We study winds in 12 X-ray AGN host galaxies at z ~ 1. We find, using the low-ionization Fe II 2586 absorption in the stacked spectra, that the probability distribution function (PDF) of the centroid velocity shift in AGN has a median, 16th and 84th percentiles of (-87, -251, +86) km/s respectively. The PDF of the velocity dispersion in AGN has a median, 84th and 16th percentile of (139, 253, 52) km/s respectively. The centroid velocity and the velocity dispersions are obtained from a two
more » ... ent (ISM+wind) absorption line model. The equivalent width PDF of the outflow in AGN has median, 84th and 16th percentiles of (0.4, 0.8, 0.1) Angstrom. There is a strong ISM component in Fe II 2586 absorption with (1.2, 1.5, 0.8) Angstrom, implying presence of substantial amount cold gas in the host galaxies. For comparison, star-forming and X-ray undetected galaxies at a similar redshift, matched roughly in stellar mass and galaxy inclination, have a centroid velocity PDF with percentiles of (-74, -258, +90) km/s, and a velocity dispersion PDF percentiles of (150, 259, 57) km/s. Thus, winds in the AGN are similar to star-formation-driven winds, and are too weak to escape and expel substantial cool gas from galaxies. Our sample doubles the previous sample of AGN studied at z ~ 0.5 and extends the analysis to z ~ 1. A joint reanalysis of the z ~ 0.5 AGN sample and our sample yields consistent results to the measurements above.
doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aa6fae fatcat:sn2skx67mvep5avyc6yxf4wu6a