X-ray and infrared diagnostics of star formation and black hole accretion in galaxies

• Main Author: Rigby, Jane Rebecca
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Subjects: physics, astronomy and astrophysics
• ISBN: 0542511290; 9780542511295

Using infrared and X-ray diagnostics, we study star-formation and black hole accretion in nearby and distant galaxies.
We examine diagnostics of the hardness of the ionizing field in low-redshift starburst galaxies, to constrain the initial mass function. We obtain new measurements of HeI 1.7 mum/Br 10, a physically simple diagnostic, then test ISO mid-infrared line ratios, finding them reliable. Compared to new photoionization models, the ISO ratios in 27 nearby starburst galaxies are systematically low. This argues that solar-metallicity starbursts are deficient in massive stars, or that such stars are present but highly embedded.
Using Spitzer, HST, Chandra, and ground-based data, we examine the multi-wavelength (0.4--24 mum) spectral energy distributions and X-ray properties of X-ray-selected active galactic nuclei (AGN) in several deep fields: the Chandra Deep Field South, the Lockman Hole, and the extended Groth Strip. We examine the 24 mum to X-ray flux and luminosity ratios for 157 AGN at z ∼ 1; the luminosity ratios have not strongly evolved since z ∼ 0, and we find no trend with X-ray column density. This means that highly-obscured AGN do not have exceptional infrared fluxes. We examine the SEDs of 45 bright X-ray and 24 mum sources: only 22% are classified as unobscured "type 1" AGN; 18% are classified as ULIRG-like SEDs; and the majority are classified as obscured ("type 2") AGN or spiral-like SEDs. This supports the picture from X-ray surveys that much of the AGN activity in the distant universe is significantly obscured. We examine why 20% of X-ray-selected AGN are optically-faint; they lie at significantly higher redshifts (median z = 1.6) than most X-ray-selected AGN, and their spectra are intrinsically red. Their contribution to the X-ray Seyfert luminosity function is comparable to that of optically-bright AGN at z > 1, but they do not significantly alter the redshift distribution. Lastly, we investigate why half of X-ray-selected AGN lack signs of accretion in optical spectra. We find that these "optically-dull" AGN have Seyfert like mid-infrared emission, which argues that they do not have abnormally-weak UV/optical continua. The axis ratios of their host galaxies argue that extinction by host galaxies plays a key role in hiding nuclear emission lines.