Prof Patrick Roche

Abstract:

We investigate the evolutionary connection between local infrared (IR)-bright galaxies (logLIR ≥11.4 Lʘ) and quasars. We use high-angular resolution (∼0.3–0.4 arcsec∼few hundred parsecs) 8–13µm ground-based spectroscopy to disentangle the active galactic nuclei (AGN) id-IR properties from those of star formation. The comparison between the nuclear 11.3µm polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon feature emission and that measured with Spitzer/Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph indicates that the star formation is extended over a few kpc in the IRbright galaxies. The AGN contribution to the total IR luminosity of IR-bright galaxies is lower than in quasars. Although the dust distribution is predicted to change as IR-bright galaxies evolve to IR-bright quasars and then to optical quasars, we show that the AGN mid-IR emission of all the quasars in our sample is not significantly different. In contrast, the nuclear emission of IR-bright galaxies with low AGN contributions appears more heavily embedded in dust although there is no clear trend with the interaction stage or projected nuclear separation. This suggests that the changes in the distribution of the nuclear obscuring material may be taking place rapidly and at different interaction stages washing out the evidence of an evolutionary path. When compared to normal AGN, the nuclear star formation activity of quasars appears to be dimming, whereas it is enhanced in some IR-bright nuclei, suggesting that the latter are in an earlier star formation-dominated phase.

Abstract:

We present high-angular (0.17−0.35 arcsec) resolution imaging polarimetric observations of Mrk 231 in the 3.1 µm filter using MMT-Pol on the 6.5-m MMT, and in the 8.7 µm, 10.3 µm, and 11.6 µm filters using CanariCam on the 10.4-m Gran Telescopio CANARIAS. In combination with already published observations, we compile the 1−12 µm total and polarized nuclear spectral energy distribution (SED). The total flux SED in the central 400 pc is explained as the combination of 1) a hot (731 ± 4 K) dusty structure, directly irradiated by the central engine, which is at 1.6 ± 0.1 pc away and attributed to be in the pc-scale polar region, 2) an optically-thick, smooth and disk-like dusty structure (‘torus’) with an inclination of 48 ± 23◦ surrounding the central engine, and 3) an extinguished (AV = 36 ± 5 mag) starburst component. The polarized SED decreases from 0.77 ± 0.14 per cent at 1.2 µm to 0.31 ± 0.15 per cent at 11.6 µm and follows a power-law function, λ ∼0.57. The polarization angle remains constant (∼108◦ ) in the 1−12 µm wavelength range. The dominant polarization mechanism is explained as scattering off hot dust grains in the pc-scale polar regions.