The Ionization and Destruction of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Powerful Quasars

We reanalyze the mid-infrared (5-40 $\mu$m) Spitzer spectra of 86 low-redshift ($z < 0.5$) Palomar-Green quasars to investigate the nature of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission and its utility as a star formation rate (SFR) indicator for the host galaxies of luminous active galactic nuclei (AGNs). We decompose the spectra with our recently developed template-fitting technique to measure PAH fluxes and upper limits, which we interpret using mock spectra that simulate the effects of AGN dilution. While luminous quasars can severely dilute and affect the detectability of emission lines, PAHs are intrinsically weak in some sources that are otherwise gas-rich and vigorously forming stars, conclusively demonstrating that powerful AGNs destroy PAH molecules. Comparing PAH-based SFRs with independent SFRs derived from the mid-infrared fine-structure neon lines and the total infrared luminosity reveals that PAHs can trace star formation activity in quasars with bolometric luminosities $\lesssim 10^{46}\, \rm erg\,s^{-1}$, but increasingly underestimate the SFR for more powerful quasars, typically by $\sim 0.5$ dex. Relative to star-forming galaxies and low-luminosity AGNs, quasars have a comparable PAH 11.3 $\mu$m/7.7 $\mu$m ratio but characteristically lower ratios of 6.2 $\mu$m/7.7 $\mu$m, 8.6 $\mu$m/7.7 $\mu$m, and 11.3 $\mu$m/17.0 $\mu$m. We suggest that these trends indicate that powerful AGNs preferentially destroy small grains and enhance the PAH ionization fraction.