Related papers: Super-Size Me: The Big Multi-AGN Catalog (The Big …
Dual AGN are important for understanding galaxy-merger-triggered fueling of black holes and hierarchical growth of structures. The least explored type of dual AGN are those associated with mergers of two dwarf galaxies. According to…
Due to the co-evolution of supermassive black holes and their host galaxies, understanding the mechanisms that trigger active galactic nuclei (AGN) are imperative to understanding galaxy evolution and the formation of massive galaxies. It…
The large-scale environments of active galactic nuclei (AGN) reveal important information on the growth and evolution of supermassive black holes (SMBHs). Previous AGN clustering measurements using 2-point correlation functions have hinted…
We analyze a suite of $30$ high resolution zoom-in cosmological hydrodynamic simulations of massive galaxies with stellar masses $M_{\ast} > 10^{10.9} M_\odot$, with the goal of better understanding merger activity in AGN, AGN activity in…
We measure the merger fraction of massive galaxies using the UltraVISTA/COSMOS $Ks$-band selected catalog, complemented with the deeper, higher resolution 3DHST+CANDELS catalog selected in the HST/WFC3 $H$-band, presenting the largest…
Galaxy interactions and mergers are thought to play an important role in the evolution of galaxies. Studies in the nearby universe show a higher AGN fraction in interacting and merging galaxies than their isolated counterparts, indicating…
The growth of supermassive black holes appears to be driven by galaxy mergers, violent merger-free processes and/or `secular' processes. In order to quantify the effects of secular evolution on black hole growth, we study a sample of active…
Growing supermassive black holes (Active Galactic Nuclei; AGN) release energy with the potential to alter their host galaxies and larger-scale environment; a process named "AGN feedback". Feedback is a required component of galaxy formation…
The merger of two or more galaxies can enhance the inflow of material from galactic scales into the close environments of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), obscuring and feeding the supermassive black hole (SMBH). Both recent simulations and…
We review theoretical and observational arguments favoring a scenario in which a typical massive black hole (MBH) is formed in the merger core of colliding disk systems at high z during the build-up of a spheroid. Low-mass (~ 10^{5-6}…
We investigate the physical nature of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) using machine learning (ML) tools. We show that the redshift, $z$, bolometric luminosity, $L_{\rm Bol}$, central mass of the supermassive black hole (SMBH), $M_{\rm BH}$,…
Binary black hole mergers encode information about their environment and the astrophysical processes that led to their formation. Measuring the redshift dependence of their merger rate will help probe the formation and evolution of galaxies…
We use hydrodynamical simulations to study the color transformations induced by star formation and active galactic nuclei (AGN) during major mergers of spiral galaxies. Our modeling accounts for radiative cooling, star formation, and…
We review results from cosmic X-ray surveys of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) over the past ~ 15 yr that have dramatically improved our understanding of growing supermassive black holes in the distant universe. First, we discuss the utility…
A large fraction of active galactic nuclei (AGN) are "invisible" in extant optical surveys due to either distance or dust-obscuration. The existence of this large population of dust-obscured, infrared-bright AGN is predicted by models of…
Most massive galaxies contain supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in their cores. When galaxies merge, gas is driven to nuclear regions and can accrete onto the central black hole. Thus one expects to see dual AGN in a fraction of galaxy…
Galaxy mergers are predicted to trigger accretion onto the central supermassive black holes, with the highest rates occurring during final coalescence. Previously, we have shown elevated rates of both optical and mid-IR selected active…
Over the last few years, the existence of mutual feedback effects between accreting supermassive black holes powering AGN and star formation in their host galaxies has become evident. This means that the formation and the evolution of AGN…
High-redshift quasars are believed to reside in highly biased regions of the Universe, where black hole (BH) growth is sustained by an enhanced number of mergers and by being at the intersection of filaments bringing fresh gas. This…
We examine the host morphologies of heavily obscured active galactic nuclei (AGN) at $z\sim1$ to test whether obscured supermassive black hole growth at this epoch is preferentially linked to galaxy mergers. Our sample consists of 154…