Charting the Coevolution between Massive Black Holes and Galaxies with Deep Cosmic Surveys

Open Access
- Author:
- Zou, Fan
- Graduate Program:
- Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- June 03, 2024
- Committee Members:
- Randy McEntaffer, Professor in Charge/Director of Graduate Studies
Kohta Murase, Outside Unit Member
Joel Leja, Major Field Member
Donald Schneider, Major Field Member
Donghui Jeong, Outside Field Member
William Brandt, Chair & Dissertation Advisor - Keywords:
- Massive black holes
Galaxies
Massive black holes
Galaxies
Sky surveys - Abstract:
- A fundamental challenge in extragalactic astronomy is to understand the coevolution between massive black holes (MBHs) and their host galaxies. In this dissertation, I will present our efforts covering low to high levels (i.e., basic data analyses to scientific interpretation) in charting MBH-galaxy coevolution. To prepare for all the subsequent science, we have systematically compiled, refined, analyzed, and cataloged multiwavelength data in three deep cosmic survey fields and conducted source classifications and galaxy-property measurements. The corresponding catalogs with 2.8 million sources have been released and are valuable resources for subsequent extragalactic research in these fields. I will then discuss fast-accreting dust-obscured galaxies as direct probes of merger-driven events, and these galaxies appear to be undergoing strong interactions between supermassive black holes (SMBHs) and galaxies. To understand the whole SMBH and galaxy population in a time-averaged sense, we further measured the cosmic growth of SMBHs as a function of galaxy properties using an unprecedentedly large sample and a semiparametric Bayesian method, and these results directly quantify the link between the growth of the SMBH population and their host galaxies. Finally, I will discuss our X-ray-based searches and characterization of distant active dwarf galaxies to identify the missing low-mass piece in the jigsaw puzzle of MBH-galaxy coevolution.