Revisiting the role of bars in AGN fuelling with propensity score sample matching

Silva-Lima, Luiz A.; Martins, Lucimara P.; Coelho, Paula R.T.; Gadotti, Dimitri A.

Abstract

The high luminosity displayed by an active galactic nucleus (AGN) requires that gas be transported to the centre of the galaxy by some mechanism. Bar-driven processes are often pointed out in this context and a number of studies have addressed the bar–AGN connection, but with conflicting results. Some of the inconsistencies can be explained by the different spatial- and timescales involved in bar-driven gas inflows, accretion by the central black hole, and AGN emission. However, the discrepant results could also be due to sample biases, because both the AGN activity determination and the bar detection are influenced by the method employed. We revisit the bar–AGN connection in a sample of galaxies from SDSS, looking for evidence of the influence of bars on AGN activity. We determine AGN activity by emission line diagnostics and the properties of the bar were previously estimated with BUDDA, which performs 2D bulge–bar–disk decomposition. Before comparing active and inactive galaxies, we made a careful selection of the sample to minimise selection biases. We created control samples by matching them with the AGN sample using propensity score matching. This technique offers an analytical approach for creating control samples given some object parameters. We find that AGN are preferentially found in barred galaxies and that the accretion rate is higher in barred galaxies, but only when different M–σ relations are used to estimate the black hole mass

Citation

Silva-Lima, L. A., Martins, L. P., Coelho, P. R., & Gadotti, D. A. (2022). Revisiting the role of bars in AGN fuelling with propensity score sample matching. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 661, Article A105. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202142432

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: 2022-05
• Deposit Date: May 25, 2022
• Journal: Astronomy and astrophysics.
• Print ISSN: 0004-6361
• Electronic ISSN: 1432-0746
• Publisher: EDP Sciences
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 661
• Article Number: A105
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202142432
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1207613