# ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GALAXY FORMATION AND QUASAR EVOLUTION

## 1 INTRODUCTION

For long time quasar evolution and galaxy formation have been seen as quite unrelated items of observational cosmology. In addition to the difficulty to sample homogeneous redshift intervals for the two source populations, the main reason for this dichotomy was a lack of understanding of the physical processes ruling the quasar phenomenon and galaxy formation and evolution.

In this context, an important discovery by the refurbished HST was that most (if not all) massive galaxies in the local universe harbor a nuclear super-massive ($`10^710^9M_{}`$) dark object (probably a BH), with a mass proportional to that of the hosting spheroid ($`M_{BH}0.0020.005M_{spheroid}`$; Kormendy and Richstone 1995; Faber et al. 1997; Magorrian et al. 1998). This is indeed the prediction of the canonical model for AGNs – assuming energy production by gas accretion onto a super-massive BH – and is consistent with evolutionary schemes which interprete the quasar phase as a luminous short-lived event occurring in a large fraction of all normal galaxies, rather than one concerning a small minority of ”pathological” systems (e.g. Cavaliere & Padovani 1988). This association of nuclear massive dark objects with luminous spheroids is also directly proven by HST out to moderate redshifts ($`z0.4`$), where the host galaxies of radio-quiet and radio-loud quasars are found to be large massive ellipticals (e.g. Mc Lure et al. 1999).

On the distant-galaxy side, important progresses have been made in the characterization of the star-formation history as a function of redshift (Lilly et al. 1996; Madau et al. 1996). Deep HST imaging also allowed to differentiate this history as a function of morphological type, for both cluster (Stanford et al. 1998) and field galaxies (Franceschini et al. 1998).

Interpretations of the relationship of quasar activity and galaxy formation have been attempted in the framework of the hierarchical dark-matter cosmogony (e.g. Haehnelt, Natarajan & Rees, 1998). However, the QSO-galaxy connection is still enigmatic in several respects. In particular, while hierarchical clustering seems to successfully account for the onset of the quasar era at $`z3`$ \[assumed that supermassive BH form proportionally to the forming dark matter halos\], the progressive decay of the quasar population at lower $`z`$ (the QSO evolution) is not accounted for as naturally, and has to require a substantially more detailed physical description (e.g. including the role of galaxy interactions, see Cavaliere & Vittorini 1998).

To provide further constraints on this interpretative effort, we confront here the most detailed information on the evolutionary histories of the AGN emissivity and of the stellar populations in galaxies. The available information on the evolution of the Star Formation Rate (SFR) is summarized in Sect. 2 , and compared in Sect. 3 with that of AGN emissivity. Some consequencies, in particular concerning the stellar and BH remnants of the past activity and implications for models of structure formation, are discussed in Sect. 4, while Sect. 5 summarizes our conclusions. $`H_0=50Km/s/Mpc`$ and two values ($`q_0`$=0.5 and 0.15) for the deceleration parameter are assumed.

## 2 STELLAR FORMATION HISTORIES OF GALAXY POPULATIONS

The systematic use of the Lyman ”drop-out” technique to detect $`z>2`$ galaxies (Steidel et al. 1994), combined with spectroscopic surveys of galaxies at $`z1`$ (Lilly et al.1995) and $`H\alpha `$-based measurements of the present-day SFR, have allowed to determine the evolution of the SFR in galaxies over most of the Hubble time (Madau et al. 1996). Figures 1 and 2 summarize some results of these analyses (for two values of $`q_0`$) in the form of small filled circles, where the SFR is measured from fits of the UV rest-frame flux (assuming a Salpeter IMF with low mass cutoff $`M_{low}=0.1M_{}`$). We see, in particular, an increase by a factor $`1020`$ of the SFR density going from z=0 to $`z11.5`$.

The main uncertainty in these estimates is due to the - a priory unknown - effect of dust, erasing the optical-UV flux and plaguing the identification of distant reddened galaxies in the ”drop-out” catalogues. Corrections for this effect have been estimated to range from 1 to 3 magnitudes, and mostly apply above $`z1`$. Although rather uncertain at the moment, the SFR density above redshift 1 seems to keep roughly constant up to z$`3`$ (the datapoint at z=3 in Fig. 1 comes from Meurer et al. 1999).

Exploiting the exceptional imaging quality and spectral coverage available in the Hubble Deep Field, Franceschini et al. (1998) have analysed a sample of morphologically-selected early-type galaxies with $`z<1.3`$. By fitting synthetic galaxy spectra to these data, it has been possible to estimate the baryonic mass and age distribution of stellar populations, and hence the star-formation history per comoving volume (reported as shadowed regions in Figs. 1 and 2): the evolutionary SFR density of field early-type galaxies is roughly constant at $`z1.5`$, while showing a fast convergence at lower redshifts (correspondingly, 90% of stars in E/S0 galaxies have been formed between $`z1`$ and 3 for $`q_0=0.15`$; $`z1`$ and 4 for $`q_0=0.5`$). This evolution pattern is quite different from that of the general field population (small circles in Figs. 1 and 2), which displays a much shallower dependence on cosmic time.

We note that at $`z>2`$ the uncertainties in all estimates of the SFR become very serious. The SFR estimate of early-type galaxies by Franceschini et al. is based on fits to the SEDs of galaxies at $`z<1.3`$, and then become uncertain at $`z>2`$. Similar problems affect the SFR estimates for the Lyman ”drop-out” galaxies, because of the reddening problem. The present analysis will therefore mostly concentrate on data at $`z<2`$.

Thus galaxies with early morphological types – dominating the galaxy populations in high-density environments – show an accelerated formation history, while later types, more typical of low-density regions, are slower in forming their stellar content. In the merging picture of elliptical and S0 galaxy formation (e.g. Toomre & Toomre 1972; Barnes & Hernquist 1992) an accelerated SF history in high-density environments is naturally accounted for by a higher rate of galaxy interactions and mergers at early epochs.

## 3 FORMATION AND EVOLUTION OF ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI

Quasars and AGNs have been studied in all accessible wavebands, in all of them showing evidence for strong cosmological evolution. The most efficient AGN selection comes from X-ray surveys: a purely flux-limited sample at X-ray energies above 0.5 KeV contains a vast majority of AGNs with no particular bias as a function of redshift. The same is not true for optical searches, suffering incompleteness at both low-luminosities (because of the contribution of the host galaxy reddening the colours) and at the high redshifts (because of the effect of dust and intergalactic opacity), and for surveys of radio sources, since only a minority of AGNs emit in the radio. A further crucial advantage of the X-ray selection is provided by the X-ray background (XRB), which sets an integral constraint on AGN emissivity at fluxes much fainter than observable with the present facilities.

Miyaji et al. (1999) have used a large X-ray AGN database of 7 ROSAT samples – including wide-area surveys (Appenzeller et al. 1998) and very deep PSPC and HRI integrations on small selected areas (Hasinger et al. 1998) – to analyse the evolution of X-ray AGNs over large redshift ($`0<z<5`$) and luminosity ($`10^{42}<L_{0.52keV}<10^{47}erg/s`$) intervals. Various kinds of evolution patterns have been tested, including Pure Density (PDE), Pure Luminosity (PLE), and Luminosity Dependent Density Evolution (LDDE). These X-ray surveys indicate for the first time that the AGN evolution is inconsistent with strict number density conservation (PLE), and rather require a combined increase with redshift of the source number and luminosity (LDDE).

The X-ray luminosity function $`n(L_x,z)`$ (sources per unit volume and unit logarithmic $`L_x`$ interval) is modelled by Miyaji et al. as a two power-law expression

$$n(L_x,z)[(L_x/L_{})^{\gamma _1}+(L_x/L_{})^{\gamma _2}]^1e(L_x,z),$$

where $`L_x`$ the luminosity in the 0.5-2 keV band, $`e(L_x,z)`$ is the luminosity-dependent evolution term and $`\gamma _10.6,\gamma _22.3`$. The best-fit LDDE model implies a lower evolution rate at lower $`L_x`$, and simple density evolution (PDE) for the higher luminosity sources: $`e(L_x,z)=(1+z)^p`$, where $`p`$ linearly increases with $`logL_x`$ for $`L_x10^{4444.5}erg/s`$ and is $`5.5`$ above. The number density of high-$`L_x`$ QSOs as a function of $`z`$ has been used by Hasinger (1998) to estimate the evolution of the AGN emissivity.

We report in Table 1 and in Figs. 1 and 2 (as large filled squares) estimates of the soft X-ray emissivity per comoving volume versus $`z`$ for AGNs more luminous than $`L_{th}=10^{44.25}erg/s`$ (this is the luminosity threshold above which a pure density evolution applies). It is apparent in these plots a remarkable similarity in the $`z`$-dependence of the emissivity of high-luminosity AGNs and the SFR history of elliptical/S0 galaxies (shadowed areas). Both functions show a quite faster decrease with cosmic time of the emissivity with respect to that of the general field population. A very steeply declining emissivity of luminous AGNs is also confirmed by the fast evolution of optical quasars (thick dashed lines).

This result is in agreement with the local evidence for an association between nuclear super-massive dark objects and massive spheroids, and with the identification of the hosts of luminous quasars as galaxies with an early-type morphology.

On the other end, a direct comparison with the population emissivities of lower luminosity AGNs is difficult, as the present sensitivity limits prevent measurement of the LF of very faint AGNs. Here the information from the XRB becomes essential. Adopting the LDDE best-fit model as a description the LF of medium- to high-L AGNs, we extrapolated it to lower $`L_x`$ in such a way to reproduce most of the observed low-energy XRB. The top two continuous lines in Figs. 1 and 2 are the AGN 0.5-2 KeV luminosity density as a function of $`z`$ corresponding to such two extrapolations, one producing 60% (henceforth LDDE1) and the other 90% (LDDE2) of the XRB at 1 KeV.

We see an accurate match between the redshift dependences of the global AGN emissivity and of the rate of formation of stars in the field galaxy population at $`z<1.2`$. At $`z1.5`$ X-ray observations indicate that the AGN emissivity keeps constant, roughly as it has been found for the SFR density. Then, within the uncertainties, the close association of galaxy and AGN evolution may hold over a substantial redshift interval.

```
_________________________________________________________
TABLE 1.  Luminosity density Ld between 0.5 and 2 keV per
Ψ  comoving volume in erg/s/Mpc^3 of AGN with
Ψ  log L>log L_th=44.25. Note that for any values
Ψ  of log L_th>44, Ld scales proportionally to
Ψ  (L_th/10^44.25)^1.3
ΨΨ
 zmin  zmax       Ld    sig(Ld)         Ld    sig(Ld)
               ----q0=0.5------      ----q0=0.15-----
 0.05  0.20    1.71e37  3.20e36      1.68e37  3.08e36
 0.20  0.40    3.24e37  6.02e36      3.15e37  5.66e36
 0.40  0.75    5.95e37  1.33e37      6.39e37  1.33e37
 0.75  1.20    2.85e38  5.58e37      3.23e38  5.39e37
 1.20  1.50    9.52e38  1.87e38      1.09e39  2.02e38
 1.50  2.00    1.10e39  2.60e38      1.71e39  3.18e38
 2.00  3.00    2.01e39  4.62e38      2.13e39  4.43e38
 3.00  4.60    1.52e39  6.79e38      2.27e39  8.56e38
________________________________________________________

```

How significant is the difference in the evolution rates between high and low X-ray luminosity AGNs? Assuming a luminosity threshold at $`L_{th}=10^{44.25}erg/s`$, we find:

a) the LDDE1 $`q_0=0.15`$ model implies an increase in the volume emissivity going from $`z=0`$ to $`z=1.5`$ by a factor 100 for sources with $`L>L_{th}`$ and by a factor 10 for sources with $`L<L_{th}`$; in the $`q_0=0.5`$ case, the two factors become 100 and 16;

b) for the LDDE2 $`q_0=0.15`$ model the evolution in the volume emissivity is by a factor 100 for $`L>L_{th}`$ and 30 for $`L<L_{th}`$, while for $`q_0=0.5`$ the two factors become 100 and 50.

Altogether, there is at least a factor 2 difference in the evolution rates of high-$`L_x`$ and low-$`L_x`$ AGNs, which may get as high as 10 for the open LDDE1 case.

## 4 DISCUSSION

The similarities of the evolution rates between high-L AGNs and massive spheroidal galaxies, as well as those between low-L AGNs and the field galaxy population, call for a close relationship of the processes triggering star-formation with those responsible for the gas flow fueling the massive BH. Were the SF and BH accretion processes really concomitant, we would expect that the luminosity functions of starbursting galaxies and of quasars and AGNs should have similar shapes and perhaps similar normalizations when the luminosities are expressed in bolometric units. This seems indeed indicated by the comparative study of the bolometric luminosity functions of luminous far-IR galaxies (the far-IR flux being a good measure of the SFR), of bright optical quasars (Schmidt & Green 1983), and lower luminosity Markarian Seyferts, as reported by Soifer et al. (1987) and Sanders & Mirabel (1996): these LFs have been found to share not only very similar power-law shapes at the high luminosities ($`n[L_{bol}]L^{2.1}`$), but even similar (within a factor of $`2`$) normalizations.

We interprete this coincidence as a further support to our results.

### 4.1 The energetics associated with SF and AGN activity

Although substantial uncertainties are inherent in the absolute normalization of various curves in Figs. 1 and 2, it may be worth making an order-of-magnitude comparison of the energetics associated with the processes of stellar formation in galaxies and BH accretion in AGNs. Interesting constraints will ensue from matching them with the local remnants (i.e. low-mass stars and supermassive BHs) of the past activities.

Let us first evaluate the global bolometric emissivity by AGNs as a function of $`z`$ by applying a bolometric correction to the 0.5-2 KeV emissivity (top two lines in the figures). From the average X-ray to optical spectral index $`\alpha _{ox}=log(L_{2500A}/L_{2KeV})/2.6051.4`$ (La Franca et al. 1995) we obtain the $`2500A`$ flux, and then correct it by a further factor 5.6 to get the bolometric flux (Elvis et al. 1994). For type-I AGNs (dominating the soft X-ray samples) we then find $`L_{BOL,typeI}50L_{0.52keV}.`$ Since type-I AGNs contribute only $`20\%`$ to the total hard X-ray background (e.g. Schmidt & Green 1983), we have another factor $`5`$ to account for the contribution of type-II AGNs to the global emissivity:

$$L_{BOL,AGN}5L_{BOL,typeI}250\left(\frac{f_{BOL}}{250}\right)L_{0.52keV},$$
(1)   
where $`f_{BOL}`$ parametrizes the average bolometric correction factor to the 0.5-2 keV flux.

As for galaxies, the scaling factor from $`\dot{M}(M_{}/yr)`$ to bolometric luminosity is simply given by

$$L_{BOL,SFR}[erg/s]=c^2ϵ\dot{M}\mathrm{6\; 10}^{43}\frac{ϵ}{0.001}\frac{\dot{M}}{[M_{}/yr]},$$
(2)   
for a stellar radiative efficiency of $`ϵ=0.001`$ consistent with the assumption by Franceschini et al. (1998) and Madau et al. (1996) of a Salpeter IMF with lower mass limit of $`M_{low}=0.1M_{}`$ and primordial initial composition (newly born stars are assumed to immediately release most of their energy).

Assuming a fiducial $`\eta =10\%`$ radiation efficiency by BH accretion, and taking into account that there is a factor $`\mathrm{2.4\; 10}^{40}`$ to bring the left-hand axis scale in Figs. 1 & 2 to coincide with that of the right-hand axis, we find that the ratio of the mass $`M_{BH}`$ of the remnant locked as a supermassive BH after the AGN phase to the remnant in low-mass stars ($`M_{}`$) should be:

$$M_{BH}0.001\left(\frac{ϵ}{0.001}\right)\left(\frac{0.1}{\eta }\right)\left(\frac{f_{BOL}}{250}\right)M_{}.$$
(3)   
If compared with the locally observed ratio of $`M_{BH}`$ to the mass of the hosting spheroid

$$M_{BH}(0.0020.005)M_{spheroid},$$
(4)   
this result is consistent with the fact that nuclear massive BH’s are found primarily associated with galactic bulges, and not e.g. with the disk components which substantially contribute to $`M_{}`$ in eq.(3).

A similar exercise comparing the low-mass stellar remnants in E/S0’s with the BH remnants of massive/luminous quasars (respectively shaded regions and filled squares in the figures) would involve definition of the X-ray luminosity threshold $`L_{th}`$ above which AGN are hosted by massive spheroidal galaxies, and the ratio of type-II to type-I quasars. Assuming as above $`L_{th}=10^{44.25}`$ would bring to a relation between the BH mass and the mass of the hosting spheroid similar to that in eq.(3). If we consider that the ratio of type-II to type-I objects among luminous quasars is lower than for lower luminosity AGNs, then to get consistency with the large observed ratio of eq. would require either: a) a very low radiative efficiency in AGNs ($`\eta <0.1`$, e.g. due to a violent super-Eddington accretion phase), or b) an higher bolometric correction for AGNs $`f_{BOL}>250`$ (e.g. because of a heavily dust-extinguished phase during quasar formation; Haehnaelt et al. 1998, Fabian & Iwasawa 1999), or finally, c) a very high ($`ϵ>0.001`$) radiative efficiency of stars in spheroidal galaxies, as allowed by top-heavy stellar IMFs (e.g., for $`M_{low}=8M_{}`$, $`ϵ`$ in eq. would increase to $`0.006`$). Note that lowering the value for $`L_{th}`$, while improving the match of the predicted BH mass in eq.(3) with the observation in eq.(4), would also spoil unacceptably the match between the evolution rates of QSO’s and galaxies in Figs. 1 and 2, hence is not a solution.

### 4.2 Quasars and models of structure formation

We discussed evidence that luminous quasars, associated with massive BH’s in massive spheroidal galaxies, evolve on a shorter cosmic timescale than lower luminosity, lower mass objects. This result does not seem to fit into simple predictions based on the gravitationally-driven Press-Schechter formalism. For example Haiman & Menou (1998) obtain from the Press-Schechter theory a much faster decay with cosmic time of the AGN accretion rate (hence of the AGN luminosity) for low-mass BH’s in low-mass dark-matter halos, while that of massive objects is barely expected to decrease from z=3 to z=0. In fact, quite the opposite trend is indicated by our analysis in the previous Sections. A similar problem likely arises when explaining with a process of purely gravitational clustering the origin of galaxies, and of their spheroidal components in particular.

What is the trigger and the ruling mechanism for generating a galaxy spheroid together with a super-massive collapsed remnant including $``$0.2% of the mass of the host? As discussed by many authors (Kormendy & Sanders 1992; Barnes & Hernquist 1992), a ruling effect is in the gas/stellar dynamical processes related with galaxy interactions and mergers. This is probably the only way to achieve stellar systems with very high central concentrations as observed in early-type galaxies, an obviously favourable birth-place for massive nuclear star-clusters and a super-massive collapsed object.

The merging/interaction concept, together with the progressive exhaustion of the fuel, allows to understand the ”accelerated” evolution of luminous AGNs (Cavaliere & Vittorini 1998), but also the fast decay with time of the SF in massive spheroidal galaxies. In cosmic environments with higher-than-average density the forming galaxies have experienced a high rate of interactions already at high redshifts ($`z>1`$), this bringing shortly to a population of spheroid-dominated galaxies (observable at low-z mostly in groups and clusters of galaxies) containing a massive BH whose accretion history is the same as that of the host galaxy. In lower density environments the interaction rate was slower, and proportionally lower was the mass locked in a bulge with respect to that making stars quiescently in a disk. Galaxies in these low-density environments keep forming stars and accreting matter on the BH down to the present epoch and form the low-redshift AGN population.

## 5 CONCLUSIONS

We have found a close match bewteen the evolution rates of the star-formation in galaxies and of the volume emissivity in AGNs. This similarity seems to hold not only for high luminosity AGNs ($`L_x>10^{44.25}erg/s`$) compared with the SF in massive spheroidal galaxies, but also when comparing the average properties of the global populations, including low mass/luminosity systems. A concomitance of SF and AGN/quasar activity is also locally indicated by the almost coincidence of the bolometric luminosity functions of luminous star-forming IR galaxies with those of optical quasars and Markarian Seyferts. Then the same processes triggering the formation of stars also make a fraction of the available gas to accrete and fuel the AGN. These processes are likely to be the interaction and merging events between gas-rich systems (Barnes and Hernquist 1992; Cavaliere and Vittorini 1998).

Assuming standard energy production efficiencies for BH accretion and star formation, we have found rough agreement between the volume emissivities by distant quasars and star-forming galaxies and the observed ratios of low-mass stellar and supermassive BH remnants in local objects.

We have finally compared our finding that high mass/luminosity systems evolve on a faster cosmic timescale than the lower-mass ones with predictions based on structure formation theories based on the gravitational clustering and coalescence of dark matter halos. Altogether, if the latter provide the needed background conditions for the development of structures, much more physics is needed – in terms of gas/stellar dynamical processes related with galaxy interactions, in terms of the progressive exhaustion of the baryonic fuel available and of feedback reaction – to explain observations of AGN evolution and (spheroidal) galaxy formation.

Acknowledgements

We are indebted to an anonymous referee for useful comments and criticisms, and to A. Cavaliere for discussions. Work partly supported by ASI Grant ARS-96-74 and the EC TMR Networks ’Galaxy Formation’ and ’ISO Surveys’.