AGN number fraction in galaxy groups and clusters at z < 1.4 from the Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam survey

Abstract

Abstract One of the key questions on active galactic nuclei (AGN) in galaxy clusters is how AGN could affect the formation and evolution of member galaxies and galaxy clusters in the history of the Universe. To address this issue, we investigate the dependence of AGN number fraction (fAGN) on cluster redshift (zcl) and distance from the cluster center (R$/$R200). We focus on more than 27000 galaxy groups and clusters at 0.1 < zcl < 1.4 with more than 1 million member galaxies selected from the Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam. By combining various AGN selection methods based on infrared (IR), radio, and X-ray data, we identify 2688 AGN. We find that (i) fAGN increases with zcl and (ii) fAGN decreases with R$/$R200. The main contributors to the rapid increase of fAGN towards high-z and cluster center are IR- and radio-selected AGN, respectively. These results indicate that the emergence of the AGN population depends on the environment and redshift, and galaxy groups and clusters at high z play an important role in AGN evolution. We also find that cluster–cluster mergers may not drive AGN activity in at least the cluster center, while we have tentative evidence that cluster–cluster mergers could enhance AGN activity in the outskirts of (particularly massive) galaxy clusters.