The host galaxies of active galactic nuclei with powerful relativistic jets

Abstract

We present deep near-infrared (NIR) images of a sample of 19 intermediate-redshift (0.3 < <it>z</it> < 1.0) radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGN) with powerful relativistic jets (<it>L</it><inf>1.4 GHz</inf> > 1027 W Hz−1), previously classified as flat-spectrum radio quasars. We also compile host galaxy and nuclear magnitudes for blazars from literature. The combined sample (this work and compilation) contains 100 radio-loud AGN with host galaxy detections and a broad range of radio luminosities <it>L</it><inf>1.4 GHz</inf> ∼ 1023.7–1028.3 W Hz−1, allowing us to divide our sample into high-luminosity blazars (HLBs) and low-luminosity blazars (LLBs). The host galaxies of our sample are bright and seem to follow the μ<inf>e</inf>–<it>R</it><inf>eff</inf> relation for ellipticals and bulges. The two populations of blazars show different behaviours in the <it>M</it><inf><it>K</it>,nuclear</inf> –<it>M</it><inf><it>K</it>,bulge</inf> plane, where a statistically significant correlation is observed for HLBs. Although it may be affected by selection effects, this correlation suggests a close coupling between the accretion mode of the central supermassive black hole and its host galaxy, which could be interpreted in terms of AGN feedback. Our findings are consistent with semi-analytical models where low-luminosity AGN emit the bulk of their energy in the form of radio jets, producing a strong feedback mechanism, and high-luminosity AGN are affected by galaxy mergers and interactions, which provide a common supply of cold gas to feed both nuclear activity and star formation episodes.