Investigating the Correlation of Outflow Kinematics with Radio Activity. VII. Gas Outflows in AGNs

Abstract

We explore the relationship between the ionized gas outflows and radio activity using a sample of ∼6000 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) at z < 0.4 with the kinematical measurement based on the $\left[{\rm{O}}\,{\rm\small{III}}\right]$ line profile and the radio detection in the VLA FIRST Survey. To quantify radio activity, we divide our sample into a series of binary subclasses based on the radio properties, i.e., radio luminous/radio weak, AGN-dominated/star-formation contaminated, compact/extended, and radio loud/radio quiet. None of the binary subclasses exhibits a significant difference in the normalized $\left[{\rm{O}}\,{\rm\small{III}}\right]$ velocity dispersion at a given $\left[{\rm{O}}\,{\rm\small{III}}\right]$ luminosity once we correct for the influence of the host galaxy’s gravitational potential. We only detect a significant difference in $\left[{\rm{O}}\,{\rm\small{III}}\right]$ kinematics between the high and low radio-Eddington ratio ( L _1.4 GHz / L _Edd ) AGNs. In contrast, we find a remarkable difference in ionized gas kinematics between high and low bolometric-Eddington ratio AGNs. These results suggest that accretion rate is the primary mechanism in driving ionized gas outflows, while radio activity may play a secondary role providing additional influence on gas kinematics.

Keywords

• Active galactic nuclei
• AGN host galaxies
• Radio jets