FAR-INFRARED AND ACCRETION LUMINOSITIES OF THE PRESENT-DAY ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI

We investigate the relation between star formation (SF) and black hole accretion luminosities, using a sample of 492 type-2 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) at z < 0.22 which are detected in the far-infrared (FIR) surveys with AKARI and Herschel. We adopt FIR luminosities at 90 and 100 μm as SF luminosities, assuming the proposed linear proportionality of star formation rate with FIR luminosities. By estimating AGN luminosities from [O iii]λ5007 and [O i]λ6300 emission lines, we find a positive linear trend between FIR and AGN luminosities over a wide dynamical range. This result appears to be inconsistent with the recent reports that low-luminosity AGNs show essentially no correlation between FIR and X-ray luminosities, while the discrepancy is likely due to the Malmquist and sample selection biases. By analyzing the spectral energy distribution, we find that pure-AGN candidates, of which FIR radiation is thought to be AGN-dominated, show significantly low-SF activities. These AGNs hosted by low-SF galaxies are rare in our sample ～1%. However, the low fraction of low-SF AGNs is possibly due to observational limitations since the recent FIR surveys are insufficient to examine the population of high-luminosity AGNs hosted by low-SF galaxies