Speaker
Description
A key component of AGN feedback is the injection of kinetic energy from radio jets. However, there’s a fundamental lack of understanding of why quasars, otherwise very similar, have such a wide range of radio jet powers and, therefore, the impact of AGN jets. Using large samples from LoTSS DR2 coupled with a Bayesian parametric model, we can separate and quantify the jet and host galaxy contributions to quasar radio emission. We demonstrate that the traditional radio-loud/quiet quasar classification fails to reflect the physical origin of radio emissions. Instead, our model allows for redefining radio AGN populations based on physical processes, which enables robust measurement of quasar jet power evolution with environmental factors on large and small scales. We discovered a positive correlation between the jet fraction in quasar radio emission and their clustering amplitudes, suggesting a coevolution between jet production and halo mass, where most powerful jets are produced in the most massive haloes. Quasars dominated by jet activities reside in haloes ~100 times more massive than those without strong jets. Quasars with more massive black holes are also more clustered, albeit with a weaker correlation, implying that accretion mode differences are less critical in the production of strong jets. Finally, we will present results from the first joint LOFAR-Euclid statistical study on the role of galaxy mergers in triggering quasar radio jets using morphological merger identification from Euclid DR1 data, which reveals the role of small-scale environment in jet production and showcases the potential of future Euclid-LOFAR2.0 synergetic studies.
