Pith. sign in

REVIEW 6 cited by

Tripling the Census of Dwarf AGN Candidates Using DESI Early Data

Not yet reviewed by Pith; the record is open.

This paper has not been read by Pith yet. Machine review is queued; the pith claim, tier, and objections will appear here once it completes.

SPECIMEN: schema-true, not a live event

T0 review · schema-true

One-sentence machine reading of the paper's core claim.

pith:XXXXXXXX · record.json · timestamp

arxiv 2411.00091 v2 pith:G6LQHPVU submitted 2024-10-31 astro-ph.GA

Tripling the Census of Dwarf AGN Candidates Using DESI Early Data

classification astro-ph.GA
keywords dwarfodotapproxcandidatesstardesigalaxiesbroad
verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal T4 reserved
0 comments
read the original abstract

Using early data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) survey, we search for AGN signatures in 410,757 line-emitting galaxies. By employing the BPT emission-line ratio diagnostic diagram, we identify AGN in 75,928/296,261 ($\approx$25.6%) high-mass ($\log (M_{\star}/\rm M_{\odot}) >$ 9.5) and 2,444/114,496 ($\approx$2.1%) dwarf ($\log (M_{\star}/\rm M_{\odot}) \leq$ 9.5) galaxies. Of these AGN candidates, 4,181 sources exhibit a broad H$\alpha$ component, allowing us to estimate their BH masses via virial techniques. This study more than triples the census of dwarf AGN and doubles the number of intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH; $M_{BH} \le 10^6~\rm M_{\odot}$) candidates, spanning a broad discovery space in stellar mass (7 $< \log (M_{\star}/M_{\odot}) <$ 12) and redshift (0.001 $< \rm z <$ 0.45). The observed AGN fraction in dwarf galaxies ($\approx$2.1%) is nearly four times higher than prior estimates, primarily due to DESI's smaller fiber size, which enables the detection of lower luminosity dwarf AGN candidates. We also extend the $M_{BH} - M_{\star}$ scaling relation down to $\log (M_{\star}/M_{\odot}) \approx$ 8.5 and $\log (M_{BH}/\rm M_{\odot}) \approx$ 4.4, with our results aligning well with previous low-redshift studies. The large statistical sample of dwarf AGN candidates from current and future DESI releases will be invaluable for enhancing our understanding of galaxy evolution at the low-mass end of the galaxy mass function.

discussion (0)

Sign in with ORCID, Apple, or X to comment. Anyone can read and Pith papers without signing in.

Forward citations

Cited by 6 Pith papers

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score.

  1. Low-hard to high-soft spectral state transitions in the faintest early-X-ray-detected optical tidal disruption event TDE 2025aarm

    astro-ph.HE 2026-07 conditional novelty 7.0

    TDE 2025aarm is the faintest early-X-ray-detected optical TDE and the first thermal TDE reported to show a low-hard to high-soft X-ray state transition resembling black-hole X-ray binaries.

  2. Low-hard to high-soft spectral state transitions in the faintest early-X-ray-detected optical tidal disruption event TDE 2025aarm

    astro-ph.HE 2026-07 unverdicted novelty 6.0

    TDE 2025aarm exhibits the first reported low-hard to high-soft X-ray state transition in a thermal tidal disruption event, at the faintest early X-ray luminosity yet measured.

  3. Low-mass Active Galaxies in the SAMI Galaxy Survey with Spatially-resolved Spectroscopy

    astro-ph.GA 2026-04 conditional novelty 6.0

    Spatially-resolved spectroscopy detects AGNs in 4-9% of low-mass galaxies, higher than single-fiber rates because it catches extended emission missed by central-point observations.

  4. Finding the one: identifying the host of compact binary mergers

    astro-ph.CO 2026-04 unverdicted novelty 5.0

    Restricting analysis to the top 1% most luminous galaxies in GW localization volumes yields 1-4 candidate hosts for three specific events, with 29-36% probability of random association.

  5. Stellar feedback drives the baryon deficiency in low-mass galaxies

    astro-ph.GA 2025-12 unverdicted novelty 5.0

    Stacking DESI spectra reveals star-formation-driven Mg II outflows from low-mass galaxies that escape dark matter halos, providing indirect evidence that stellar feedback causes baryon deficiency.

  6. Estimation of black hole spins in low-mass AGNs and comparison with other types of AGNs

    astro-ph.HE 2026-06 unverdicted novelty 3.0

    Spins of low-mass AGN black holes decrease with mass, supporting mergers or chaotic accretion as growth mechanisms and suggesting an evolutionary sequence where spins first decrease then slowly increase.