Effects of Galactic Bar Properties in AGN Host Galaxies and Activity

Abstract

In this study, we explored the effect of galactic bars on the nuclear activity, supermassive black hole mass, and accretion rate of AGN host galaxies, comparing these characteristics with those of unbarred AGN host galaxies. Utilizing a sample of AGN from the SDSS-DR16, which includes both spectroscopic and photometric data, we conducted a statistical analysis on 29,030 spiral face-on AGN host galaxies brighter than g-mag < 16.5, identifying 10,813 barred AGN hosts. To accurately assess the impact of bars, we constructed a control sample of unbarred AGN host galaxies matched in redshift, r-band magnitude, concentration index, bulge size parameter, and local environment distributions.Our findings indicate that barred active galaxies exhibit higher levels of nuclear activity compared to their unbarred coun- terparts. The barred sample also displayed a surplus of high Lum[OIII] values relative to unbarred spiral active galaxies in the control sample. Furthermore, the fraction of powerful AGN (with Lum[OIII] > 1011 L⊙ ) increases in more massive hosts with higher concentra- tion indices (C values) and in denser environments. Barred AGN host galaxies consistently showed a higher fraction of powerful AGN across various galaxy property bins. Addition- ally, barred active galaxies were found to have higher black hole mass growth and elevated accretion rates compared to unbarred AGN hosts. Both barred and unbarred active galaxies displayed higher R values compared to the control sample.