The Massive and Distant Clusters of WISE Survey. XII. Exploring X-Ray Active Galactic Nuclei in Dynamically Active Massive Galaxy Clusters at z ∼ 1

• DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/adbae4
• Publication Date: 2025-04-03T20:30:32Z
• Authors: Mustafa Muhibullah; Mark Brodwin; Michael McDonald; Anthony H. Gonzalez; Emily Moravec; Thomas Connor; S. A. Stanford; Taweewat Somboonp...; Florian Ruppin; Peter R. M. Eisen...; Bandon Decker; Daniel Stern; Ariane Trudeau

Abstract We present an analysis of the cluster X-ray morphology and active galactic nucleus (AGN) activity in nine z ∼ 1 galaxy clusters from the Massive and Distant Clusters of WISE Survey observed with Chandra. Using photon asymmetry (A phot) to quantify X-ray morphologies, we find evidence that the four most dynamically disturbed clusters are likely to be mergers. Employing a luminosity cut of 7.6 × 1042 erg s−1 to identify AGNs in the 0.7–7.0 keV region, we show that the majority of these clusters host excess AGNs compared to the local field. We use the model of cumulative number counts (

log N − log S

) to predict AGN incidence in cluster isophotes under this luminosity cut. Our analysis finds evidence (at >2σ) of a positive correlation between AGN surface densities and photon asymmetry, suggesting that a disturbed cluster environment plays a pivotal role in regulating triggering of AGNs. Studying AGN incidence in cluster X-ray isophotes equivalent in area to 1.0r 500, we find that the AGN space density inversely scales with cluster mass as

∼

M

− 0 .

5

− 0.18

+ 0.18

at the 3.18σ level. Finally, when we separately explore the cluster mass dependence of excess AGN surface density in disturbed and relaxed clusters, we see tentative evidence that the two morphologically distinct subpopulations exhibit diverging trends, especially near the outskirts, likely due to cluster merger-driven AGN triggering/suppression.