Date Published:

April 1, 2016

Abstract:

We measure the clustering of X-ray, radio, and mid-IR-selected activegalactic nuclei (AGNs) at 0.2\lt z\lt 1.2 using multi-wavelength imagingand spectroscopic redshifts from the PRIMUS and DEEP2 redshift surveys,covering seven separate fields spanning ∼10 deg 2 . Using thecross-correlation of AGNs with dense galaxy samples, we measure theclustering scale length and slope, as well as the bias, of AGNs selectedat different wavelengths. Similar to previous studies, we find thatX-ray and radio AGNs are more clustered than mid-IR-selected AGNs. Wefurther compare the clustering of each AGN sample with matched galaxysamples designed to have the same stellar mass, star-formation rate(SFR), and redshift distributions as the AGN host galaxies and find nosignificant differences between their clustering properties. Theobserved differences in the clustering of AGNs selected at differentwavelengths can therefore be explained by the clustering differences oftheir host populations, which have different distributions in bothstellar mass and SFR. Selection biases inherent in AGN selectiontherefore determine the clustering of observed AGN samples. We furtherfind no significant difference between the clustering of obscured andunobscured AGNs, using IRAC or Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorercolors or X-ray hardness ratio.

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