Studying SMBH – Galaxy Coevolution in Mergers

Galaxy mergers are key events in the process of galaxy evolution. It is thought that merger events drive gas and dust towards the centers of merging galaxies. This should lead to increased star formation and SMBH growth. This common growth mechanism may explain known correlations between SMBH and host galaxy properties, such as the M-sigma relation. Statistical studies of merging AGN host systems has been limited due to the small number of known systems, with most being serendipitous discoveries. Here, we present a large catalog (N~200) of uniformly-selected merging AGN host galaxy candidates at redshifts from 0.2 to 2.5 and observed by HST in the AEGIS, GOODS + GEMS, and COSMOS fields. These candidates are parametrically fit by GALFIT, providing merger ratio and SMBH pair separation estimates for our sample. While multiwavelength photometric data along with SED template fitting tools provide AGN bolometric luminosity and host galaxy star formation rate and stellar mass values for our candidates. These data allow us to answer open questions regarding SMBH growth and galaxy evolution during mergers, to include: whether the most luminous AGN are preferentially triggered in mergers and whether AGN activity increases as SMBH pair separation decreases.