Accretion and star formation in RQQs

Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and star-forming galaxies are well-traced in the radio part of the electromagnetic spectrum, due to emission at these wavelengths being unaffected by dust obscuration. The key processes involved in producing the radio emission are black-hole accretion and star formation, both of which are thought to be crucial in determining how galaxies evolve. Disentangling the two contributions requires multi-wavelength data, and this is the approach we use for our work on radio-quiet quasars (RQQs). In contrast to previous studies, we find that accretion-connected radio emission dominates over that due to star formation, even at very low radio flux-densities. The first sample we describe is selected from the VISTA Deep Extragalactic Observations (VIDEO) survey, whose depth allows the study of very low accretion rates and/or lower-mass black holes. A second sample is obtained from the Spitzer-Herschel Active Galaxy Survey, spanning a factor of ~100 in optical luminosity over a narrow redshift range at z ~ 1. This enables evolutionary effects to be decoupled when comparisons are made with the VIDEO sample. Using radio data from the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (JVLA), we find further support that the AGN makes a significant contribution to the radio emission in RQQs. In addition, the levels of accretion and star formation appear to be weakly correlated with each other, and with optical luminosity.