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PreprintarXiv licencearXiv

Active galactic nucleus activity in nearby disk galaxies: The roles of bar strength and spiral arm morphology

  • Zh. R. Martirosyan
  • A. A. Hakobyan
  • V. Adibekyan
  • L. V. Barkhudaryan
  • M. H. Gevorgyan
  • A. G. Karapetyan
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Abstract

(abridged) We investigate the dependence of AGN activity on bar strength and spiral arm morphology in nearby spiral galaxies, with a particular emphasis on disentangling their individual and joint effects while controlling for galaxy stellar mass and color. We constructed a sample of 843 morphologically undisturbed Sa-Sd galaxies from the MaNGA survey in the redshift range 0.026 ≤ z ≤ 0.1. Bar strengths, stellar masses, colors, and AGN classes were adopted from the literature, while spiral arm classes (ACs), i.e., flocculent (FL), multi-armed (MA), and grand design (GD) systems, were visually determined for the entire sample using optical imaging together with bulge-disk decomposition residual maps. The AGN fraction increases systematically with bar strength, from 0.10+0.02−0.02 in unbarred galaxies to 0.34+0.03−0.03 in strongly barred systems. After controlling for stellar mass and color, a statistically significant enhancement remains detectable primarily at intermediate stellar masses (10.5 ≲ log(M⋆/M⊙) ≲ 11.0), whereas no significant dependence is found at higher masses. In contrast, spiral arm morphology alone does not show a robust independent connection with AGN activity once stellar mass and color are controlled, although a weak enhancement is present in intermediate-mass GD and MA systems. When bar strength and spiral AC are considered jointly, the highest AGN fraction is observed in strongly barred GD+MA galaxies (0.39+0.04−0.04), while the lowest AGN fractions are found in unbarred FL systems (0.09+0.03−0.02). Our results suggest that stellar mass and color drive the primary trend in AGN activity in nearby disk galaxies, while stellar bars and spiral arms act as secondary structural drivers.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@misc{martirosyan2026active,
  title = {{Active galactic nucleus activity in nearby disk galaxies: The roles of bar strength and spiral arm morphology}},
  author = {Zh. R. Martirosyan and A. A. Hakobyan and V. Adibekyan and L. V. Barkhudaryan and M. H. Gevorgyan and A. G. Karapetyan},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2608.09320},
  eprint = {2608.09320},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.09320},
}
RIS
TY  - UNPB
TI  - Active galactic nucleus activity in nearby disk galaxies: The roles of bar strength and spiral arm morphology
AU  - Zh. R. Martirosyan
AU  - A. A. Hakobyan
AU  - V. Adibekyan
AU  - L. V. Barkhudaryan
AU  - M. H. Gevorgyan
AU  - A. G. Karapetyan
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/08
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2608.09320
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.09320
AB  - (abridged) We investigate the dependence of AGN activity on bar strength and spiral arm morphology in nearby spiral galaxies, with a particular emphasis on disentangling their individual and joint effects while controlling for galaxy stellar mass and color. We constructed a sample of 843 morphologically undisturbed Sa-Sd galaxies from the MaNGA survey in the redshift range 0.026 ≤ z ≤ 0.1. Bar strengths, stellar masses, colors, and AGN classes were adopted from the literature, while spiral arm classes (ACs), i.e., flocculent (FL), multi-armed (MA), and grand design (GD) systems, were visually determined for the entire sample using optical imaging together with bulge-disk decomposition residual maps. The AGN fraction increases systematically with bar strength, from 0.10^+0.02_−0.02 in unbarred galaxies to 0.34^+0.03_−0.03 in strongly barred systems. After controlling for stellar mass and color, a statistically significant enhancement remains detectable primarily at intermediate stellar masses (10.5 ≲ log(M_⋆/M_⊙) ≲ 11.0), whereas no significant dependence is found at higher masses. In contrast, spiral arm morphology alone does not show a robust independent connection with AGN activity once stellar mass and color are controlled, although a weak enhancement is present in intermediate-mass GD and MA systems. When bar strength and spiral AC are considered jointly, the highest AGN fraction is observed in strongly barred GD+MA galaxies (0.39^+0.04_−0.04), while the lowest AGN fractions are found in unbarred FL systems (0.09^+0.03_−0.02). Our results suggest that stellar mass and color drive the primary trend in AGN activity in nearby disk galaxies, while stellar bars and spiral arms act as secondary structural drivers.
ER  -