Cosmic Duets II. Growth and accretion in Gaia Multi-Peak dual AGN at Cosmic Noon
Abstract
We present the first statistical characterization of the physical properties of Cosmic Duets: dual AGN in the redshift range 0.5 ≤ z ≤ 3.0 with projected separations of 1-7 kpc, corresponding to systems in which both AGN are expected to reside within the same merger remnant. We analyze the largest homogeneous sample currently available, consisting of 30 spectroscopically confirmed Cosmic Duets selected via the Gaia Multi-Peak technique. Using rest-frame UV-to-optical integral-field spectroscopy for all targets, primarily with VLT/MUSE, VLT/ERIS, and Keck/OSIRIS, we spatially resolve the two AGN components and extract separate spectra for each system. We decompose the continuum, emission lines, and Fe II complexes through spectral fitting. We derive black hole masses of log(MBH/Msun) ~ 7.4-10.1 and bolometric luminosities of log(Lbol/erg s−1) ~ 44.8-47.2, consistent with those of single AGN at similar redshifts. We finally carry out the first comparison of dual AGN properties with semi-analytical models and hydrodynamical simulations, including L-GalaxiesBH and Astrid. Astrid provides a closer match to the observed black-hole mass-ratio distribution, but its selected systems are predominantly at lower redshifts, resulting in lower bolometric luminosities at fixed G-band magnitude. L-GalaxiesBH perfectly reproduce the observed parameter space, but it predicts more heterogeneous pairs, with higher primary-bolometric luminosity, lower-mass secondary SMBHs, and higher Eddington ratios, resulting in an excess of near-Eddington accreting AGN due to its adopted accretion prescription. Our results suggest that, in GMP-selected systems, secondary SMBH growth is more efficient than predicted by current models, leading to more comparable black-hole masses and accretion power between the two components.
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BibTeX
@misc{scialpi2026cosmic,
title = {{Cosmic Duets II. Growth and accretion in Gaia Multi-Peak dual AGN at Cosmic Noon}},
author = {M. Scialpi and F. Mannucci and D. Izquierdo-Villalba and A. Marconi and J. Singh and M. Volonteri and C. Marconcini and Q. D'Amato and B. Moreschini and M. V. Zanchettin and G. Tozzi and M. Ceci and L. Ulivi and E. Bertola and S. Bonoli and C. Bracci and E. Cataldi and C. Cicone and A. Ciurlo and M. Colpi and G. Cresci and A. De Rosa and M. Dotti and M. Fumagalli and M. Ginolfi and I. Lamperti and E. Nardini and M. Parvatikar and M. Perna and F. Rigamonti and K. Rubinur and B. Sala and A. Sesana and P. Severgnini and C. Spingola and D. Spinoso and G. Venturi and C. Vignali and S. Yeh},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.10687},
eprint = {2610.10687},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.10687},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Cosmic Duets II. Growth and accretion in Gaia Multi-Peak dual AGN at Cosmic Noon
AU - M. Scialpi
AU - F. Mannucci
AU - D. Izquierdo-Villalba
AU - A. Marconi
AU - J. Singh
AU - M. Volonteri
AU - C. Marconcini
AU - Q. D'Amato
AU - B. Moreschini
AU - M. V. Zanchettin
AU - G. Tozzi
AU - M. Ceci
AU - L. Ulivi
AU - E. Bertola
AU - S. Bonoli
AU - C. Bracci
AU - E. Cataldi
AU - C. Cicone
AU - A. Ciurlo
AU - M. Colpi
AU - G. Cresci
AU - A. De Rosa
AU - M. Dotti
AU - M. Fumagalli
AU - M. Ginolfi
AU - I. Lamperti
AU - E. Nardini
AU - M. Parvatikar
AU - M. Perna
AU - F. Rigamonti
AU - K. Rubinur
AU - B. Sala
AU - A. Sesana
AU - P. Severgnini
AU - C. Spingola
AU - D. Spinoso
AU - G. Venturi
AU - C. Vignali
AU - S. Yeh
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/07
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.10687
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.10687
AB - We present the first statistical characterization of the physical properties of Cosmic Duets: dual AGN in the redshift range 0.5 ≤ z ≤ 3.0 with projected separations of 1-7 kpc, corresponding to systems in which both AGN are expected to reside within the same merger remnant. We analyze the largest homogeneous sample currently available, consisting of 30 spectroscopically confirmed Cosmic Duets selected via the Gaia Multi-Peak technique. Using rest-frame UV-to-optical integral-field spectroscopy for all targets, primarily with VLT/MUSE, VLT/ERIS, and Keck/OSIRIS, we spatially resolve the two AGN components and extract separate spectra for each system. We decompose the continuum, emission lines, and Fe II complexes through spectral fitting. We derive black hole masses of log(M_BH/M_sun) ~ 7.4-10.1 and bolometric luminosities of log(L_bol/erg s^−1) ~ 44.8-47.2, consistent with those of single AGN at similar redshifts. We finally carry out the first comparison of dual AGN properties with semi-analytical models and hydrodynamical simulations, including L-GalaxiesBH and Astrid. Astrid provides a closer match to the observed black-hole mass-ratio distribution, but its selected systems are predominantly at lower redshifts, resulting in lower bolometric luminosities at fixed G-band magnitude. L-GalaxiesBH perfectly reproduce the observed parameter space, but it predicts more heterogeneous pairs, with higher primary-bolometric luminosity, lower-mass secondary SMBHs, and higher Eddington ratios, resulting in an excess of near-Eddington accreting AGN due to its adopted accretion prescription. Our results suggest that, in GMP-selected systems, secondary SMBH growth is more efficient than predicted by current models, leading to more comparable black-hole masses and accretion power between the two components.
ER -