AGN Host Galaxies in COSMOS-Web: Linking Structural Evolution and Star Formation Quenching up to z=5

@misc{han2026host,
  title = {{AGN Host Galaxies in COSMOS-Web: Linking Structural Evolution and Star Formation Quenching up to $z=5$}},
  author = {Xiao Han and Lilan Yang and T. Kelly and Matthew A. Malkan and Luis C. Ho and John D. Silverman and Zi-Jian Li and Andreas L. Faisst and Andrew J. Battisti and Jeyhan S. Kartaltepe and Lauro Moscardini and Rasha M. Samir and Ronaldo Laishram and Tao Wang and Yiyang Zhang and Caitlin M. Casey and Henry Joy McCracken and Jason Rhodes and Brant E. Robertson and Maximilien Franco and Daizhong Liu and Marko Shuntov and Xuheng Ding},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = nov,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2611.06443},
  eprint = {2611.06443},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.06443},
}

TY  - UNPB
TI  - AGN Host Galaxies in COSMOS-Web: Linking Structural Evolution and Star Formation Quenching up to z=5
AU  - Xiao Han
AU  - Lilan Yang
AU  - T. Kelly
AU  - Matthew A. Malkan
AU  - Luis C. Ho
AU  - John D. Silverman
AU  - Zi-Jian Li
AU  - Andreas L. Faisst
AU  - Andrew J. Battisti
AU  - Jeyhan S. Kartaltepe
AU  - Lauro Moscardini
AU  - Rasha M. Samir
AU  - Ronaldo Laishram
AU  - Tao Wang
AU  - Yiyang Zhang
AU  - Caitlin M. Casey
AU  - Henry Joy McCracken
AU  - Jason Rhodes
AU  - Brant E. Robertson
AU  - Maximilien Franco
AU  - Daizhong Liu
AU  - Marko Shuntov
AU  - Xuheng Ding
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/11/04
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2611.06443
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.06443
AB  - The role of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) in the suppression of star formation and structural evolution of galaxies during their transition from star-forming to quiescent systems remains unclear. We analyze 3,955 AGNs selected through five multiwavelength diagnostics at 0<z<5. Using high-resolution JWST imaging from the COSMOS-Web survey and archival multi-wavelength photometry, we investigate the rest-frame optical size-mass distribution of AGN host galaxies and compare it with those of star-forming galaxies (SFGs) and quiescent galaxies (QGs). We find that the positions of AGN hosts in the size-mass plane depend on both redshift and stellar mass. At z≳2, massive AGN hosts (M_⋆/M_⊙>10^10.5) generally exhibit sizes comparable to those of SFGs despite suppressed star formation. Toward lower redshifts, they increasingly approach the QG size-mass relation, accompanied by declining specific star formation rates (sSFRs) and increasing Sérsic indices. In contrast, lower-mass AGN hosts remain close to the SFG relation across the redshift range. Overall, AGN hosts exhibit relatively mild size evolution, following R_e∝(1+z)^−0.6 over 0<z<4, shallower than that of typical SFGs and QGs. We further examine the relationship between star formation activity and structural compactness in the ΔlogSFR_MS-ΔΣ_e plane. At z<2.2, AGN hosts predominantly occupy the compact star-forming and quiescent regions, broadly consistent with the compaction-quenching scenario. At z>2.2, however, some AGN hosts exhibit suppressed star formation while retaining relatively extended structures. These findings suggest that some AGN hosts may follow alternative evolutionary pathways in which star formation suppression precedes substantial structural compaction.
ER  -