@article{discovery1406145, pages = {1015--1022}, note = {This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher's terms and conditions.}, title = {AGN in dusty hosts: implications for galaxy evolution}, year = {2013}, number = {2}, journal = {Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society}, publisher = {OXFORD UNIV PRESS}, volume = {433}, month = {August}, author = {Symeonidis, M and Kartaltepe, J and Salvato, M and Bongiorno, A and Brusa, M and Page, MJ and Ilbert, O and Sanders, D and van der Wel, A}, abstract = {We present strong empirical evidence for a physical connection between the occurrence of a starburst (SB) and a luminous active galactic nucleus (AGN) phase. Drawing infrared (IR), X-ray and optically selected samples from COSMOS, we find that the locus of type II AGN hosts in the optical colour-magnitude (U ? V/V) and colour-colour (U ? V/V ? J) space significantly overlaps with that of IR-luminous (LIR {\ensuremath{>}} 1010 L{$\odot$}) galaxies. Based on our observations, we propose that, when simultaneously building their black hole and stellar masses, type II AGN hosts are located in the same part of colour-colour space as dusty star-forming galaxies. In fact, our results show that IR-luminous galaxies at z {\ensuremath{<}} 1.5 are on average three times more likely to host a type II AGN (LX {\ensuremath{>}} 1042 erg s?1) than would be expected serendipitously, if AGN and star-formation events were unrelated. In addition, the optical and IR properties of the AGN/SB hybrid systems tentatively suggest that the AGN phase might be coeval with a particularly active phase in a galaxy's star-formation history. Interestingly, we also find a significant fraction of type II AGN hosts offset from the dusty galaxy sequence in colour-colour space, possibly representing a transitional or post-SB phase in galaxy evolution. Our findings are consistent with a scenario whereby AGN play a role in the termination of star formation in massive galaxies.}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stt782}, keywords = {Science \& Technology, Physical Sciences, Astronomy \& Astrophysics, galaxies: active, galaxies: evolution, galaxies: starburst, infrared: galaxies, X-rays: galaxies, ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI, WIDE-FIELD SURVEY, SIMILAR-TO 1, COLOR-MAGNITUDE DIAGRAM, X-RAY, COSMOS FIELD, STAR-FORMATION, BLACK-HOLES, XMM-COSMOS, PHOTOMETRIC REDSHIFT}, issn = {0035-8711} }