Low luminosity AGNs in the local universe

Galaxies are known to contain black holes (e.g. Ferrarese & Merritt 2000), whose mass correlates with the mass of their bulge. A fraction of them also has an Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN), showing excess emission thought to be due to accretion of mass by the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy. It is thought that AGNs play a very important role during the formation of galaxies by creating large outflows that stop star formation in the galaxy (see e.g. Kormendy & Ho 2013). The aim is to detect the fraction of Low Luminosity Active Galactic Nucleus (LLAGN) in the nearby Universe. At present, they are typically found using optical spectroscopy (e.g. Kauffmann, Heckman et al. 2003), who discuss the influence of the AGN on the host galaxy and vice versa. However, optical spectra are seriously affected by extinction in these generally very dusty objects, and therefore can only give us partial information about the AGN. I used a newly-found method, and apply it to the S4G sample, a large, complete, sample of nearby galaxies, which I am studying in detail with a large collaboration, to detect the fraction of low luminosity AGNs, and to better understand the relation between AGNs and their host galaxy which is thought to be crucial for their formation.