Active galactic nucleus activity in brightest cluster galaxies at intermediate redshifts in Sunyaev-Zel'dovich--selected clusters

RESUMO

Context. Brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) host powerful active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and help regulate the heating--cooling balance of the intracluster medium. While radio-mode feedback is well established locally, its prevalence at intermediate redshifts remains poorly constrained. Aims. We investigate the incidence, accretion state, and host-galaxy properties of AGNs in BCGs in Sunyaev--Zel'dovich (SZ)-selected clusters at $0.3 < z < 0.8$, testing dependences on cosmic epoch, cluster mass, and dynamical state. Methods. We analyse 171 BCGs from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope SZ catalogue, combining Southern African Large Telescope spectroscopy, WISE mid-infrared photometry, and Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey radio data with X-CIGALE modelling to derive stellar masses, star formation rates, and Eddington-scaled accretion rates. Results. Thirty-eight BCGs (22%) host radio-loud AGNs. Only two ($\sim$5%) are high-excitation radio galaxies; the remainder are low-excitation systems. Most AGNs have low Eddington ratios ($-3 \lesssim \log_{10}\lambda_{\mathrm{Edd}} \lesssim -1$), consistent with radiatively inefficient accretion. Accretion efficiency increases with redshift, while correlations with cluster mass and dynamical state are weak. Radio luminosity is independent of cluster mass. Compared to field radio AGNs, BCG radio-loud AGNs have similar radio powers but are hosted by galaxies $\sim0.8$ dex more massive. Conclusions. BCG radio-loud AGNs at $0.3 < z < 0.8$ are predominantly low-excitation, radiatively inefficient systems, indicating that maintenance-mode accretion was widespread in massive clusters ($M_{500c} \simeq 3.2 \times 10^{14},M_\odot$) by $z \sim 1$. Accretion appears regulated primarily by fuel availability and cosmic evolution rather than global cluster properties, while the cluster environment mainly sets the host-galaxy mass scale.