Cosmological evolution of the AGN kinetic luminosity function

Abstract We present a first attempt to derive the cosmological evolution of the kinetic luminosity function of AGN based on the joint evolution of the flat spectrum radio and hard X-ray selected AGN luminosity functions. An empirical correlation between jet power and radio core luminosity is found, which is consistent with the theoretical assumption that, below a certain Eddington ratio, SMBH accrete in a radiatively inefficient way, while most of the energy output is in the form of kinetic energy. We show how the redshift evolution of the kinetic power density from such a low-ṁ mode of accretion makes it a good candidate to explain the so-called “radio mode” of AGN feedback as outlined in many galaxy formation schemes.