We use a volume- and flux-limited sample of local ($0.03 \leq z \leq 0.1$)
radio galaxies with optical counterparts to address the question of how long a
typical galaxy spends in radio-active and quiescent states. The length of the
active phase has a strong dependence on the stellar mass of the host galaxy.
Radio sources in the most massive hosts are also retriggered more frequently.
The time spent in the active phase has the same dependence on stellar mass as
does the gas cooling rate, suggesting the onset of the quiescent phase is due
to fuel depletion. We find radio and emission line AGN activity to be
independent, consistent with these corresponding to different accretion states.Comment: accepted for publication in MNRAS; 15 pages, 14 figure
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