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While comprising only a small fraction of the total population, radio galaxies play a key role in how galaxies evolve. Their ability to transport energy efficiently over large distances away from the central AGN in a self regulating manner (“feedback”) means they are one of the favoured mechanisms by which additional energy can be injected into the environment in order to reconcile simulations of galaxy evolution with observations.

Remnant sources represent the final stage in a radio galaxy’s life cycle where the central engine is no longer active but have so far remained elusive, comprising at best few per cent of the radio galaxies observed in flux-limited samples. This is at least in part due to their steep, highly curved spectrum, and a historical inability to identify remnant sources morphologically at meter wavelengths. However, modern low-frequency radio interferometers such as LOFAR have now removed these limitations, providing the first opportunity to study this population in detail and allowing us to gain unique insight in to this key stage of a radio galaxy’s life cycle.

In this talk, I will present recent results from the LOFAR nearby AGN and Radio-Life projects in the search for radio remnants. I will discuss how these results affect our understanding of the life-cycle of these important radio sources as well as looking to the future as to how this knowledge can be applied in the context of large surveys (e.g. LoTTS) to investigate the radio galaxy population as a whole.