scholarly journals The early growth of supermassive black holes in cosmological hydrodynamic simulations with constrained Gaussian realizations

2020 ◽  
Vol 496 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kuan-Wei Huang ◽  
Yueying Ni ◽  
Yu Feng ◽  
Tiziana Di Matteo

ABSTRACT The paper examines the early growth of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in cosmological hydrodynamic simulations with different BH seeding scenarios. Employing the constrained Gaussian realization, we reconstruct the initial conditions in the large-volume bluetides simulation and run them to z = 6 to cross-validate that the method reproduces the first quasars and their environments. Our constrained simulations in a volume of $(15 \, h^{-1} {\rm Mpc})^3$ successfully recover the evolution of large-scale structure and the stellar and BH masses in the vicinity of a ${\sim}10^{12} \, M_{\odot }$ halo which we identified in bluetides at z ∼ 7 hosting a ${\sim}10^9 \, M_{\odot }$ SMBH. Among our constrained simulations, only the ones with a low-tidal field and high-density peak in the initial conditions induce the fastest BH growth required to explain the z > 6 quasars. We run two sets of simulations with different BH seed masses of 5 × 103, 5 × 104, and $5 \times 10^5 \, h^{-1} M_{\odot }$, (i) with the same ratio of halo to BH seed mass and (ii) with the same halo threshold mass. At z = 6, all the SMBHs converge in mass to ${\sim}10^9 \, M_{\odot }$ except for the one with the smallest seed in (ii) undergoing critical BH growth and reaching 108 – $10^9 \, M_{\odot }$, albeit with most of the growth in (ii) delayed compared to set (i). The finding of eight BH mergers in the small-seed scenario (four with masses 104 – $10^6 \, M_{\odot }$ at z > 12), six in the intermediate-seed scenario, and zero in the large-seed scenario suggests that the vast BHs in the small-seed scenario merge frequently during the early phases of the growth of SMBHs. The increased BH merger rate for the low-mass BH seed and halo threshold scenario provides an exciting prospect for discriminating BH formation mechanisms with the advent of multimessenger astrophysics and next-generation gravitational wave facilities.

2020 ◽  
Vol 496 (1) ◽  
pp. 888-893 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafael C Nunes ◽  
Fabio Pacucci

ABSTRACT Supermassive black holes (SMBHs) play a crucial role in the evolution of galaxies and are currently detected up to $z$ ∼ 7.5. Theories describing black hole (BH) growth are challenged by how rapidly seeds with initial mass $M_\bullet \lesssim 10^5 \, {\rm M_\odot }$, formed at $z$ ∼ 20–30, grew to $M_\bullet \sim 10^9 \, {\rm M_\odot }$ by $z$ ∼ 7. Here we study the effects of the value of the Hubble parameter, H0, on models describing the early growth of BHs. First, we note that the predicted mass of a quasar at $z$ = 6 changes by $\gt 300{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ if the underlying Hubble parameter used in the model varies from H0 = 65 to H0 = 74 km s−1Mpc−1, a range encompassing current estimates. Employing an MCMC approach based on priors from $z$ ≳ 6.5 quasars and on H0, we study the interconnection between H0 and the parameters describing BH growth: seed mass Mi and Eddington ratio fEdd. Assuming an Eddington ratio of fEdd = 0.7, in agreement with previous estimates, we find $H_0 = 73.6^{+1.2}_{-3.3}$ km s−1Mpc−1. In a second analysis, allowing all the parameters to vary freely, we find log (Mi/M⊙) > 4.5 (at 95 per cent CL), $H_0 = 74^{+1.5}_{-1.4}$ km s−1Mpc−1 and $f_{\rm Edd}=0.77^{+0.035}_{-0.026}$ at 68 per cent CL. Our results on the typical Eddington ratio are in agreement with previous estimates. Current values of the Hubble parameter strongly favour heavy seed formation scenarios, with $M_i \gtrsim 10^4 \, {\rm M_\odot }$. In our model, with the priors on BH masses of quasars used, light seed formation scenarios are rejected at ∼3σ.


2003 ◽  
Vol 214 ◽  
pp. 46-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Günther Hasinger

Two X-ray observatories, the NASA observatory Chandra and the ESA mission XMM-Newton, provide powerful new diagnostics of the “hot universe”. In this article I review recent X–ray observations of the evolving universe. First indications of the warm/hot intergalactic medium, tracing out the large scale structure of the universe, have been obtained lately in sensitive Chandra and XMM-Newton high resolution absorption line spectroscopy of bright blazars. High resolution X–ray spectroscopy and imaging also provides important new constraints on the physical condition of the cooling matter in the centers of clusters, requiring major modifications to the standard cooling flow models. One possibility is, that the supermassive black hole in the giant central galaxies significantly energizes the gas in the cluster.XMM-Newton and Chandra low resolution spectroscopy detected significant Fe Kα absorption features in the spectrum of the ultraluminous, high redshift lensed broad absorption line QSO APM 08279+5255, yielding new insights in the outflow geometry and in particular indicate a supersolar Fe/O ratio. Chandra high resolution imaging spectroscopy of the nearby ultraluminous infrared galaxy and obscured QSO NGC 6240 for the first time gave evidence of two active supermassive black holes in the same galaxy, likely bound to coalesce in the course of the ongoing major merger in this galaxy.Deep X–ray surveys have shown that the cosmic X-ray background (XRB) is largely due to the accretion onto supermassive black holes, integrated over the cosmic time. These surveys have resolved more than 80 % of the 0.1–10 keV X-ray background into discrete sources. Optical spectroscopic identifications show that the sources producing the bulk of the X-ray background are a mixture of obscured (type–1) and unobscured (type–2) AGNs, as predicted by the XRB population synthesis models. A class of highly luminous type–2 AGN, so called QSO-2s, has been detected in the deepest Chandra and XMM-Newton surveys. The new Chandra AGN redshift distribution peaks at much lower redshifts (z ≈ 0.7) than that based on ROSAT data, indicating that the evolution of Seyfert galaxies occurs at significantly later cosmic time than that of QSOs.


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (S351) ◽  
pp. 161-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Riccardo Schiavi ◽  
Roberto Capuzzo-Dolcetta ◽  
Manuel Arca Sedda ◽  
Mario Spera

AbstractOur Galaxy and the nearby Andromeda Galaxy (M31) form a bound system, even though the relative velocity vector of M31 is currently not well constrained. Their orbital motion is highly dependent on the initial conditions, but all the reliable scenarios imply a first close approach in the next 3–5 Gyrs. In our study, we simulate this interaction via direct N-body integration, using the HiGPUs code. Our aim is to investigate the dependence of the time of the merger on the physical and dynamical properties of the system. Finally, we study the dynamical evolution of the two Supermassive Black Holes placed in the two galactic centers, with the future aim to achieve a proper resolution to follow their motion until they form a tight binary system.


2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (S238) ◽  
pp. 287-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris D. Impey ◽  
Jon R. Trump ◽  
Pat J. McCarthy ◽  
Martin Elvis ◽  
John P. Huchra ◽  
...  

AbstractThe Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) is an HST/ACS imaging survey of 2 square degrees centered on RA = 10:00:28.6, Dec = + 02:12:21 (J2000). While the primary goal of the survey is to study evolution of galaxy morphology and large scale structure, an extensive multi-wavelength data set allows for a sensitive survey of AGN. Spectroscopy of optical counterparts to faint X-ray and radio sources is being carried out with the Magallen (Baade) Telescope and the ESO VLT. By achieving ∼80 redshift completeness down to I AB = 3, the eventual yield of AGN will be ∼1100 over the whole field.Early results on supermassive black holes are described. The goals of the survey include a bolometric census of AGN down to moderate luminosities, the cosmic evolution and fueling history of the central engines, and a study of AGN environments on scales ranging from the host galaxy to clusters and superclusters.


2002 ◽  
Vol 184 ◽  
pp. 335-342
Author(s):  
Richard F. Green

AbstractHigh angular resolution observations from WFPC and STIS now allow well-constrained dynamical measurement of the masses of supermassive black holes (SMBH) in nearby galaxies. An initial statistical analysis by Magorrian et al. showed that 97% of bulges host SMBH. Black hole mass is correlated moderately with bulge luminosity and strongly with the velocity dispersion of the whole bulge, suggesting that black hole formation may be an intrinsic aspect of bulge formation. Black hole masses for AGN determined from reverberation mapping fall on the same relationship with bulge velocity dispersion as those determined from stellar dynamical measurements. The prospect is therefore that the large-scale distribution of black hole masses in distant quasars may be determined through relatively straightforward measurement. Integral constraints show consistency between the total AGN luminosity density and the total volume density in SMBH contained in galaxy bulges. The strong peak of the high-luminosity quasar luminosity function at early cosmic time is consistent with the association of the build-up of SMBH through accretion and bulge formation. Alternate scenarios requiring substantial build-up of the most massive black holes at later cosmic times are more difficult to reconcile with the evolution of the LF.


2020 ◽  
Vol 639 ◽  
pp. A30
Author(s):  
Persis Misquitta ◽  
Micah Bowles ◽  
Andreas Eckart ◽  
Madeleine Yttergren ◽  
Gerold Busch ◽  
...  

We present the properties of the central supermassive black holes and the host galaxies of the interacting object SDSS J134420.86+663717.8. We obtained optical long slit spectroscopy data from the Large Binocular Telescope using the Multi Object Double Spectrograph. Analysing the spectra revealed several strong broad and narrow emission lines of ionised gas in the nuclear region of one galaxy, whereas only narrow emission lines were visible for the second galaxy. The optical spectra were used to plot diagnostic diagrams, deduce rotation curves of the two galaxies, and calculate the masses of the central supermassive black holes. We find that the galaxy with broad emission line features has Seyfert 1 properties, while the galaxy with only narrow emission line features seems to be star-forming in nature. Furthermore, we find that the masses of the central supermassive black holes are almost equal at a few times 107 M⊙. Additionally, we present a simple N-body simulation to shed some light on the initial conditions of the progenitor galaxies. We find that for an almost orthogonal approach of the two interacting galaxies, the model resembles the optical image of the system.


2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (14) ◽  
pp. 426-427
Author(s):  
Rainer Spurzem

Large scale, direct particle-particle, brute force N-body simulations are required to accurately resolve numerically transport processes of energy and angular momentum due to two-body relaxation, and interactions between supermassive black holes and other particles having a much smaller mass. Direct accurate N-body codes are the widely used tool for such simulations, e.g., NBODY4 or NBODY6 (Aarseth 1999, 2003), see also Harfst et al. (2007) for a less complex code variant, used for benchmarks in this paper. Makino (2002) has presented another direct N-body summation code, which is optimized for a quadratic layout of processor (p required to be a square number).


Author(s):  
Abraham Loeb ◽  
Steven R. Furlanetto

This chapter analyzes formation mechanisms for supermassive black holes, their observable characteristics, and their interactions with their host galaxies and the wider Universe. A black hole is the end product of the complete gravitational collapse of a material object, such as a massive star. It is surrounded by a horizon from which even light cannot escape. Astrophysical black holes appear in two flavors: stellar-mass black holes that form when massive stars die, and the monstrous supermassive black holes that sit at the center of galaxies, reaching masses of up to ten billion Suns. The latter type is observed as active galactic nuclei (AGN), and the chapter introduces the quasar—a point-like (“quasi-stellar”) bright source at the center of a galaxy which serves as the most powerful type of AGN—in discussing the observable nature of supermassive black holes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 503 (4) ◽  
pp. 6098-6111
Author(s):  
Angelo Ricarte ◽  
Michael Tremmel ◽  
Priyamvada Natarajan ◽  
Charlotte Zimmer ◽  
Thomas Quinn

ABSTRACT We characterize the population of wandering black holes, defined as those physically offset from their halo centres, in the romulus cosmological simulations. Unlike most other currently available cosmological simulations, black holes are seeded based on local gas properties and are permitted to evolve dynamically without being fixed at halo centres. Tracking these black holes allows us to make robust predictions about the offset population. We find that the number of wandering black holes scales roughly linearly with the halo mass, such that we expect thousands of wandering black holes in galaxy cluster haloes. Locally, these wanderers account for around 10 per cent of the local black hole mass budget once seed masses are accounted for. Yet for higher redshifts ($z$ ≳ 4), wandering black holes both outweigh and outshine their central supermassive counterparts. Most wandering black holes, we find, remain close to the seed mass and originate from the centres of previously disrupted satellite galaxies. While most do not retain a resolved stellar counterpart, those that do are situated farther out at larger fractions of the virial radius. Wanderers with higher luminosities are preferentially at lower radius, more massive, and either closer to their host’s mid-planes or associated with a stellar overdensity. This analysis shows that our current census of supermassive black holes is incomplete and that a substantial population of off-centre wanderers likely exists.


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