scholarly journals Axion core–halo mass and the black hole–halo mass relation: constraints on a few parsec scales

2019 ◽  
Vol 488 (4) ◽  
pp. 4497-4503 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent Desjacques ◽  
Adi Nusser

ABSTRACT If the dark matter is made of ultralight axions, stable solitonic cores form at the centres of virialized haloes. In some range for the mass m of the axion particle, these cores are sufficiently compact and can mimic supermassive black holes (SMBH) residing at galactic nuclei. We use the solitonic core–halo mass relation, validated in numerical simulations, to constrain a new range of allowed axion mass from measurements of the SMBH mass in (pseudo)bulge and bulgeless galaxies. These limits are based on observations of galactic nuclei on scales smaller than 10 pc. Our analysis suggests that $m\lesssim 10^{-18}\, {\rm eV}$ is ruled out by the data. We briefly discuss whether an attractive self-interaction among axions could alleviate this constraint.

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (11) ◽  
pp. 059
Author(s):  
Z. Stuchlík ◽  
J. Vrba

Abstract Recently introduced exact solution of the Einstein gravity coupled minimally to an anisotropic fluid representing dark matter can well represent supermassive black holes in galactic nuclei with realistic distribution of dark matter around the black hole, given by the Hernquist-like density distribution. For these fluid-hairy black hole spacetimes, properties of the gravitational radiation, quasinormal ringing, and optical phenomena were studied, giving interesting results. Here, using the range of physical parameters of these spacetimes allowing for their relevance in astrophysics, we study the epicyclic oscillatory motion of test particles in these spacetimes. The frequencies of the orbital and epicyclic motion are applied in the epicyclic resonance variant of the geodesic model of quasiperiodic oscillations (QPOs) observed in active galactic nuclei to demonstrate the possibility to solve the cases where the standard vacuum black hole spacetimes are not allowing for explanation of the observed data. We demonstrate that the geodesic model can explain the QPOs observed in most of the active galactic nuclei for the fluid-hairy black holes with reasonable halo parameters.


Universe ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. 279
Author(s):  
Zdeněk Stuchlík ◽  
Jaroslav Vrba

We study epicyclic oscillatory motion along circular geodesics of the Simpson–Visser meta-geometry describing in a unique way regular black-bounce black holes and reflection-symmetric wormholes by using a length parameter l. We give the frequencies of the orbital and epicyclic motion in a Keplerian disc with inner edge at the innermost circular geodesic located above the black hole outer horizon or on the our side of the wormhole. We use these frequencies in the epicyclic resonance version of the so-called geodesic models of high-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations (HF QPOs) observed in microquasars and around supermassive black holes in active galactic nuclei to test the ability of this meta-geometry to improve the fitting of HF QPOs observational data from the surrounding of supermassive black holes. We demonstrate that this is really possible for wormholes with sufficiently high length parameter l.


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (S351) ◽  
pp. 80-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melvyn B. Davies ◽  
Abbas Askar ◽  
Ross P. Church

AbstractSupermassive black holes are found in most galactic nuclei. A large fraction of these nuclei also contain a nuclear stellar cluster surrounding the black hole. Here we consider the idea that the nuclear stellar cluster formed first and that the supermassive black hole grew later. In particular we consider the merger of three stellar clusters to form a nuclear stellar cluster, where some of these clusters contain a single intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH). In the cases where multiple clusters contain IMBHs, we discuss whether the black holes are likely to merge and whether such mergers are likely to result in the ejection of the merged black hole from the nuclear stellar cluster. In some cases, no supermassive black hole will form as any merger product is not retained. This is a natural pathway to explain those galactic nuclei that contain a nuclear stellar cluster but apparently lack a supermassive black hole; M33 being a nearby example. Alternatively, if an IMBH merger product is retained within the nuclear stellar cluster, it may subsequently grow, e.g. via the tidal disruption of stars, to form a supermassive black hole.


2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (02n03) ◽  
pp. 2040054
Author(s):  
M. Yu. Piotrovich ◽  
V. L. Afanasiev ◽  
S. D. Buliga ◽  
T. M. Natsvlishvili

Based on spectropolarimetry for a number of active galactic nuclei in Seyfert 1 type galaxies observed with the 6-m BTA telescope, we have estimated the spins of the supermassive black holes at the centers of these galaxies. We have determined the spins based on the standard Shakura-Sunyaev accretion disk model. More than 70% of the investigated active galactic nuclei are shown to have Kerr supermassive black holes with a dimensionless spin greater than 0.9.


2020 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 355-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernard Carr ◽  
Florian Kühnel

Although the dark matter is usually assumed to be made up of some form of elementary particle, primordial black holes (PBHs) could also provide some of it. However, various constraints restrict the possible mass windows to 1016–1017 g, 1020–1024 g, and 10–103 M⊙. The last possibility is contentious but of special interest in view of the recent detection of black hole mergers by LIGO/Virgo. PBHs might have important consequences and resolve various cosmological conundra even if they account for only a small fraction of the dark matter density. In particular, those larger than 103 M⊙ could generate cosmological structures through the seed or Poisson effect, thereby alleviating some problems associated with the standard cold dark matter scenario, and sufficiently large PBHs might provide seeds for the supermassive black holes in galactic nuclei. More exotically, the Planck-mass relics of PBH evaporations or stupendously large black holes bigger than 1012 M⊙ could provide an interesting dark component.


2001 ◽  
Vol 555 (2) ◽  
pp. L79-L82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Ferrarese ◽  
Richard W. Pogge ◽  
Bradley M. Peterson ◽  
David Merritt ◽  
Amri Wandel ◽  
...  

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.


2020 ◽  
Vol 496 (2) ◽  
pp. 1115-1123
Author(s):  
K Boshkayev ◽  
A Idrissov ◽  
O Luongo ◽  
D Malafarina

ABSTRACT We consider the observational properties of a static black hole space–time immersed in a dark matter envelope. We investigate how the modifications to geometry induced by the presence of dark matter affect the luminosity of the black hole’s accretion disc. We show that the same disc luminosity as produced by a black hole in vacuum may be produced by a smaller black hole surrounded by dark matter under certain conditions. In particular, we demonstrate that the luminosity of the disc is markedly altered by the presence of dark matter, suggesting that the mass estimation of distant supermassive black holes may be changed if they are immersed in dark matter. We argue that a similar effect holds in more realistic scenarios, and we discuss the refractive index related to dark matter lensing. Finally, we show how the results presented here may help to explain the observed luminosity of supermassive black holes in the early Universe.


2003 ◽  
Vol 208 ◽  
pp. 455-456
Author(s):  
Jeremy Tinker ◽  
Barbara Ryden

We present results of numerical simulations of mergers of spiral galaxies using GADGET (Springel, Yoshida, & White 2001). In three of these simulations one of the progenitor galaxies contained a central supermassive black hole (BH), as well as one simulation which did not contain a BH. The merger remnants were evolved to an age of ∼ 13 Gyr to examine the evolution of the shape of each merger remnant. The results of these simulations were compared to observations of elliptical galaxies, which show that older galaxies appear rounder than younger ones (Ryden, Forbes, & Terlevich 2001).We found that the simulations in which the BH mass was fixed throughout the evolution influence the shape of their host galaxies on timescales less than 3 Gyr. These simulations show little trend of shape with age beyond this time. In the simulations in which the BH mass increased linearly over the duration of the simulation, there is a significant evolution of the shape of the remnant throughout its lifetime, comparable to the observational trend.


2019 ◽  
Vol 490 (3) ◽  
pp. 3414-3425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth R Bennewitz ◽  
Cristian Gaidau ◽  
Thomas W Baumgarte ◽  
Stuart L Shapiro

ABSTRACT We study effects of heating by dark matter (DM) annihilation on black hole gas accretion. We observe that, for reasonable assumptions about DM densities in spikes around supermassive black holes, as well as DM masses and annihilation cross-sections within the standard WIMP model, heating by DM annihilation may have an appreciable effect on the accretion on to Sgr A* in the Galactic Centre. Motivated by this observation we study the effects of such heating on Bondi accretion, i.e. spherically symmetric, steady-state Newtonian accretion on to a black hole. We consider different adiabatic indices for the gas, and different power-law exponents for the DM density profile. We find that typical transonic solutions with heating have a significantly reduced accretion rate. However, for many plausible parameters, transonic solutions do not exist, suggesting a breakdown of the underlying assumptions of steady-state Bondi accretion. Our findings indicate that heating by DM annihilation may play an important role in the accretion onto supermassive black holes at the centre of galaxies, and may help explain the low accretion rate observed for Sgr A*.


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