No Arabic abstract
Supermassive black hole (SMBH) feeding and feedback processes are often considered as disjoint and studied independently at different scales, both in observations and simulations. We encourage to adopt and unify three physically-motivated scales for feeding and feedback (micro - meso - macro ~ mpc - kpc - Mpc), linking them in a tight multiphase self-regulated loop. We pinpoint the key open questions related to this global SMBH unification problem, while advocating for the extension of novel mechanisms best observed in massive halos (such as chaotic cold accretion) down to low-mass systems. To solve such challenges, we provide a set of recommendations that promote a multiscale, multiwavelength, and interdisciplinary community.
We present new Chandra X-ray observations of the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG) in the cool core cluster Abell 2597. The data reveal an extensive kpc-scale X-ray cavity network as well as a 15 kpc filament of soft-excess gas exhibiting strong spatial correlation with archival VLA radio data. In addition to several possible scenarios, multiwavelength evidence may suggest that the filament is associated with multiphase (10^3 - 10^7 K) gas that has been entrained and dredged-up by the propagating radio source. Stemming from a full spectral analysis, we also present profiles and 2D spectral maps of modeled X-ray temperature, entropy, pressure, and metal abundance. The maps reveal an arc of hot gas which in projection borders the inner edge of a large X-ray cavity. Although limited by strong caveats, we suggest that the hot arc may be (a) due to a compressed rim of cold gas pushed outward by the radio bubble or (b) morphologically and energetically consistent with cavity-driven active galactic nucleus (AGN) heating models invoked to quench cooling flows, in which the enthalpy of a buoyant X-ray cavity is locally thermalized as ambient gas rushes to refill its wake. If confirmed, this would be the first observational evidence for this model.
We study the interaction of feedback from active galactic nuclei (AGN) and a multi-phase interstellar medium (ISM), in simulations including explicit stellar feedback, multi-phase cooling, accretion-disk winds, and Compton heating. We examine radii ~0.1-100 pc around a black hole (BH), where the accretion rate onto the BH is determined and where AGN-powered winds and radiation couple to the ISM. We conclude: (1) The BH accretion rate is determined by exchange of angular momentum between gas and stars in gravitational instabilities. This produces accretion rates ~0.03-1 Msun/yr, sufficient to power luminous AGN. (2) The gas disk in the galactic nucleus undergoes an initial burst of star formation followed by several Myrs where stellar feedback suppresses the star formation rate (SFR). (3) AGN winds injected at small radii with momentum fluxes ~L/c couple efficiently to the ISM and have dramatic effects on ISM properties within ~100 pc. AGN winds suppress the nuclear SFR by factors ~10-30 and BH accretion rate by factors ~3-30. They increase the outflow rate from the nucleus by factors ~10, consistent with observational evidence for galaxy-scale AGN-driven outflows. (4) With AGN feedback, the predicted column density distribution to the BH is consistent with observations. Absent AGN feedback, the BH is isotropically obscured and there are not enough optically-thin sightlines to explain Type-I AGN. A torus-like geometry arises self-consistently as AGN feedback evacuates gas in polar regions.
We introduce massive black holes (BHs) in the Feedback In Realistic Environments project and perform high-resolution cosmological hydrodynamic simulations of quasar-mass halos ($M_{rm halo}(z=2) approx 10^{12.5},rm{M}_{odot}$) down to $z=1$. These simulations model stellar feedback by supernovae, stellar winds, and radiation, and BH growth using a gravitational torque-based prescription tied to resolved properties of galactic nuclei. We do not include BH feedback. We show that early BH growth occurs through short ($lesssim 1,$Myr) accretion episodes that can reach or even exceed the Eddington rate. In this regime, BH growth is limited by bursty stellar feedback continuously evacuating gas from galactic nuclei, and BHs remain under-massive relative to the local $M_{rm BH}$-$M_{rm bulge}$ relation. BH growth is more efficient at later times, when the nuclear stellar potential retains a significant gas reservoir, star formation becomes less bursty, and galaxies settle into a more ordered state, with BHs rapidly converging onto the scaling relation when the host reaches $M_{rm bulge} sim 10^{10},rm{M}_{odot}$. Our results are not sensitive to the details of the accretion model so long as BH growth is tied to the gas content within $sim 100,$pc of the BH. Our simulations imply that bursty stellar feedback has strong implications for BH and AGN demographics, especially in the early Universe and for low-mass galaxies.
We present simulations of galaxy formation, based on the GADGET-3 code, in which a sub-resolution model for star formation and stellar feedback is interfaced with a new model for AGN feedback. Our sub-resolution model describes a multiphase ISM, accounting for hot and cold gas within the same resolution element: we exploit this feature to investigate the impact of coupling AGN feedback energy to the different phases of the ISM over cosmic time. Our fiducial model considers that AGN feedback energy coupling is driven by the covering factors of the hot and cold phases. We perform a suite of cosmological hydrodynamical simulations of disc galaxies ($M_{rm halo, , DM} simeq 2 cdot 10^{12}$ M$_{odot}$, at $z=0$), to investigate: $(i)$ the effect of different ways of coupling AGN feedback energy to the multiphase ISM; $(ii)$ the impact of different prescriptions for gas accretion (i.e. only cold gas, both cold and hot gas, with the additional possibility of limiting gas accretion from cold gas with high angular momentum); $(iii)$ how different models of gas accretion and coupling of AGN feedback energy affect the coevolution of supermassive BHs and their host galaxy. We find that at least a share of the AGN feedback energy has to couple with the diffuse gas, in order to avoid an excessive growth of the BH mass. When the BH only accretes cold gas, it experiences a growth that is faster than in the case in which both cold and hot gas are accreted. If the accretion of cold gas with high angular momentum is reduced, the BH mass growth is delayed, the BH mass at $z=0$ is reduced by up to an order of magnitude, and the BH is prevented from accreting below $z lesssim 2$, when the galaxy disc forms.
We present the Chandra discovery of soft diffuse X-ray emission in NGC 4151 (L[0.5-2keV]~10^{39} erg s$^{-1}$), extending ~2 kpc from the active nucleus and filling in the cavity of the HI material. The best fit to the X-ray spectrum requires either a kT~0.25 keV thermal plasma or a photoionized component. In the thermal scenario, hot gas heated by the nuclear outflow would be confined by the thermal pressure of the HI gas and the dynamic pressure of inflowing neutral material in the galactic disk. In the case of photoionization, the nucleus must have experienced an Eddington limit outburst. For both scenarios, the AGN-host interaction in NGC 4151 must have occured relatively recently (some 10^4 yr ago). This very short timescale to the last episode of high activity phase may imply such outbursts occupy $gtrsim$1% of AGN lifetime.