The Formation and Evolution of Massive Black Holes in Cosmological Simulations

Details The Formation and Evolution of Massive Black Holes in Cosmological Simulations The Formation and Evolution of Massive Black Holes in Cosmological Simulations

Jan 2011

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011aas...21712801b&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #217, #128.01; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 43, 2011

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Massive black holes (MBHs) are inextricably connected to the formation of massive galaxies, but their formation, evolution, and specific effects on their hosts are not clearly understood. Cosmological simulations of galaxy formation, including prescriptions for MBH formation, mergers, accretion, and feedback, are a unique way to shed light on this issue. We use a suite of simulated galaxies with a range of masses and formation histories to make predictions regarding the distribution of MBHs in galaxies as well as their fueling histories. We predict a population of ``wandering'' MBHs in the halos of massive galaxies, which are the remnant cores of tidally stripped satellite galaxies. These objects may be observed as off-nuclear ultraluminous X-ray sources if the cores retain a gas reservoir and are perturbed in some way, such as a passage near the galactic disk. Additionally, we trace the origins of gas accreted by central black holes to test the standard paradigm that quasars are fueled by major mergers. We find that in addition to major mergers, a high redshift quasar can be fueled through smoothly accreted cold flows; thus, a major merger is not a requirement for quasar activity. Bulge morphology is likely an observational relic of a galaxy's merger history and can be used to test whether a black hole's accretion has been fueled through mergers or more quiescent processes.

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