Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2007-03-02
Astrophys.J.665:1038-1056,2007
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
ApJ resubmitted. 48 pages, 14 figures (some of them new, bitmapped, low resolution). New references added, typos corrected
Scientific paper
10.1086/519833
The importance of the radiative feedback from massive black holes at the centers of elliptical galaxies is not in doubt, given the well established relations among electromagnetic output, black hole mass and galaxy optical luminosity. We show how this AGN radiative output affects the hot ISM of an isolated elliptical galaxy with the aid of a high-resolution hydrodynamical code, where the cooling and heating functions include photoionization plus Compton heating. We find that radiative heating is a key factor in the self-regulated coevolution of massive black holes and their host galaxies and that 1) the mass accumulated by the central black hole is limited by feedback to the range observed today, and 2) relaxation instabilities occur so that duty cycles are small enough (~0.03) to account for the very small fraction of massive ellipticals observed to be in the "on" -QSO- phase, when the accretion luminosity approaches the Eddington luminosity. The duty cycle of the hot bubbles inflated at the galaxy center during major accretion episodes is of the order of 0.1-0.4. Major accretion episodes caused by cooling flows in the recycled gas produced by normal stellar evolution trigger nuclear starbursts coincident with AGN flaring. During such episodes the central sources are often obscured; but overall, in the bursting phase (1
Ciotti Luca
Ostriker Jeremiah P.
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