Related papers: Stellar Disruption and the Quasar Radio Dichotomy
We use a physically motivated semi-analytic model, based on the mass function of dark matter halos, to predict the number of radio-loud quasars as a function of redshift and luminosity. Simple models in which the central BH mass scales with…
Luminous quasars powered by accreting supermassive black holes (SMBHs) have been found in the early Universe at $z \gtrsim 7.5$, which set a strong constraint on both the seed black hole mass and the rapid growth of the SMBHs. In this work,…
It is still a mystery why only a small fraction of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) contain relativistic jets. Strong magnetic field is a necessary ingredient for jet formation, however, the advection of the external field in a geometrically…
In this paper I review the results of our ongoing project to investigate the coupling between accretion disk and radio jet in galactic nuclei and stellar mass black holes. We find a good correlation between the UV bump luminosity and the…
While radio emission in quasars can be contributed to by a variety of processes (involving star forming regions, accretion disk coronas and winds, and jets), the powering of the radio loudest quasars must involve very strong jets,…
The recently discovered tight correlation between supermassive black hole mass and central velocity dispersion suggests a possibility to estimate the SMBH mass from the measured central velocity dispersion. However, for most AGNs it is…
We analyze radio continuum emission of early-type galaxies with dynamical measurements of central super-massive black hole (SMBH) masses, and well-characterized large-scale environments, but regardless on the exact level of the nuclear…
Radio loud active galactic nuclei (AGN) are on average 1000 times brighter in the radio band compared to radio quiet AGN. We investigate whether this radio loud/quiet dichotomy can be due to differences in the spin of the central black…
We highlight some of the principal results from our recent Hubble Space Telescope studies of quasars and radio galaxies. The hosts of these powerful AGN are normal massive ellipticals which lie on the region of the fundamental plane…
The radio-loud/radio-quiet (RL/RQ) dichotomy in quasars is still an open question. Although it is thought that accretion onto supermassive black holes in the centre the host galaxies of quasars is responsible for some radio continuum…
Radio emission in the brightest radio quasars can be attributed to processes inherent to SMBHs, while the origins of the radio fluxes in quasars without radio detections is still uncertain. We investigate the radio-infrared continuum of…
We have assembled a sample of 37 RLQs that have been imaged with the HST in order to investigate their black hole masses, accretion rates, and the structure of their accretion disks. The black hole masses were estimated from the…
While supermassive black holes are ubiquitous features of galactic nuclei, only a small minority are observed during episodes of luminous accretion. The physical mechanism(s) driving the onset of fueling and ignition in these active…
There is general consensus that active galactic nuclei (AGNs) derive their radiating power from a supermassive black hole (SMBH) that accretes matter. Yet, their precise powering mechanisms and the resulting growth of the SMBH are poorly…
Several independent lines of evidence now point to a correlation between black hole mass, M_bh, and radio-luminosity. In this paper we discuss the correlation for quasars from the FIRST Bright Quasar Survey (FBQS), using black hole mass…
Double-lobed radio galaxies a few 100s of kpc in extent, like Cygnus A, are common at redshifts of 1 to 2, arising from some 10 per cent of the most powerful Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). At higher redshifts they are rare, with none larger…
We present a comprehensive study of the physical origin of radio emission in optical quasars at redshifts z < 2.5. We focus particularly on the associations between compact radio emission, dust reddening, and outflows identified in our…
The interactions between radio jets and the interstellar medium play a defining role for the co-evolution of central supermassive black holes and their host galaxies, but observational constraints on these feedback processes are still very…
There is a fundamental lack of understanding as to why quasars that are otherwise very similar can have such a wide range of radio jet powers, and the large-scale environment is thought to play an important role. We investigate the spatial…
Extragalactic radio sources, including quasars, are now typically understood as being produced by a pair of nearly symmetric, oppositely directed relativistic jets. While some these sources span megaparsecs, and are thus the largest…