Related papers: Feeding of active galactic nuclei by dynamical per…
Precise mechanisms by which Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) receive their gaseous fuel is still a mystery. Here I draw attention to the extra ordinary star formation event that took place in the central ~ 0.5 parsec of our Galaxy. The most…
A supermassive black hole (SMBH) at the core of an active galactic nucleus (AGN) provides room for the elusive ultra-light scalar particles (ULSP) to be produced through a phenomenon called \textit{superradiance}. This phenomenon produces a…
Any connection between central activity and the large-scale dynamics of disk galaxies requires an efficient mechanism to remove angular momentum from the orbiting material. The only viable means of achieving inflow from kiloparsec scales is…
Understanding how Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) evolve through cosmic time allows us to probe the physical processes that control their evolution. We use an updated model for the evolution of masses and spins of supermassive black holes…
The Galactic Center shows evidence for the presence of three important AGN ingredients: a Black Hole ($M_\bullet\sim10^6M_\odot$), an accretion disk ($10^{-8.5} - 10^{-7} M_\odot/{\rm yr}$) and a powerful jet (jet power $\ge$ 10\% disk…
The effect of AGN wind feedback on the accretion rate and mass evolution of supermassive black holes (SMBH) is considered. It is shown, under reasonable assumptions, that the rate at which gas can be supplied to a SMBH at the center of a…
Modeling the spectral energy distribution (SED) of active galactic nuclei (AGN) plays a very important role in constraining modern cosmological simulations of galaxy formation. Here, we utilize an advanced supermassive black hole (SMBH)…
Active galactic nuclei are supermassive black holes surrounded by an accretion disk, two populations of clouds, bipolar jets, and a dusty torus. The clouds move in Keplerian orbits at high velocities. In particular, the broad-line region…
The $Fermi$ gamma-ray telescope discovered a pair of bubbles at the Galactic center. These structures are spatially-correlated with the microwave emission detected by the WMAP and Planck satellites. These bubbles were likely inflated by a…
The majority of massive black holes (MBHs) likely hosted gas discs during their lifetimes. These could either be long-lived active galactic nuclei (AGN) discs, or shorter-lived discs formed following singular gas infall events, as was…
I discuss some recent observational results in the research of nearby active galactic nuclei (AGN). These results cover three main topics: (i) evidences for the current paradigm for AGN's, which include a nuclear supermassive blackhole…
We suggest that most nearby active galactic nuclei are fed by a series of small--scale, randomly--oriented accretion events. Outside a certain radius these events promote rapid star formation, while within it they fuel the supermassive…
We report that moderately eccentric flows around supermassive black holes (SMBHs), formed via either circumnuclear gas accretion or tidal disruption events, generate eccentricity cascades (from >0.8 to 0.2 outward), explaining…
The Fermi bubbles are two lobes filled with non-thermal particles that emit gamma rays, extend $\approx$10 kpc vertically from the Galactic center, and formed from either nuclear star formation or accretion activity on Sgr A*. Simulations…
Recent observations of young galaxies at redshifts z ~ 3 have revealed simultaneous AGN and starburst activity, as well as galaxy-wide superwinds. I show that there is probably a close connection between these phenomena by extending an…
Accretion disks surrounding supermassive black holes can potentially form stars within the self-gravitating region. These stars undergo high accretion rates because of the dense environment of the active galactic nuclei (AGN) accretion…
The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope reveals two large bubbles in the Galaxy, which extend nearly symmetrically ~50 degrees above and below the Galactic center (GC). Using three-dimensional (3D) magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations that…
We argue that supermassive black hole growth in AGN occurs via sequences of randomly--oriented accretion discs with angular momentum limited by self--gravity. These stably co-- or counter--align with the black hole spin with almost equal…
Accretion in the nuclei of active galaxies may occur chaotically. This can produce accretion discs which are counter-rotating or strongly misaligned with respect to the spin of the central supermassive black hole (SMBH), or the axis of a…
We demonstrate that our Galactic Center, despite little evidence for the presence of a currently active nucleus, provides insight into the feeding of AGN: The observed velocity field of molecular clouds can be interpreted as tracing out the…