Related papers: Black hole growth by accretion
The growth of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) remains a central problem in astrophysics, with current observations providing only limited constraints on the underlying mechanisms. One possible growth channel is stellar accretion via the…
Accretion is thought to primarily contribute to the mass accumulation history of supermassive black holes throughout cosmic time. While this may be true at high redshifts, at lower redshifts and for the most massive black holes mergers…
We present a new semi-analytic model for the common growth of black holes (BHs) and galaxies within a hierarchical Universe. The model is tuned to match the mass function of BHs at z=0 and the luminosity functions of active galactic nuclei…
Among the four black hole binary merger events detected by LIGO, six progenitor black holes have masses greater than 20\,$M_\odot$. The existence of such massive BHs calls for extreme metal-poor stars as the progenitors. An alternative…
The correlations between the mass of supermassive black holes and properties of their host galaxies are investigated through cosmological simulations. Black holes grow from seeds of 100 solar masses inserted into density peaks present in…
The evolution of luminous QSOs is linked to the evolution of massive galaxies. We know this because the relic black-holes found locally have masses dependent on the properties of the host galaxy's bulge. An important way to explore this…
We investigate the properties of accretion flows onto a black hole (BH) with a mass of $M_{\rm BH}$ embedded in an initially uniform gas cloud with a density of $n_{\infty}$ in order to study rapid growth of BHs in the early Universe. In…
We argue that current observations of $M - \sigma$ relations for galaxies can be used to constrain theories of super-massive black holes (SMBH) feeding. In particular, assuming that SMBH mass is limited only by the feedback on the gas that…
We investigate the growth of central supermassive black holes in galaxies, aiming to distinguish between gas accretion versus BH merger-driven growth modes. By performing and analysing cosmological hydrodynamical simulations of $(50 ~ {\rm…
There is overwhelming evidence for the presence of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in the centers of most nearby galaxies. The mass estimates for these remnant black holes from the stellar kinematics of local galaxies and the quasar…
Supermassive black hole (SMBH) growth plausibly occurs via runaway astrophysical black hole mergers in nuclear star clusters that form intermediate mass black hole seeds at high redshifts. Such a model yields an order-of-magnitude higher…
A multitude of JWST studies reveal a surprising over-abundance of over-massive accreting super-massive black holes (SMBHs) -- leading to a deepening tension between theory and observation in the first billion years of cosmic time. Across…
I show that there is a physical limit to the mass of a black hole, above which it cannot grow through luminous accretion of gas, and so cannot appear as a quasar or active galactic nucleus. The limit is Mmax \simeq 5x10^{10}M_sun for…
Theoretical models predict that a population of Intermediate Mass Black Holes (IMBHs) of mass $M_\bullet \approx 10^{4-5} \, \mathrm{M_{\odot}}$ might form at high ($z > 10$) redshift by different processes. Such objects would represent the…
Observational studies have revealed a "downsizing" trend in black hole (BH) growth: the number densities of luminous AGN peak at higher redshifts than those of faint AGN. This would seem to imply that massive black holes formed before low…
We present a well-tested, theoretically supported empirical relation that helps decipher the origins, growth, and properties of SMBHs (supermassive black holes). Based on theoretical considerations and analysis of mass (MBH) versus age (t)…
Narrow Line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLS1s) are generally considered peculiar objects among the broad class of Type 1 active galactic nuclei, due to the relatively small width of the broad lines, strong X-ray variability, soft X-ray continua,…
In this work we study the co-evolution of central black holes (BHs) and host galaxies by utilizing an advanced iteration of the DELPHI semi-analytical model of galaxy formation and evolution. Based on dark matter halo merger trees spanning…
The formation mechanism of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in general, and of $\sim 10^9\,{\rm M}_{\odot}$ SMBHs observed as luminous quasars at redshifts $z> 6$ in particular, remains an open fundamental question. The presence of such…
We study the growth of supermassive black holes accounting for both accretion and mergers. The former is informed by observations of the quasar luminosity function (QLF) and the latter by the gravitational wave-background (GWB) recently…