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Stellar feedback-regulated black hole growth: driving factors from nuclear to halo scales
Astrophysics of Galaxies · Submitted 17 Oct 2022
abstract compiled · 2026-09-23 · no language-model review
The authors' main claim We show that multiple physical properties, including halo mass, galaxy stellar mass, and depth of the central gravitational potential correlate with accelerated BH fueling: constant thresholds in these properties are typically crossed within ~0.1 Hubble time of accelerated BH fueling.
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The abstract, sentence by sentence
Several recent simulations of galaxy formation predict two main phases of supermassive black hole (BH) accretion: an early, highly intermittent phase (during which BHs are under-massive relative to local scaling relations), followed by a phase of accelerated growth. We investigate physical factors that drive the transition in BH accretion in cosmological zoom-in simulations from the FIRE project, ranging from dwarf galaxies to galaxies sufficiently massive to host luminous quasars. The simulations model multi-channel stellar feedback, but neglect AGN feedback. We show that multiple physical properties, including halo mass, galaxy stellar mass, and depth of the central gravitational potential correlate with accelerated BH fueling: constant thresholds in these properties are typically crossed within ~0.1 Hubble time of accelerated BH fueling. Black hole masses increase sharply when the stellar surface density in the inner 1 kpc crosses a threshold Sigma1 ~ 10^9.5 Msun/kpc^2, a characteristic value above which gravity prevents stellar feedback from ejecting gas, and similar to the value above which galaxies are observed to quench. We further show that accelerated BH growth correlates with the emergence of long-lived, thin gas disks, as well as with virialization of the inner circumgalactic medium. The halo mass Mh ~ 10^12 Msun and stellar mass Mstar ~ 10^10.5 Msun at which BH growth accelerates correspond to ~L* galaxies. The fact that stellar feedback becomes inefficient at ejecting gas from the nucleus above this mass scale may play an important role in explaining why AGN feedback appears to be most important in galaxies above ~L*.
background contribution method result interpretation main claim
| # | sentence | role | the authors' own work | states the main conclusion | strength |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| s0 | Several recent simulations of galaxy formation predict two main phases of supermassive black hole (BH) accretion: an early, highly intermittent phase (during which BHs are under-massive relative to local scaling relations), followed by a phase of accelerated growth. | background 1.00 | 0.05 | 0.06 | asserted 0.74 |
| s1 | We investigate physical factors that drive the transition in BH accretion in cosmological zoom-in simulations from the FIRE project, ranging from dwarf galaxies to galaxies sufficiently massive to host luminous quasars. | contribution 0.91 | 0.88 | 0.04 | asserted 0.69 |
| s2 | The simulations model multi-channel stellar feedback, but neglect AGN feedback. | limitation 0.82 | 0.80 | 0.02 | asserted 1.00 |
| s3 | We show that multiple physical properties, including halo mass, galaxy stellar mass, and depth of the central gravitational potential correlate with accelerated BH fueling: constant thresholds in these properties are typically crossed within ~0.1 Hubble time of accelerated BH fueling. | result 1.00 | 0.96 | 0.48 | asserted 1.00 |
| s4 | Black hole masses increase sharply when the stellar surface density in the inner 1 kpc crosses a threshold Sigma1 ~ 10^9.5 Msun/kpc^2, a characteristic value above which gravity prevents stellar feedback from ejecting gas, and similar to the value above which galaxies are observed to quench. | result 0.99 | 0.94 | 0.44 | asserted 1.00 |
| s5 | We further show that accelerated BH growth correlates with the emergence of long-lived, thin gas disks, as well as with virialization of the inner circumgalactic medium. | result 1.00 | 0.94 | 0.11 | asserted 1.00 |
| s6 | The halo mass Mh ~ 10^12 Msun and stellar mass Mstar ~ 10^10.5 Msun at which BH growth accelerates correspond to ~L* galaxies. | result 0.98 | 0.87 | 0.12 | asserted 1.00 |
| s7 | The fact that stellar feedback becomes inefficient at ejecting gas from the nucleus above this mass scale may play an important role in explaining why AGN feedback appears to be most important in galaxies above ~L*. | interpretation 1.00 | 0.35 | 0.18 | hedged possibility 1.00 |
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The paper
Original abstract
Several recent simulations of galaxy formation predict two main phases of supermassive black hole (BH) accretion: an early, highly intermittent phase (during which BHs are under-massive relative to local scaling relations), followed by a phase of accelerated growth. We investigate physical factors that drive the transition in BH accretion in cosmological zoom-in simulations from the FIRE project, ranging from dwarf galaxies to galaxies sufficiently massive to host luminous quasars. The simulations model multi-channel stellar feedback, but neglect AGN feedback. We show that multiple physical properties, including halo mass, galaxy stellar mass, and depth of the central gravitational potential correlate with accelerated BH fueling: constant thresholds in these properties are typically crossed within ~0.1 Hubble time of accelerated BH fueling. Black hole masses increase sharply when the stellar surface density in the inner 1 kpc crosses a threshold Sigma1 ~ 10^9.5 Msun/kpc^2, a characteristic value above which gravity prevents stellar feedback from ejecting gas, and similar to the value above which galaxies are observed to quench. We further show that accelerated BH growth correlates with the emergence of long-lived, thin gas disks, as well as with virialization of the inner circumgalactic medium. The halo mass Mh ~ 10^12 Msun and stellar mass Mstar ~ 10^10.5 Msun at which BH growth accelerates correspond to ~L* galaxies. The fact that stellar feedback becomes inefficient at ejecting gas from the nucleus above this mass scale may play an important role in explaining why AGN feedback appears to be most important in galaxies above ~L*.
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References
How the literature uses it
4 arXiv papers cite this in 9 sentences
Papers citing it · 8 sentences without a confident label
Cites it as background 1 paper
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As discussed in Section [ref], many previous FIRE studies have identified a transition in galaxy properties from bursty star formation rates and strong outflows to steady star formation and weaker outflows, occurring at the $L^*$ mass scale (e.g., [ref] ).
Cold vs. Hot Gas Accretion and Angular Momentum in FIRE Simulations: From Halo to Galaxy Scales · Bursty vs. steady galaxies and their CGM · 0.83
What it cites · 16 sentences without a confident label
Uses the method or tool of 1 paper
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Therefore we do not attempt to “optimize” $$ but rather for each simulation we determine it following the method used in [ref] .
Rapid disc settling and the transition from bursty to steady star formation in Milky Way-mass galaxies · Comparing the Time of Accelerated BH Growth with Thresholds in Other Physical Properties · 1.00
Cites as support 3 papers
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[ref] and [ref] showed that the transition from bursty to steady star formation coincides with the rapid “settling” of the ISM into a steady, thin disc in the simulations.
Rapid disc settling and the transition from bursty to steady star formation in Milky Way-mass galaxies · Connection to the Settling of Galactic Discs · 0.96
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A stellar distribution that would be identified as a disc, albeit a relatively thick one, can thus appear well before $$ [ref] .
Born this way: thin disc, thick disc, and isotropic spheroid formation in FIRE-2 Milky-Way-mass galaxy simulations · Connection to the Settling of Galactic Discs · 0.96
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[ref] integrated BH orbits in early clumpy galaxies from the FIRE simulations, and found that in many circumstances, BH seeds could not be assumed to have reached the galaxy centre.
Seeds Don't Sink: Even Massive Black Hole "Seeds" Cannot Migrate to Galaxy Centers Efficiently · Caveats and Directions for Future Work · 0.96
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