MEASURING GAS ACCRETION AND ANGULAR MOMENTUM NEAR SIMULATED SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLES
Journal Article
·
· Astrophysical Journal
- CITA, 60 St. George St., Toronto, ON, M5S 3H8 (Canada)
- Particle Astrophysics Center, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia, IL 60510 (United States)
- JILA, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309 (United States)
Using cosmological simulations with a dynamic range in excess of 10{sup 7}, we study the transport of gas mass and angular momentum through the circumnuclear region of a disk galaxy containing a supermassive black hole (SMBH). The simulations follow fueling over relatively quiescent phases of the galaxy's evolution (no mergers) and without feedback from active galactic nuclei (AGNs), as part of the first stage of using state-of-the-art, high-resolution cosmological simulations to model galaxy and black hole co-evolution. We present results from simulations at different redshifts (z = 6, 4, and 3) and three different black hole masses (3 x 10{sup 7}, 9 x 10{sup 7}, and 3 x 10{sup 8} M{sub sun}; at z = 4), as well as a simulation including a prescription that approximates optically thick cooling in the densest regions. The interior gas mass throughout the circumnuclear disk shows transient and chaotic behavior as a function of time. The Fourier transform of the interior gas mass follows a power law with slope -1 throughout the region, indicating that, in the absence of the effects of galaxy mergers and AGN feedback, mass fluctuations are stochastic with no preferred timescale for accretion over the duration of each simulation ({approx}1-2 Myr). The angular momentum of the gas disk changes direction relative to the disk on kiloparsec scales over timescales less than 1 Myr, reflecting the chaotic and transient gas dynamics of the circumnuclear region. Infalling clumps of gas, which are driven inward as a result of the dynamical state of the circumnuclear disk, may play an important role in determining the spin evolution of an SMBH, as has been suggested in stochastic accretion scenarios.
- OSTI ID:
- 21452908
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 716; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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