Quasar Feedback: The Missing Link in Structure Formation

By Evan Scannapieco, S. Oh. 2004

256 citations recorded by the source corpus.

We consider the impact of quasar outflows on structure formation. Such outflows are potentially more important than galactic winds, which appear insufficient to produce the level of preheating inferred from X-ray observations of galaxy clusters. At late times, energetic material from the densest objects in the centers of galaxies makes its way into the intergalactic medium (IGM), impacting structures on many scales, much as supernovae impact structures on many scales within the interstellar medium. Using a simple analytical model for the distribution of quasars with redshift, coupled with a one-dimensional Sedov-Taylor model for outflows, we are able to make robust statements about these interactions. As large regions of the IGM are heated above a critical entropy of Scrit ≈ 100 keV cm2, cooling becomes impossible within them, regardless of changes in density. On quasar scales, this has the effect of inhibiting further formation, resulting in their observed falloff in number densities below z ≈ 2. On galaxy scales, quasar feedback fixes the turnover scale in the galaxy luminosity function (L*) as the nonlinear scale at the redshift of strong feedback. The galaxy luminosity function then remains largely fixed after this epoch, consistent with recent observations and in contrast to the strong evolution predicted in more standard galaxy-formation models. Finally, strong quasar feedback explains why the intracluster medium is observed to have been preheated to entropy levels just above Scrit, the minimum excess that would not have been erased by cooling. The presence of such outflows is completely consistent with the observed properties of the Lyα forest at z ~ 2 but is expected to have a substantial and detectable impact on Compton distortions observed in the microwave background and the multiphase properties of the "warm-hot" (z = 0) circumgalactic medium.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Instrumentation

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Citations in the corpus

A Cosmological Framework for the Co-Evolution of Quasars, Supermassive Black Holes, and Elliptical Galaxies. II. Formation of Red Ellipticals (2007, methodology): “…and feedback processes and comparing the predictions with observed galaxy populations (e.g., Kauffmann&Haehnelt 2000; Somerville et al. 2001; Benson et al. 2003; Khochfar & Burkert 2003; Granato et al. 2004; Scannapieco & Oh 2004; Kang et al. 2005; De Lucia & Blaizot 2007; Monaco et al. 2007).”
GRAVITATIONAL HEATING HELPS MAKE MASSIVE GALAXIES RED AND DEAD (2009, background): “The first term is a measure of the entropy and therefore an adiabatic invariant, whereas the second term only depends on the temperature (T ) and metalicity (Z) of the gas (Scannapieco & Oh 2004; Khalatyan et al. 2008).”
Galaxy formation theory (2010, background): “Recent years have seen numerous implementations of detailemodels of galaxy formation incorporating AGN feedback (Scannapieco and Oh 2004; Croton et al. 2006; Boweret al. 2006; Cattaneo et al. 2006; Somerville et al. 2008b).”
A semi-analytic model for the co-evolution of galaxies, black holes and active galactic nuclei (2008, background): “Indirect feedback from AGN in external galaxies, e.g. via pre-heating, may be a promising solution (e.g. Scannapieco & Oh 2004). redshift and environment, and the relationship between AGN and their host galaxies.”
Stellar and Quasar Feedback in Concert: Effects on AGN Accretion, Obscuration, and Outflows (2015, background): “…this feedback might ultimately have a large impact throughout the AGN host galaxy, expelling or heating gas and explaining the rapid quenching of star formation in massive galaxies (Granato et al. 2004; Scannapieco & Oh 2004; Croton et al. 2006; Hopkins et al. 2008a; Antonuccio-Delogu & Silk 2008).”
Accretion-driven evolution of black holes: Eddington ratios, duty cycles and active galaxy fractions (2011, background): “…a potentially important source of evolution in the black hole mass function (e.g., Hughes & Blandford 2003; Wyithe & Loeb 2003; Islam et al. 2004; Scannapieco & Oh 2004; Yoo & Miralda-Escudé 2004; Volonteri et al. 2005; Lapi et al. 2006; Yoo et al. 2007; Marulli et al. 2008; Bonoli et al. 2009;…”
DISSIPATION AND EXTRA LIGHT IN GALACTIC NUCLEI. IV. EVOLUTION IN THE SCALING RELATIONS OF SPHEROIDS (2008, background): “…it has been argued that feedback from quasar and strburst activity in major mergers may actually be an important physical agent of “quenching,” (Scannapieco & Oh 2004; Granato et al. 2004; Monaco & Fontanot 2005; Hopkins et al. 2006b, 2007a,d; Naab et al. 2006b; Bundy et al. 2008), in which…”
Evidence for powerful AGN winds at high redshift: dynamics of galactic outflows in radio galaxies during the “Quasar Era” (2008, background): “…experienced an early epoch of vigorous star formation that was terminated by a nearly instantaneous, powerful blow-out phase triggered by the AGN (e.g. Silk & Rees 1998; Scannapieco & Oh 2004; Springel et al. 2005; Di Matteo et al. 2005; Croton et al. 2006; Bower et al. 2006; Hopkins et al. 2006).”
Great Optically Luminous Dropout Research Using Subaru HSC (GOLDRUSH). I. UV Luminosity Functions at $z \sim 4-7$ Derived with the Half-Million Dropouts on the 100 deg$^2$ Sky (2017, background): “…Kelvin et al. 2014), which is thought to be caused by several different mechanisms such as heating from an active galactic nucleus (AGN; Binney 2004; Scannapieco & Oh 2004; Granato et al. 2004; Croton et al. 2006; Bower et al. 2006), inefficiency of gas cooling in high- mass dark matter haloes…”
Quasar outflows and AGN feedback in the extreme UV: HST/COS observations of HE 0238−1904 (2013, background): “DISCUSSION Significant AGN feedback processes typically require a mechanical energy input of roughly 0.5–5% of the Eddington luminosity of the quasar (Hopkins & Elvis 2010; Scannapieco & Oh 2004, respectively).”
Quasar feedback: more bang for your buck (2009, background): “In models, such feedback is invoked to explain the rapid ‘quenching’ of star formation and sustained lack of cooling in massive galaxies (Granato et al. 2004; Scannapieco & Oh 2004; Croton et al. 2006; AntonuccioDelogu & Silk 2008; Hopkins et al. 2008b).”
Cold Molecular Outflows in the Local Universe and Their Feedback Effect on Galaxies (2018, background): “…key role E-mail: af618@mrao.cam.ac.uk in accounting for the local population of massive passive galaxies and the lack of overmassive galaxies (e.g. Scannapieco & Oh 2004; Springel, di Matteo & Hernquist 2005; Sijacki et al. 2007; Puchwein & Springel 2013; Vogelsberger et al. 2014; Beckmann et al.…”
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Quasar Survey: Quasar Luminosity Function from Data Release 3 (2006, background): “…2004) may play an important role in determining the MBH − σ relationship and the co-evolution of black holes and the spheroid component of their host galaxies (e.g., Di Matteo et al. 2003; Wyithe & Loeb 2003; Granato et al. 2004; Scannapieco & Oh 2004; Di Matteo, Springel, & Hernquist 2005).”
An Observational Determination of the Bolometric Quasar Luminosity Function (2006, background): “…redshift (e.g., Merloni 2004; Granato et al. 2004; Hopkins et al. 2006c; Croton et al. 2006) and potentially steepening the low-redshift bright-endQLF slope as a result (Scannapieco & Oh 2004), while this feedback-driven quasar decay determines the shape of the faint-end QLF (Hopkins et al. 2006b).”
Unification of X-ray winds in Seyfert galaxies: from ultra-fast outflows to warm absorbers (2012, background): “Similar and possibly even more massive and/or energetic outflows might have influenced also the formation of structures and galaxy evolution through feedback at higher redshifts, close to the peak of the quasar activity at z ∼ 2 (Silk & Rees 1998; Scannapieco & Oh 2004; Hopkins et al. 2006).”
Galaxy bimodality due to cold flows and shock heating (2004, background): “This behaviour is likely to be generic, though the mechanism by which the energy released near the black hole is spread in the halo gas is an open issue (Ruszkowski, Bruggen & Begelman 2004; Scannapieco & Oh 2004).”