FEEDBACK FROM CENTRAL BLACK HOLES IN ELLIPTICAL GALAXIES: TWO-DIMENSIONAL MODELS COMPARED TO ONE-DIMENSIONAL MODELS

By G. Novak, Jeremiah P. Ostriker, Luca Ciotti. 2010

188 citations recorded by the source corpus.

We extend the black hole (BH) feedback models of Ciotti, Ostriker, and Proga to two dimensions. In this paper, we focus on identifying the differences between the one-dimensional and two-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations. We examine a normal, isolated L* galaxy subject to the cooling flow instability of gas in the inner regions. Allowance is made for subsequent star formation, Type Ia and Type II supernovae, radiation pressure, and inflow to the central BH from mildly rotating galactic gas which is being replenished as a normal consequence of stellar evolution. The central BH accretes some of the infalling gas and expels a conical wind with mass, momentum, and energy flux derived from both observational and theoretical studies. The galaxy is assumed to have low specific angular momentum in analogy with the existing one-dimensional case in order to isolate the effect of dimensionality. The code then tracks the interaction of the outflowing radiation and winds with the galactic gas and their effects on regulating the accretion. After matching physical modeling to the extent possible between the one-dimensional and two-dimensional treatments, we find essentially similar results in terms of BH growth and duty cycle (fraction of the time above a given fraction of the Eddington luminosity). In the two-dimensional calculations, the cool shells forming at 0.1–1 kpc from the center are Rayleigh–Taylor unstable to fragmentation, leading to a somewhat higher accretion rate, less effective feedback, and a more irregular pattern of bursting compared with the one-dimensional case.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/e6abd1519a4070d9cdbe6088b59d61021048ab98

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Citations in the corpus

BLACK HOLE VARIABILITY AND THE STAR FORMATION–ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS CONNECTION: DO ALL STAR-FORMING GALAXIES HOST AN ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS? (2013, methodology): “…over a large dynamic range in luminosity (Figure 1), corresponding to changes in the accretion state driven by various physical processes including feedback on the accreting material (e.g., Hopkins et al. 2005; No- vak et al. 2011) or accretion disk instabilities (e.g., Siemiginowska & Elvis 1997).”
Quasar feedback and the origin of radio emission in radio-quiet quasars (2014, methodology): “As an example, we consider the results of the 2D simulations of quasar feedback by Novak et al. (2011), in which at every distance from the quasar the higher density regions (‘clouds’) have a wide distribution of radial velocities (G.Novak, private communication) which ranges from 0 to & 1000…”
Active galactic nuclei: what’s in a name? (2017, methodology): “23) as evidenced by hydrodynamic simulations (e.g. Novak et al. 2011) and AGN light echoes (Keel et al. 2012; Schawinski et al. 2015) that point toward large-amplitude fluctuations in AGN luminosity on timescales of ∼105–106 years.”
Mechanical AGN feedback: controlling the thermodynamical evolution of elliptical galaxies (2012, background): “Unfortunately, Novak et al. (2011) do not show azimuthally averaged temperature and density profiles, thus it is not possible to assess the effect of the AGN feedback on these key observable constraints.”
Now You See It, Now You Don't: The Disappearing Central Engine of the Quasar J1011+5442 (2015, background): “This type of variability may correspond to the bursting behavior found in simulations, such as those of Novak et al. (2011), where the accretion rate onto the black hole is intermittent because of the interaction of the quasar outflow with the gas supplied by stellar processes (see also the related…”
FIRE-2 simulations: physics versus numerics in galaxy formation (2017, background): “…of which have noted that OB winds tend to not be sufficiently well-confined to build up comparable momentum (after coupling) to SNe (Jungwiert et al. 2001; Ciotti & Ostriker 2001; Ciotti et al. 2009; Schaye et al. 2010; Leitner & Kravtsov 2011; Novak et al. 2011; Gan et al. 2014; Choi et al. 2015).”
Observations of feedback from radio-quiet quasars - I. Extents and morphologies of ionized gas nebulae (2013, result): “10 pc) and the scale on which it sweeps up the interstellar medium of the galaxy (∼ 10 kpc), producing structures qualitatively similar to those seen in our observations (Novak et al. 2011).”
Galaxy Interactions Trigger Rapid Black Hole Growth: an unprecedented view from the Hyper Suprime-Cam Survey (2017, background): “Given that AGN activity is known to vary on timescales much shorter than galaxy processes (e.g., Novak et al. 2011; Gabor & Bournaud 2013), and on average, BH accretion rate is linked to available gas supply (e.g., Hickox et al. 2014), we make the ansatz that the act of merging further enhances AGN…”
NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF HOT ACCRETION FLOWS. III. REVISITING WIND PROPERTIES USING THE TRAJECTORY APPROACH (2015, background): “…flow is one of the most important ingredients for such a feedback because they could interact with the ISM in the host galaxy by exchanging momentum and depositing energy (King 2003; Debuhr et al. 2010; Ciotti, Ostriker & Proga 2010; Ostriker et al. 2010; Novak et al. 2011; Gan et al. 2014).”
A CORRELATION BETWEEN STAR FORMATION RATE AND AVERAGE BLACK HOLE ACCRETION IN STAR-FORMING GALAXIES (2013, background): “Even short-lived starbursts last∼ 100 Myr (e.g. Wong 2009; Ostriker et al. 2010; Hickox et al. 2012), which is still much longer than the timescale of AGN variability.”
Hot Accretion Flows Around Black Holes (2014, background): “…Ruszkowski & Begelman 2002), it is included in semi-empirical models of galaxy formation (Croton et al. 2006, Hopkins et al. 2006, Somerville et al. 2008), and incorporated in hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy formation and evolution (Ciotti et al. 2010, Novak et al. 2011, Gaspari et al. 2012).”
Active galactic nuclei flicker: an observational estimate of the duration of black hole growth phases of ∼105 yr (2015, background): “High resolution simulations have similarly indicated short AGN lifetimes: Novak et al. (2011) perform very high resolution hydrodynamical simulations of feeding and feedback in elliptical galaxies, resulting in short 10 5 year AGN bursts.”