The low-mass end of the supermassive black hole mass function is unknown and difficult to determine. Here we discuss our successful program to find active nuclei of late type "normal" galaxies using X-ray detections and multiwavelength identifications. We conclude that most of the Chandra detected nuclear X-ray sources are AGNs. We then outline methods of black hole mass determination when broad emission lines are unobservable.
The origin of supermassive black holes in the galactic nuclei is quite uncertain in spite of extensive set of observational data. We review the known scenarios of galactic and cosmological formation of supermassive black holes. The common drawback of galactic scenarios is a lack of time and shortage of matter supply for building the supermassive black holes in all galaxies by means of accretion and merging. The cosmological scenarios are only fragmentarily developed but propose and pretend to an universal formation mechanism for supermassive black holes.
Recent work on the dynamical evolution of galactic nuclei containing supermassive black holes is reviewed. Topics include galaxy structural properties; collisionless and collisional equilibria; loss-cone dynamics; and dynamics of binary and multiple supermassive black holes.
This was my final paper for the AST 308 Galaxies class at Michigan State University. Using many sources I was able to compile a moderate amount of information concerning the evidence for, and the formation of Supermassive Black Holes.
We give the comment why the supermassive black hole exists at the center of almost all galaxies. We consider the origin of the supermassive black hole from the point of view of the density of the matter. If the density of the matter is fixed and such matter can come together by the gravitational attraction, such stellar object eventually becomes the black hole. If the density of the matter is that of the atom, such matter naturally comes together to form the black hole by the gravitational attraction. This is expected to be the process to form the supermassive black hole. In this way, we can u…
A review of recent theoretical work on the interactions of supermassive single and binary black holes with their nuclear environments, highlighting ways in which the observed structure of nuclei can be used to constrain the formation history of black holes.
Supermassive black holes are investigated as possible sources for low-frequency bursts of gravity waves. The event rate for `known' supermassive black holes at intermediate and high redshifts, inferred from the quasar luminosity function, is low $\sim 0.1 \yr^{-1}$. A space-based interferometer could therefore only see several events per year from supermassive black holes if an additional population of supermassive black holes existed and emitted gravitational waves efficiently. These might reside in the population of dwarf galaxies or in a transient population of small dark matter haloes that…
Attempts of Magain et al (2005) to detect the host galaxy of the bright QSO HE0450--2958 have not been successful. We suggest that the supermassive black hole powering the QSO was ejected from the observed ULIRG at the same redshift and at 1.5 arcsec distance. Ejection could have either be caused by recoil due to gravitational wave emission from a coalescing binary of supermassive black holes or the gravitational slingshot of three or more supermassive black holes in the ongoing merger of galaxies which triggered the starburst activity in the ULIRG. We discuss implications for the possible hie…
The tight correlation between black hole mass and velocity dispersion of galactic bulges is strong evidence that the formation of galaxies and supermassive black holes are closely linked. I review the modeling of the joint formation of galaxies and their central supermassive black holes in the context of the hierarchical structure formation paradigm.
This article gives a brief overview of the direct and indirect evidence in support of the standard paradigm that active galactic nuclei are powered by supermassive black holes.
We present some simple models to determine whether or not the accretion of cold dark matter by supermassive black holes is astrophysically important. Contrary to some claims in the literature, we show that supermassive black holes cannot significantly alter a power law density cusp via accretion, whether during mergers or in the steady state.
The formation of supermassive black holes (SMBH) is intimately related to galaxy formation, although precisely how remains a mystery. I speculate that formation of, and feedback from, SMBH may alleviate problems that have arisen in our understanding of the cores of dark halos of galaxies.
Supermassive black hole accretion and star formation appear intimately connected. I review the observational and theoretical evidence for this statement. I then discuss how focussed studies of two systems, our Galactic Center and the nucleus of M87, can help to improve our understanding of these processes.
We highlight the correlation between a galaxy's supermassive black hole mass and the Sersic-index of the host spheroid or bulge component. From our bulge-disk decompositions of 10 095 galaxies, drawn from the Millennium Galaxy Catalogue, we construct the local (z < 0.18) mass function of supermassive black holes. We compare our results to those of McLure & Dunlop (2004) and conclude that the mass density of supermassive black holes may be marginally higher than previously supposed. This increase is predominantly due to the inclusion of low mass and later-type bulges. More details will be prese…
Supermassive black hole binaries may exist in the centers of active galactic nuclei like quasars and radio galaxies and mergers between galaxies may result in the formation of supermassive binaries during the course of galactic evolution. Using the very-long-baseline interferometer, we imaged the radio galaxy 3C 66B at radio frequencies and found that the unresolved radio core of 3C 66B shows well-defined elliptical motions with a period of 1.05 +/- 0.03 years, which provides a direct detection of a supermassive black hole binary.
The evolution of a supermassive black hole in the center of galaxy is considered. We analyze the kinetic equation describing relaxation processes associated with stellar encounters. The initial distribution function of stars is assumed to be isothermal, and it changes in accordance with consumption of stars by the black hole. We calculate the consumption rate and obtain the law of growth of supermassive black hole, i.e. the dependence of the black hole mass on time and on the velocity dispersion of stars. The obtained values of mean black hole mass and mean rate of stars consumption by a black…
We obtain the coefficients of a new fundamental plane for supermassive black holes at the centers of elliptical galaxies, involving measured central black hole mass and photometric parameters which define the light distribution. The galaxies are tightly distributed around this mass fundamental plane, with improvement in the rms residual over those obtained from the $\mbh-σ$ and $\mbh-L$ relations. This implies a strong multidimensional link between the central massive black hole formation and global photometric properties of elliptical galaxies and provides an improved estimate of black hole m…
If a supermassive black hole resides in the centers of galaxies, there are several effects expected to be observed. It is likely that accretion disks are around the supermassive black hole. Stellar interactions with the accretion flows around the supermassive black hole play a role in that an flying-by star may cool a hot accretion disk as a result of Comptonization. It is shown that the Comptonization of the stellar emission will take place in a hot accretion disk such as the ADAFs around the supermassive black hole and become a relatively important source of the accretion disk cooling when t…
A simple regression analysis designed for predicting the supermassive black hole mass from the effective radius and mean effective surface brightness of the host bulge has been performed using the data from Barway & Kembhavi (arXiv:0705.1508). The scatter in the log M_bh direction is 0.32 dex, greater than reported and comparable with values obtained using a single predictor quantity such as luminosity, velocity dispersion or Sersic index.
The hierarchical build-up of galactic bulges should lead to the build-up of present-day supermassive black holes by a mixture of gas accretion and merging of supermassive black holes. The tight relation between black hole mass and stellar velocity dispersion is thereby a strong argument that the supermassive black holes in merging galactic bulges do indeed merge. Otherwise the ejection of supermassive black holes by gravitational slingshot would lead to excessive scatter in this relation. At high redshift the coalescence of massive black hole binaries is likely to be driven by the accretion of…
Some issues relevant for the formation of supermassive black holes are discused and estimates of the event rates for the emission of gravitational waves by coalescing supermassive black hole binaries are given. The models take into account recent improvements in our knowledge of galaxy and star formation in the high-redshift universe. Estimated event rates range from a few to a hundred per year. Typical events will occur at redshift three or larger in galaxies lying at the (very) faint end of the luminosity function at these redshifts.
Recent studies have indicated that the emission of gravitational waves at the merger of two black holes gives a kick to the final black hole. If the supermassive black hole at the center of a disk galaxy is kicked but the velocity is not large enough to escape from the host galaxy, it will fall back onto the the disk and accrete the interstellar medium in the disk. We study the X-ray emission from the black holes with masses of ~10^7 M_sun recoiled from the galactic center with velocities of ~600 km s^-1. We find that their luminosities can reach ~>10^39 erg s^-1, when they pass the apastrons …
We demonstrate the feasibility of uncovering supermassive black holes in late-type, quiescent spiral galaxies by detecting signs of very low-level nuclear activity. We use a combination of x-ray selection and multi-wavelength follow-up. Here, we apply this technique to NGC 3184 and NGC 5457, both of type Scd, and show that strong arguments can be made that both host AGNs.
We investigate the accretion flows onto the supermassive binary black holes (SMBBHs) from the circumbinary disk with the equal mass, eccentric binary on the subparsec scale, using Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) code. We find that the material can be supplied from circumbinary disk, which leads to the formation of two accretion disks around the SMBBHs. The mass accretion rates significantly modulate with the binary orbital motion. These could provide the observable diagnosis of the existence of the supermassive binary black holes (e.g. OJ287) on the subparsec scale in merged galactic nuc…
In this review the correlations between host galaxy properties and black-hole mass determined from nearby quiescent galaxies are briefly discussed, before proceeding to investigate their application to active galactic nuclei (AGN). The recent advances in estimating the black-hole masses of AGN are then reviewed, followed by an examination of the connection between black-hole mass and radio luminosity.
Recent surveys suggest that most or all normal galaxies host a massive black hole with 1/100 to 1/1000 of the visible mass of the spheroid of the galaxy. Various lines of argument suggest that these galaxies have merged at least once in our past lightcone, and that the black holes have also merged. This leads to a merger rate of massive black holes of about 1/\yrs.
The high redshifts of the most distant known quasars, and the best estimates of their black hole masses, require that supermassive black holes (SMBHs) must have formed very early in history. Several mechanisms for creating and growing these holes have been proposed. Here we present an evaluation of the timescales needed for various critical processes in order to discriminate between the proposed scenarios. We find in particular that mergers alone are not able to grow the black holes at a sufficient rate. Accretion models offer a solution and we use accretion timescales to constrain the manner …
We report the discovery of a strong correlation between the shape of a bulge's light-profile and the mass of its central supermassive black hole (M_{bh}). We find that log(M_{bh}/M_{sun}) = 2.91(+/-0.38)log(n) + 6.37(+/-0.21), where `n' is the Sersic r^{1/n} shape index of the bulge. This correlation is marginally stronger than the relationship between the logarithm of the stellar velocity dispersion and log(M_{bh}) and has comparable scatter. It therefore offers a cheap (in terms of telescope time) alternative to estimating the masses of supermassive black holes.
We use the integrated spectrum of the X-ray background and quasars Spectral Energy Distribution to derive the contribution of quasars to the energy output of the Universe. We find a lower limit for the energy from accretion onto black holes of 6%, of the total luminosity of the Universe and probably more, with 15% quite possible. Comparing these values with the masses of black holes in the center of nearby galaxies we show that the accretion process must be on average very efficient: at least 15% of the accreted mass must be transformed into radiated energy. This further implies that most supe…
We have investigated past measurements of the local supermassive black hole mass density, correcting for hitherto unknown dependencies on the Hubble constant, which, in some cases, had led to an underestimation of the mass density by factors of ~2. Correcting for this, we note that the majority of past studies yield a local supermassive black hole mas density that is consistent with the range 4.4-5.9 x 10^5 f(H_0) M_Sun / Mpc^3 (when using H_0 = 70 km/s/Mpc). In addition, we address a number of ways in which these past estimates can be further developed. In particular, we tabulate realistic bu…
The growth of supermassive black holes by merging and accretion in hierarchical models of galaxy formation is studied by means of Monte Carlo simulations. A tight linear relation between masses of black holes and masses of bulges arises if if the mass accreted by supermassive black holes scales linearly with the mass forming stars and if the redshift evolution of mass accretion tracks closely that of star formation. Differences in redshift evolution between black hole accretion and star formation introduce considerable scatter in this relation. A non-linear relation between black hole accretio…
We report the first results of a program to measure accurate stellar velocity dispersions in the bulges of the host galaxies of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) for which accurate black hole (BH) masses have been determined via reverberation mapping. We find good agreement between BH masses obtained from reverberation mapping, and from the M(BH) - sigma relation as defined by quiescent galaxies, indicating a common relationship between active and quiescent black holes and their large-scale environments.
Relativistic outflows are a common phenomenon in accreting black holes. Despite the enormous differences in scale, stellar-mass black holes in X-ray binaries and collapsars, and super-massive black holes at the dynamic centre of galaxies are sources of jets with analogous physical properties. Synergism between the research on microquasars, gamma-ray bursts, and Active Galactic Nuclei should help to gain insight into the physics of relativistic jets seen everywhere in the Universe.
Thanks to its unprecedented spatial resolution, the Hubble Space Telescope has ended a 20-year long stalemate by detecting the dynamical signature of nuclear supermassive black holes (SBHs) in a sizeable number of nearby galaxies. These detections have revealed the existence of a symbiotic relationship between SBHs and their hosts, changing the way we view SBH and galaxy formation. In this contribution I review which are the most pressing outstanding issues in SBH research, and what are the technological requirements needed to address them.
The formation of supermassive black holes through the gravitational collapse of supermassive objects ($M \ga 10^4 M_\odot$) has been proposed as a source of cosmological gamma-ray bursts. The major advantage of this model is that such collapses are far more energetic than stellar-remnant mergers. The major drawback of this idea is the severe baryon loading problem in one-dimensional models. We can show that the observed log N - log P (number vs. peak flux) distribution for gamma-ray bursts in the BATSE database is not inconsistent with an identification of supermassive object collapse as the o…
We study the demographics of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in the local and high-z universe with hard X-ray luminosity functions (HXLFs) of AGNs. First, we compare the mass accretion history at z>0 with optical luminosity functions (OLFs) and that with HXLFs. We consider the constraints on parameters of mass accretion (energy conversion efficiency and Eddington ratio) and conclude that the constraints based on HXLFs are more adequate rather than that based on OLFs. The sub-Eddington case is allowed only when we use HXLFs. Next, we estimate the upper limit of the cumulative mass density of S…
When a supermassive black hole exists in the centre of a galaxy, an additional inner Lindblad resonance (ILR) exists inside the usual ILRs. We study gas dynamics in a weakly barred potential with a central supermassive black hole by using 2D numerical simulations, and we investigate the effect of the additional ILR on fuelling gas into nuclear starburst regions or AGNs. Our numerical results show that strong trailing spiral shocks are formed at the resonance region, and the gas in the shock region is rapidly fuelled into a central region and make a nuclear gas ring. As a result, a large amount…
The existence of supermassive collapsed objects in the cores of most galaxies poses still-unanswered questions. First, how did they form, and how does their mass depend on the properties of the host galaxy? Second, can observations probe the metric in the strong-field domain, testing whether it indeed agrees with the Kerr geometry predicted by general relativity (and, if so, what the spin is)?
We present the results of N-body simulations of the accretion of high-density dwarf galaxies by low-density giant galaxies. Both galaxies contain power-law central density cusps and point masses representing supermassive black holes; the ratio of galaxy masses is 3:1. The cusp of the dwarf galaxy is always disrupted during the merger, leading to a remnant with a weak power law in the intrinsic density and a ``core'' in the projected density. Removing both black holes from the giant and dwarf galaxies allows the dwarf galaxy to remain intact and leads to a remnant with a high central density, c…
Supermassive black holes are a key element in our understanding of how galaxies form. Most of the progress in this very active field of research is based on just ~30 determinations of black hole mass, accumulated over the past decade. We illustrate how integral-field spectroscopy, and in particular our OASIS modeling effort, can help improve the current situation.
Galaxies that contain bulges appear to contain central black holes whose masses correlate with the velocity dispersion of the bulge. We show that no corresponding relationship applies in the pure disk galaxy M33. Three-integral dynamical models fit Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 photometry and STIS spectroscopy best if the central black hole mass is zero. The upper limit is 1500 M_sun. This is significantly below the mass expected from the velocity dispersion of the nucleus and far below any mass predicted from the disk kinematics. Our results suggest that supermassive black holes are associated…
This paper focuses on the dynamical implications of close supermassive black hole binaries both as an example of resonant phase mixing and as a potential explanation of inversions and other anomalous features observed in the luminosity profiles of some elliptical galaxies. The presence of a binary comprised of black holes executing nearly periodic orbits leads to the possibility of a broad resonant coupling between the black holes and various stars in the galaxy. This can result in efficient chaotic phase mixing and, in many cases, systematic increases in the energies of stars and their conseq…
This review addresses one of the important topics of current astrophysical research, namely the role that supermassive black holes play in shaping the morphology of their host galaxies. There is increasing evidence for the presence of massive black holes at the centers of all galaxies and many efforts are directed at understanding the processes that lead to their formation, the duty cycle for the active phase and the question of the fueling mechanism. Related issues are the epoch of formation of the supermassive black holes, their time evolution and growth and the role they play in the early i…
This review discusses the current status of supermassive black hole research, as seen from a purely observational standpoint. Since the early '90s, rapid technological advances, most notably the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the commissioning of the VLBA and improvements in near-infrared speckle imaging techniques, have not only given us incontrovertible proof of the existence of supermassive black holes, but have unveiled fundamental connections between the mass of the central singularity and the global properties of the host galaxy. It is thanks to these observations that we are now,…
We consider the consequences of SIDM for a velocity dependent cross section per unit mass. Accretion of SIDM onto seed black holes can produce supermassive black holes that are too large for certain combinations of parameters,which is used to obtain a new constraint on the dark matter interaction. Constraints due to other considerations are presented and previous ones are generalized. The black hole constraint is extremely sensitive to the slope α, of the inner density profile of dark halos. For the most probable value of α=1.3, there exists a narrow range in parameter space, such that all con…
We provide a new estimate of the local supermassive black hole mass function using (i) the empirical relation between supermassive black hole mass and the Sersic index of the host spheroidal stellar system and (ii) the measured (spheroid) Sersic indices drawn from 10k galaxies in the Millennium Galaxy Catalogue. The observational simplicity of our approach, and the direct measurements of the black hole predictor quantity, i.e. the Sersic index, for both elliptical galaxies and the bulges of disc galaxies makes it straightforward to estimate accurate black hole masses in early- and late-type ga…
We present evidence for a strong correlation between the concentration of bulges and the mass of their central supermassive black hole (M_bh) -- more concentrated bulges have more massive black holes. Using C_{r_e}(1/3) from Trujillo, Graham & Caon (2001b) as a measure of bulge concentration, we find that log (M_bh/M_sun) = 6.81(+/-0.95)C_{r_e}(1/3) + 5.03(+/-0.41). This correlation is shown to be marginally stronger (Spearman's r_s=0.91) than the relationship between the logarithm of the stellar velocity dispersion and log M_bh (Spearman's r_s=0.86), and has comparable, or less, scatter (0.31…
The masses of supermassive black holes correlate almost perfectly with the velocity dispersions of their host bulges, M(BH) ~ sigma^alpha, where alpha =4.8 +/- 0.5$. The relation is much tighter than the relation between M(BH) and bulge luminosity, with a scatter no larger than expected on the basis of measurement error alone. Black hole masses estimated by Magorrian et al. (1998) lie systematically above the M(BH)-sigma relation defined by more accurate mass estimates, some by as much as two orders of magnitude. The tightness of the M(BH)-sigma relation implies a strong link between black hol…
The dynamics of galactic nuclei reflects the presence of supermassive black holes (SBHs) in many ways. Single SBHs act as sinks, destroying a mass in stars equal to their own mass in roughly one relaxation time and forcing nuclei to expand. Formation of binary SBHs displaces a mass in stars roughly equal to the binary mass, creating low-density cores and ejecting hyper-velocity stars. Gravitational radiation recoil can eject coalescing binary SBHs from nuclei, resulting in offset SBHs and lopsided cores. We review recent work on these mechanisms and discuss the observable consequences.
Recent observations of near-infrared and X-ray flares from Sagittarius A*, which is believed to be a supermassive black hole at the Galactic center, show that the source exhibits about 20-minute periodic variability. Here we provide arguments based on a quantitative analysis that supermassive objects at galactic centers may be bubbles of dark matter axions rather than black holes. An oscillating axion bubble can explain periodic variability of Sagittarius A* and yields the axion mass about 0.6 meV which fits in the open axion mass window. The bubble scenario with no other free parameters expla…
Accretion onto supermassive black holes produces both the dramatic phenomena associated with active galactic nuclei and the underwhelming displays seen in the Galactic Center and most other nearby galaxies. I review selected aspects of the current theoretical understanding of black hole accretion, emphasizing the role of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence and gravitational instabilities in driving the actual accretion and the importance of the efficacy of cooling in determining the structure and observational appearance of the accretion flow. Ongoing investigations into the dynamics of the plungin…
We analyze optical long-slit spectroscopy of the nucleus of M33 obtained from the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph aboard the Hubble Space Telescope. Rather than the steep rise expected within the radius of influence of a supermassive black hole, the velocity dispersion drops significantly within the inner parsec. Dynamical modelling yields an estimated upper limit of 3000 solar masses for the mass of a central compact object. This upper limit is however consistent within the uncertainties with the mass predicted by the M-sigma relation, which is between 2000 and 20,000 solar masses. We th…
The supermassive black hole at the center of a distant galaxy can be weighed, in rare but realistic cases, when the galaxy acts as a strong gravitational lens. The central image that should be produced by the lens is either destroyed or accompanied by a second central image, depending on the mass of the black hole. We demonstrate that when a central image pair is detected, the mass of the black hole can be determined with an accuracy of < 0.1 dex, if the form of the smooth mass distribution near the galaxy core is known. Uncertainty in the central mass distribution introduces a systematic erro…
The Galactic center provides a unique astrophysical laboratory for us to study various astrophysical processes. In this paper, we review and outline the latest results from observations of Sgr~A$^*$ in terms of source structure and variations in flux density. Sgr~A$^*$ phenomenon represents a typical case of low radiative efficiency accretion flow surrounding a supermassive black hole in low luminosity AGNs. Many pending astrophysical problems found from observations of Sgr A$^*$ have challenged the existing astrophysical theories. Current theoretical models of Sgr A$^*$ are also reviewed.
We construct a model for the formation of black holes within galactic bulges. The initial state is a slowly rotating isothermal sphere, characterized by effective transport speed $\aeff$ and rotation rate $Ω$. The black hole mass is determined when the centrifugal radius of the collapse flow exceeds the capture radius of the central black hole. This model reproduces the observed correlation between black hole masses and galactic velocity dispersions, $\mbh \approx 10^8 M_\odot (σ/200 \kms)^4$, where $σ= \sqrt{2} \aeff$. This model also predicts the ratio $\mrat$ of black hole mass to host mass…
The spectrum of the hard X-ray background records the history of accretion processes integrated over the cosmic time. Several observational and theoretical evidences indicate that a significant fraction of the energy density is obscured by large columns of gas and dust. X-ray surveys are the most efficient way to trace accretion onto supermassive black holes, since obscured, accreting sources are more difficult to select at all other wavelengths. The current status of hard X-ray surveys after the recent observations carried out with Chandra and XMM-Newton satellites is reviewed along with the …
We report here on a calculation of possible orbits of the fast moving infrared source S1 which has been recently observed by Eckart and Genzel (1997) near the Galactic center. It is shown that tracking of the orbit of S1 or any other fast moving star near Sgr A^* offers a possibility of distinguishing between the supermassive black hole and extended object scenarios of Sgr A^*. In our calculations we assumed that the extended object at the Galactic center is a non-baryonic ball made of degenerate, self-gravitating heavy neutrino matter, as it has been recently proposed by Tsiklauri & Viollier …
We discuss constraints on the assembly history of supermassive black holes from the observed remnant black holes in nearby galaxies and from the emission caused by accretion onto these black holes. We also summarize the results of a specific model for the evolution of galaxies and their central black holes which traces their hierachical build-up in CDM-like cosmogonies. The model assumes (i) that black holes, ellipticals and starburts form during major mergers of galaxies (ii) that the gas fraction in galaxies decreases with decreasing redshift (iii) that the optical bright phase of a QSO last…
This review outlines the observations that now provide an overwhelming scientific case that the center of our Milky Way Galaxy harbors a supermassive black hole. Observations at infrared wavelength trace stars that orbit about a common focal position and require a central mass (M) of 4 million solar masses within a radius of 100 Astronomical Units. Orbital speeds have been observed to exceed 5,000 km/s. At the focal position there is an extremely compact radio source (Sgr A*), whose apparent size is near the Schwarzschild radius (2GM/c^2). This radio source is motionless at the ~1 km/s level a…
