The supermassive black holes (SMBHs) massive enough to power the bright redshift ~6 quasars observed in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) are thought to have assembled by mergers and/or gas accretion from less massive "seed" BHs. If the seeds are the ~100 Msol remnant BHs from the first generation of stars, they must be in place well before redshift z=6, and must avoid being ejected from their parent proto-galaxies by the large (few hundred km/s) kicks they suffer from gravitational-radiation induced recoil during mergers with other BHs. We simulate the SMBH mass function at redshift z=6 using dark matter (DM) halo merger trees, coupled with a prescription for the halo occupation fraction, accretion histories, and radial recoil trajectories of the growing BHs. Our purpose is (i) to map out plausible scenarios for successful assembly of the z~6 quasar BHs by exploring a wide region of parameter space, and (ii) to predict the rate of low-frequency gravitational wave events detectable by the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) for each such scenario. Our main findings are as follows: (1) ~100 Msol seed BHs can grow into the SDSS quasar BHs without super--Eddington accretion, but only if they form in minihalos by z~30 and subsequently accrete ~60% of the time; (2) the scenarios with optimistic assumptions required to explain the SDSS quasar BHs overproduce the mass density in lower--mass (10^5 to 10^7 Msol) SMBHs by a factor of 100-1000, unless seeds stop forming, or accrete at a severely diminished rates or duty cycles (e.g. due to feedback), at z < 20-30. We also present several successful assembly models and their LISA detection rates, including a "maximal" model that gives the highest rate (~30/yr at z~6) without overproducing the total SMBH density.
In this paper, we address whether the growth of supermassive black-holes has kept pace with the process of galaxy assembly. For this purpose, we first searched the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF) for "tadpole galaxies", which have a knot at one end and an extended tail. They appear dynamically unrelaxed -- presumably early-stage mergers -- and make up ~6% of the field galaxy population. Their redshift distribution follows that of field galaxies, indicating that -- if tadpole galaxies are indeed dynamically young -- the process of galaxy assembly generally kept up with the reservoir of field gal…
We assess models for the assembly of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) at the center of galaxies that trace their hierarchical build-up far up in the dark halo `merger tree'. We assume that the first `seed' black holes (BHs) formed in (mini)halos collapsing at z=20 from high-sigma density fluctuations. As these pregalactic holes become incorporated through a series of mergers into larger and larger halos, they sink to the center owing to dynamical friction, accrete a fraction of the gas in the merger remnant to become supermassive, form a binary system, and eventually coalesce. The merger histo…
Based on a high resolution cosmological n-body simulation, we track the hierarchical growth of black holes in galaxy clusters from z=20 to z=0. We present a census of black holes as function of redshift and will determine their mass assembly history under a variety of assumptions regarding the importance of gas accretion in black hole growth, from early supercritical Eddington accretion to gas-poor hierarchical assembly. Following a galaxy merger, black holes are expected to form, inspiral and merge after strongly radiating energy via gravitational waves. For each binary black hole inspiral an…
We examine possible phenomenological constraints for the joint evolution of supermassive black holes (SMBH) and their host spheroids. We compare all the available observational data on the redshift evolution of the total stellar mass and star formation rate density in the Universe with the mass and accretion rate density evolution of supermassive black holes, estimated from the hard X-ray selected luminosity function of quasars and active galactic nuclei (AGN) for a given radiative efficiency, ε. We assume that the ratio of the stellar mass in spheroids to the black hole mass density evolves a…
In this paper we discuss the evolution of gravitationally unstable pre-galactic discs that result from the collapse of haloes at high redshift $z \approx 10$ or so, which have not yet been enriched by metals. In cases where molecular hydrogen formation is suppressed the discs are maintained at a temperature of a few thousand degrees Kelvin. However, when molecular hydrogen is present cooling can proceed down to a few hundred degrees Kelvin. Analogous to the case of the larger scale proto-galactic discs, we assume that the evolution of these discs is mainly driven by angular momentum redistribu…
HII regions surrounding supermassive black holes (BHs) in an otherwise still neutral intergalactic medium (IGM) are likely to be the most easily detectable sources by future 21cm experiments like LOFAR. We have made predictions for the size distribution of such HII regions for several physically motivated models for BH growth at high redshift and compared this to the expected LOFAR sensitivity to these sources. The number of potentially detectable HII regions does not only depend on the ionisation state of the intergalactic medium and the decoupling of the spin temperature of the neutral hydro…
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 …
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.
I discuss current observational constraints on the star-formation and stellar-assembly histories of galaxies at high redshifts. The data on massive galaxies at z<1 implies that their stellar populations formed at z>2, and that their morphological configuration was in place soon thereafter. Spitzer Space Telescope 24 micron observations indicate that a substantial fraction of massive galaxies at z ~ 1.5-3 have high IR luminosities, suggesting they are rapidly forming stars, accreting material onto supermassive black holes, or both. I compare how observations of these IR-active phases in the his…
Recent studies have shown that during their coalescence, binary supermassive black holes (SMBHs) experience a gravitational recoil with velocities of 100 km/s < v(kick) < 600 km/s. These velocities exceed the escape velocity v(esc) from typical dark matter (DM) halos at high-redshift (z>6), and therefore put constraints on scenarios in which early SMBHs grow at the centers of DM halos. Here we quantify these constraints for the most distant known SMBHs, with inferred masses in excess of 10^9 M(sun), powering the bright quasars discovered in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey at z>6. We assume that t…
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…
Redshift evolution of supermassive black hole mass functions (BHMFs) is investigated up to z ~ 1. BHMFs at intermediate redshifts are calculated in two ways. One way is from early-type galaxy luminosity functions (LFs); we assume an M_BH - L_sph correlation at a redshift by considering a passive evolution of L_sph in the local relationship. The resultant BHMFs (spheroid-BHMFs) from LFs of red sequence galaxies indicates a slight decrease of number density with increasing redshift at M_BH > 10^{7.5-8} M_solar. Since a redshift evolution in slope and zeropoint of the M_BH - L_sph relation is unl…
The aim of the Gemini Deep Deep Survey is to push spectroscopic studies of complete galaxy samples (both red and blue objects) significantly beyond z=1; this is the redshift where the current Hubble sequence of ellipticals and spirals is already extant. In the Universe at z=2 the only currently spectroscopically confirmed galaxies are blue, star-forming and of fragmented morphology. Exploring this transition means filling the `redshift desert' 1<z<2 where there is a dearth of spectroscopic measurements. To do this we need to secure redshifts of the oldest, reddest galaxies (candidate elliptica…
In recent years deep X-ray and infrared surveys have provided an efficient way to find accreting supermassive black holes, otherwise known as active galactic nuclei (AGN), in the young universe. Such surveys can, unlike optical surveys, find AGN obscured by high column densities of gas and dust. In those cases, deep optical data show only the host galaxy, which can then be studied in greater detail than in unobscured AGN. Some years ago the hard spectrum of the X-ray "background" suggested that most AGN were obscured. Now GOODS, MUSYC, COSMOS and other surveys have confirmed this picture and g…
We compare all the available observational data on the redshift evolution of the total stellar mass and star formation rate density in the Universe with the mass and accretion rate density evolution of supermassive black holes, estimated from the hard X-ray selected luminosity function of quasars and active galactic nuclei. We find that on average black hole mass must have been higher at higher redshift for given spheroid stellar mass. Moreover, we find negative redshift evolution of the disk/irregulars to spheroid mass ratio. The total accretion efficiency is constrained to be between 0.06 an…
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…
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…
Deep X-ray surveys have shown that the cosmic X-ray background (XRB) is largely due to the accretion onto supermassive black holes, integrated over the cosmic time. These surveys have resolved more than 80% of the 0.1-10 keV X-ray background into discrete sources. Optical spectroscopic identifications show that the sources producing the bulk of the X-ray background are a mixture of obscured (type-1) and unobscured (type-2) AGNs, as predicted by the XRB population synthesis models. A class of highly luminous type-2 AGN, so called QSO-2s, has been detected in the deepest Chandra and XMM-Newton s…
We present a measure of the hard (2-8 keV) X-ray luminosity function (XLF) of Active Galactic Nuclei up to z~5. At high redshifts, the wide area coverage of the Chandra Multiwavength Project is crucial to detect rare and luminous (Lx > 10^44 erg s^-1) AGN. The inclusion of samples from deeper published surveys, such as the Chandra Deep Fields, allows us to span the lower Lx range of the XLF. Our sample is selected from both the hard (z < 3; f(2-8 keV) > 6.3x10^-16 erg cm^-2 s^-1) and soft (z > 3; f(0.5-2.0 keV) > 1.0x10^-16 erg cm^-2 s^-1) energy band detections. Within our optical magnitude l…
Using a high-resolution cosmological $N$-body simulation, we identify the ejected population of subhalos, which are halos at redshift $z=0$ but were once contained in more massive `host' halos at high redshifts. The fraction of the ejected subhalos in the total halo population of the same mass ranges from 9% to 4% for halo masses from $\sim 10^{11}$ to $\sim 10^{12}\msun$. Most of the ejected subhalos are distributed within 4 times the virial radius of their hosts. These ejected subhalos have distinct velocity distribution around their hosts in comparison to normal halos. The number of subhalo…
We use a suite of high-resolution N-body simulations to study the properties, abundance and clustering of high mass halos at high redshift, including their mass assembly histories and mergers. We find that the analytic form which best fits the abundance of halos depends sensitively on the assumed definition of halo mass, with common definitions of halo mass differing by a factor of two for these low concentration, massive halos. A significant number of massive halos are undergoing rapid mass accretion, with major merger activity being common. We compare the mergers and mass accretion histories…
Primordial gas in protogalactic dark matter (DM) halos with virial temperatures Tvir > 10^4 K begins to cool and condense via atomic hydrogen. Provided this gas is irradiated by a strong ultraviolet (UV) flux and remains free of H2 and other molecules, it has been proposed that the halo with Tvir ~10^4 K may avoid fragmentation, and lead to the rapid formation of a supermassive black hole (SMBH) as massive as M=10^5-10^6 Msun. This ``head--start'' would help explain the presence of SMBHs with inferred masses of several x 10^9 Msun, powering the bright quasars discovered in the Sloan Digital Sk…
Merging the Chandra and XMM-Newton deep surveys with the previously identified ROSAT sample, almost 1000 AGN-1 covering five orders of magnitude in 0.5-2 keV flux limit and six orders of magnitude in survey solid angle were identified with ~95% completeness. AGN-1 are by far the largest contributors to the soft X-ray samples. Their evolution is responsible for the break in the 0.5-2 keV source counts. Their soft X-ray luminosity function clearly changes shape as a function of redshift, confirming earlier reports of luminosity--dependent density evolution. The space density with redshift change…
The supermassive black holes observed at the centers of almost all present-day galaxies, had a profound impact on their environment. I highlight the principle of self-regulation, by which supermassive black holes grow until they release sufficient energy to unbind the gas that feeds them from their host galaxy. This principle explains several observed facts, including the correlation between the mass of a central black hole and the depth of the gravitational potential well of its host galaxy, and the abundance and clustering properties of bright quasars in the redshift interval of z~2-6. At lo…
We discuss a new method for inferring the stellar mass of a distant galaxy of known redshift based on the combination of a near-infrared luminosity and multi-band optical photometry. The typical uncertainty for field galaxies with I<22 in the redshift range 0<z<1 is a factor 2. We apply this method to a newly-constructed sample of 321 field galaxies with redshifts and Hubble Space Telescope morphologies enabling us to construct the stellar mass density associated with various morphologies as a function of redshift. We find a marked decline with time in the stellar mass associated with peculiar…
The earliest generation of stars and black holes must have established an early 'Lyman-Werner' background (LWB) at high redshift, prior to the epoch of reionization. Because of the long mean free path of photons with energies E<13.6 eV, the LWB was nearly uniform. However, some variation in the LWB is expected due to the discrete nature of the sources, and their highly clustered spatial distribution. In this paper, we compute the probability distribution function (PDF) of the LW flux that irradiates dark matter (DM) halos collapsing at high-redshift (z~10). Our model accounts for (i) the clust…
The overabundance of Mg relative to Fe, observed in the nuclei of bright ellipticals, and its increase with galactic mass, poses a serious problem for all current models of galaxy formation. Here we improve on the one-zone chemical evolution models for elliptical galaxies by taking into account positive feedback produced in the early stages of super-massive central black hole growth. We can account for both the observed correlation and the scatter if the observed anti-hierarchical behaviour of the AGN population couples to galaxy assembly and results in an enhancement of the star formation eff…
Understanding how seed black holes grow into intermediate and supermassive black holes (IMBHs and SMBHs, respectively) has important implications for the duty-cycle of active galactic nuclei (AGN), galaxy evolution, and gravitational wave astronomy. Most studies of the cosmological growth and merger history of black holes have used semianalytic models and have concentrated on SMBH growth in luminous galaxies. Using high resolution cosmological N-body simulations, we track the assembly of black holes over a large range of final masses -- from seed black holes to SMBHs -- over widely varying dyn…
We use a physically motivated semi-analytic model, based on the mass function of dark matter halos, to predict the number of radio-loud quasars as a function of redshift and luminosity. Simple models in which the central BH mass scales with the velocity dispersion of its host halo as M(bh) sigma(halo)^5 have been previously found to be consistent with a number of observations, including the optical and X-ray quasar luminosity functions. We find that similar models, when augmented with an empirical prescription for radio emission, overpredict the number of faint (10 micro-Jy) radio sources by 1…
Theoretical considerations and observational data support the idea that mergers were more frequent in the past. At redshifts z = 2 to 5, violent interactions and mergers may be implicated by observations of Lyman-break galaxies, sub-mm starbursts, and active galactic nuclei. Most stars in cluster ellipticals probably formed at such redshifts, as did most of the halo and globular clusters of the Milky Way; these events may all be connected with mergers. But what kind of galaxies merged at high redshifts, and are present-epoch mergers useful guides to these early collisions? I will approach thes…
We describe a model-independent integral constraint which defines an upper limit to the allowed degree of evolution in the ratio of black hole (BH) mass to host galaxy luminosity or mass, as a function of redshift. Essentially, if the BH/host ratio is excessive at redshift z, then it would imply that the total mass density in BHs above some M_BH(min) is larger at that redshift than at z=0, which is impossible. This argument requires no knowledge of host or BH properties, only a lower limit to the observed luminosity density in the brightest galaxies at some z. We calculate this upper limit fro…
We investigate the constraints on models of supermassive black hole (SMBH) and quasar formation obtainable from two recent observational developments: the discovery of luminous quasars at z~6, and estimates of the local mass density of SMBHs. If ~90 per cent of this mass was accreted at redshifts z<3, as suggested by the observed quasar luminosity functions, these joint constraints pose a challenge for models, which must account for the observed luminous quasar population at z~6 within a very limited `mass budget'. We investigate a class of models based within the hierarchical structure format…
Massive tori with $\approx 10^{8-9}M_{\odot}$ are predicted to extend on $\sim $100 pc scale around the centre of elliptical galaxy progenitors by a model of a supermassive black hole (SMBH) growth coeval to the spheroidal population of the host galaxy. Direct detection of such massive tori would cast light on a key physical condition that allows the rapid growth of SMBHs and the appearance of QSOs at high redshift. For this reason, we examine the detectability of such structures at substantial redshift with the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA). We propose that submillimeter galaxies (SMG…
The relationship between galaxies and supermassive black holes (SMBH) found in their cores plays a key role in the formation and evolution of both of these major constituents of the universe, as well as the evolution of the intergalactic medium. Neither can be fully understood on their own, and studies of galaxy and SMBH co-formation and co-evolution are now among the central topics of research in cosmology. Yet the very origins, and the early growth phases of the SMBH are still not firmly established. We review our current understanding of the relevant processes and their astrophysical and co…
We make use of the first high--resolution hydrodynamic simulations of structure formation which self-consistently follows the build up of supermassive black holes introduced in Di Matteo et al. (2007) to investigate the relation between black holes (BH), host halo and large--scale environment. There are well--defined relations between halo and black hole masses and between the activities of galactic nuclei and halo masses at low redshifts. A large fraction of black holes forms anti--hierarchically, with a higher ratio of black hole to halo mass at high than at low redshifts. At $z=1$, we predi…
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…
We explore how the growth rate of spiral disks can be measured via analyses of the scatter in the Tully-Fisher (TF) relation of local and intermediate redshift galaxies. As an initial step, we show it is possible to construct a low-dispersion TF relation for nearly face-on, nearby spirals. We find these spiral disks are non-circular, (a mean ellipticity of 6%), which accounts for about 0.1 mag of the intrinsic scatter in the nearby TF relation of even the most ``normal'' looking spirals. If this ellipticity is induced by matter accretion, we expect to find greater disk ellipticity or disturban…
We present an alternative method to X-ray surveys for hunting down the high-redshift type-2 quasar population, using Spitzer and VLA data on the Spitzer First Look Survey. By demanding objects to be bright at 24 microns but faint at 3.6 microns, and combining this with a radio criterion, we find 21 type-2 radio-quiet quasar candidates at the epoch at which the quasar activity peaked. Optical spectroscopy with the WHT confirmed 10 of these objects to be type-2s with 1.4 < z < 4.2 while the rest are blank. There is no evidence for contamination in our sample, and we postulate that our 11 blank-s…
The cosmological evolution of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) seems to be intimately linked to their host galaxies. Active galactic nuclei (AGN) can be probed by deep X-ray surveys. We review results from large X-ray selected samples including first results from the XMM-Newton COSMOS survey. A new picture arises from the fact that high-luminosity AGN grow earlier than low-luminosity AGN. In particular, the space density of low-luminosity AGN exhibits a significant decline for redshifts above z=1. This 'anti--hierarchical' growth scenario of SMBHs can be explained by two modes of accretion wit…
Supermassive disks are thought to be precursors of supermassive black holes that are believed to power quasars and exist at centers of galaxies. Formation scenarios of such disks are reviewed and it is argued that gas dynamical schemes are favourable compared to stellar dynamical schemes which could however be important feeding mechanisms for the growth of the black hole. A new self-similar model of a collapse of a self-gravitating disk due to radiation induced stresses applicable to two different situations of radiative viscosity and Compton drag is presented. The collapse timescale purely du…
It is argued that supermassive black holes in the nuclei of galaxies most likely have grown coevally with their host dark matter halos. A calculation based on Press-Schechter within this framework shows that the mean rate of accretion of matter onto such black holes varies from a value about 0.003 of the Eddington rate at the present epoch to a value around 0.08 at redshift 3. The bulk of AGN evolution may be explained as a reflection of the diminishing rate of accretion of material onto galaxies. The result is almost independent of mass of host dark matter halo and is only weakly dependent on…
We combine deep UBVRIzJK photometry from the Multiwavelength Survey by Yale-Chile (MUSYC) with redshifts from the COMBO-17 survey to perform a large-scale study of the rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) properties of 674 high-redshift (0.5<z<1) early-type galaxies, drawn from the Extended Chandra Deep Field South (E-CDFS). Galaxy morphologies are determined through visual inspection of Hubble Space Telescope (HST) images taken from the GEMS survey. We harness the sensitivity of the UV to young (<1 Gyr old) stars to quantify the recent star formation history of early-type galaxies across a range of lu…
The ubiquity of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) at the centers of nearby luminous galaxies can arise from the multiple mergers experienced by dark matter halos in hierarchical structure formation models, even if only a small fraction of these galaxies harbor SMBHs at high redshifts. We illustrate this possibility using cosmological Monte Carlo simulations of the merger history of dark matter halos and their associated SMBHs. In our most extreme models, in order to populate nearly every bright galaxy with a SMBH at z=0, only a few percent of the halos with virial temperatures above 10^4 K are …
We study the gravitational wave background produced from the formation and assembly of supermassive black holes within the cosmological paradigm of hierarchical structure formation. In particular, we focus on a supermassive black hole formation scenario in which the present-day population of supermassive black holes is built from high-mass seed black holes and we compute the concomitant spectrum of gravitational radiation produced by mergers of the seed black holes. We find that this scenario predicts a large, gravitational wave background that should be resolved into individual sources with s…
