Cosmological Simulations of Quasar Fueling to Subparsec Scales Using Lagrangian Hyper-refinement
Year: 2021
Type: article
Abstract: We present cosmological hydrodynamic simulations of a quasar-mass halo (M halo ≈ 1012.5 M ⊙ at z = 2) that for the first time resolve gas transport down to the inner 0.1 pc surrounding the central massive black hole. We model a multiphase interstellar medium including stellar feedback by supernovae, stellar winds, and radiation, and a hyper-Lagrangian refinement technique increasing the resolution dynamically approaching the black hole. We do not include black hole feedback. We show that the subpc inflow rate (1) can reach ∼6 M ⊙ yr−1 roughly in steady state during the epoch of peak nuclear gas density (z ∼ 2), sufficient to power a luminous quasar, (2) is highly time variable in the pre-quasar phase, spanning 0.001–10 M ⊙ yr−1 on Myr timescales, and (3) is limited to short (∼2 Myr) active phases (0.01–0.1 M ⊙ yr−1) followed by longer periods of inactivity at lower nuclear gas density and late times (z ∼ 1), owing to the formation of a hot central cavity. Inflowing gas is primarily cool, rotational support dominates over turbulence and thermal pressure, and star formation can consume as much gas as provided by inflows across 1 pc–10 kpc. Gravitational torques from multiscale stellar non-axisymmetries dominate angular momentum transport over gas self-torquing and pressure gradients, with accretion weakly dependent on black hole mass. Subpc inflow rates correlate with nuclear (but decouple from global) star formation and can exceed the Eddington rate by ×10. The black hole can move ∼10 pc from the galaxy center on ∼0.1 Myr. Accreting gas forms pc-scale, rotationally supported, obscuring structures often misaligned with the galaxy-scale disk. These simulations open a new avenue to investigate black hole–galaxy coevolution.
Source: The Astrophysical Journal
Institutions: University of Connecticut, Flatiron Institute, Princeton University, University of California, Berkeley, California Institute of Technology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Northwestern University, Columbia University, University of California San Diego, Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian, Institute for Advanced Study
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Awards: Collaborative Research: CDS&E: Mining Physically Predictive Cosmological Simulations, G2213974210, The Interscale Galactic Nuclei Simulations (IGNIS): Hyper-refined black hole growth and feedback in cosmological environments, G2567323416, Collaborative Research:Framework:Software:NSCI:Enzo for the Exascale Era (Enzo-E), CAREER: The Physics of Stellar Feedback and Star Formation Regulation in Galaxies, G3806988978, Toward an Accurate Model for the Gas Around Galaxies, G407823349, G433322167, Collaborative Research: CDS&E: Mining Physically Predictive Cosmological Simulations, Collaborative Research: CDS&E: Mining Physically Predictive Cosmological Simulations, G4811240387, G4818530208, G4948012193, G5320825011, G5519527588, CAREER: The Ties that (Un)Bind: Understanding the Connection Between Galaxies, Stars, and Black Holes, G58316358, G6273510985, G6549248135, XSEDE: eXtreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment, SIMULATING STAR FORMATION ACROSS COSMIC SCALES., Toward physically-predictive modeling of massive black hole growth and feedback in galaxy formation, G7618195524, G770249334, Collaborative Research: CDS&E: Mining Physically Predictive Cosmological Simulations, G8086438903, Forming the First Massive Black Holes
OpenAlex ID: W3081721810