Abstract We investigate the black hole mass function (BHMF) and Eddington-ratio distribution function (ERDF) of broad-line active galactic nuclei (AGNs) at z = 4, based on a sample of 52 quasars with ...i < 23.2 at 3.50 ≤ z ≤ 4.25 from the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program S16A-Wide2 data set, and 1462 quasars with i < 20.2 in the same redshift range from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey data release 7 quasar catalog. Virial black hole (BH) masses of quasars are estimated using the width of the C IV 1549 Å line and the continuum luminosity at 1350 Å. To obtain the intrinsic broad-line AGN BHMF and ERDF, we correct for the incompleteness in the low-mass and/or low-Eddington-ratio ranges caused by the flux-limited selection. The resulting BHMF is constrained down to log M BH / M ⊙ ∼ 7.5 . In comparison with broad-line AGN BHMFs at z ∼ 2 in the literature, we find that the number density of massive SMBHs peaks at higher redshifts, consistent with the downsizing evolutionary scenario. Additionally, the resulting ERDF shows a negative dependence on BH mass, suggesting more massive SMBHs tend to accrete at lower-Eddington ratios at z = 4. With the derived intrinsic broad-line AGN BHMF, we also evaluate the active fraction of broad-line AGNs among the entire SMBH population at z = 4. The resulting active fraction may suggest a positive dependence on BH mass. Finally, we examine the time evolution of broad-line AGN BHMF between z = 4 and 6 through solving the continuity equation. The results suggest that the broad-line AGN BHMFs at z = 4–6 only show evolution in their normalization, but with no significant changes in their shape.
Recent observations show that the space density of luminous active galactic nuclei (AGNs) peaks at higher redshifts than that of faint AGNs. This downsizing trend in the AGN evolution seems to be ...contradictory to the hierarchical structure formation scenario. In this study, we present the AGN space density evolution predicted by a semi-analytic model of galaxy and AGN formation based on the hierarchical structure formation scenario. We demonstrate that our model can reproduce the downsizing trend of the AGN space density evolution. The reason for the downsizing trend in our model is a combination of the cold gas depletion as a consequence of star formation, the gas cooling suppression in massive halos, and the AGN lifetime scaling with the dynamical timescale. We assume that a major merger of galaxies causes a starburst, spheroid formation, and cold gas accretion onto a supermassive black hole (SMBH). We also assume that this cold gas accretion triggers AGN activity. Since the cold gas is mainly depleted by star formation and gas cooling is suppressed in massive dark halos, the amount of cold gas accreted onto SMBHs decreases with cosmic time. Moreover, AGN lifetime increases with cosmic time. Thus, at low redshifts, major mergers do not always lead to luminous AGNs. Because the luminosity of AGNs is correlated with the mass of accreted gas onto SMBHs, the space density of luminous AGNs decreases more quickly than that of faint AGNs. We conclude that the anti-hierarchical evolution of the AGN space density is not contradictory to the hierarchical structure formation scenario.
We explore the effect of varying the mass of a seed black hole on the resulting black hole mass–bulge mass relation at z ∼ 0, using a semi-analytic model of galaxy formation combined with large ...cosmological N-body simulations. We constrain our model by requiring that the observed properties of galaxies at z ∼ 0 are reproduced. In keeping with previous semi-analytic models, we place a seed black hole immediately after a galaxy forms. When the mass of the seed is set at 105 M⊙, we find that the model results become inconsistent with recent observational results of the black hole mass–bulge mass relation for dwarf galaxies. In particular, the model predicts that bulges with ∼109 M⊙ harbour larger black holes than observed. On the other hand, when we employ seed black holes of 103 M⊙ or select their mass randomly within a 103–5 M⊙ range, the resulting relation is consistent with observation estimates, including the observed dispersion. We find that, to obtain stronger constraints on the mass of seed black holes, observations of less massive bulges at z ∼ 0 are a more powerful comparison than the relations at higher redshifts.
Abstract Super-Eddington mass accretion has been suggested as an efficient mechanism to grow supermassive black holes. We investigate the imprint left by the radiative efficiency of the ...super-Eddington accretion process on the clustering of quasars using a new semi-analytic model of galaxy and quasar formation based on large-volume cosmological N-body simulations. Our model includes a simple model for the radiative efficiency of a quasar, which imitates the effect of photon trapping for a high mass accretion rate. We find that the model of radiative efficiency affects the relation between the quasar luminosity and the quasar host halo mass. The quasar host halo mass has only weak dependence on quasar luminosity when there is no upper limit for quasar luminosity. On the other hand, it has significant dependence on quasar luminosity when the quasar luminosity is limited by its Eddington luminosity. In the latter case, the quasar bias also depends on the quasar luminosity, and the quasar bias of bright quasars is in agreement with observations. Our results suggest that the quasar clustering studies can provide a constraint on the accretion disc model.
We investigate clustering properties of quasars using a new version of our semi-analytic model of galaxy and quasar formation with state-of-the-art cosmological N-body simulations. In this study, we ...assume that a major merger of galaxies triggers cold gas accretion on to a supermassive black hole and quasar activity. Our model can reproduce the downsizing trend of the evolution of quasars. We find that the median mass of quasar host dark matter haloes increases with cosmic time by an order of magnitude from z = 4 (a few 1011 M⊙) to z = 1 (a few 1012 M⊙), and depends only weakly on the quasar luminosity. Deriving the quasar bias through the quasar–galaxy cross-correlation function in the model, we find that the quasar bias does not depend on the quasar luminosity, similar to observed trends. This result reflects the fact that quasars with a fixed luminosity have various Eddington ratios and thus have various host halo masses that primarily determine the quasar bias. We also show that the quasar bias increases with redshift, which is in qualitative agreement with observations. Our bias value is lower than the observed values at high redshifts, implying that we need some mechanisms that make quasars inactive in low-mass haloes and/or that make them more active in high-mass haloes.
We have investigated effects of dust attenuation on quasar luminosity functions at z ∼ 2 using a semi-analytic galaxy formation model combined with a large cosmological N-body simulation. We estimate ...the dust attenuation of quasars self-consistently with that of galaxies by considering the dust in their host bulges. We find that the luminosity of the bright quasars is strongly dimmed by the dust attenuation, ∼2 mag in the B-band. Assuming the empirical bolometric corrections for active galactic nuclei (AGNs) by Marconi et al., we find that this dust attenuation is too strong to explain the B-band and X-ray quasar luminosity functions simultaneously. We consider two possible mechanisms that weaken the dust attenuation. As such a mechanism, we introduce a time delay for AGN activity, that is, gas fuelling to a central black hole starts sometime after the beginning of the starburst induced by a major merger. The other is the anisotropy in the dust distribution. We find that in order to make the dust attenuation of the quasars negligible, either the gas accretion into the black holes has to be delayed at least three times the dynamical time-scale of their host bulges or the dust covering factor is as small as ∼0.1.
We present the evolution of dark matter halos in six large cosmological N-body simulations, called the ν2GC (New Numerical Galaxy Catalog) simulations on the basis of the ΛCDM cosmology consistent ...with observational results obtained with the Planck satellite. The largest simulation consists of 81923 (550 billion) dark matter particles in a box of 1.12 h
−1 Gpc (a mass resolution of 2.20 × 108 h
−1 M
⊙). Among simulations utilizing boxes larger than 1 h
−1 Gpc, our simulation yields the highest resolution simulation that has ever been achieved. A ν2GC simulation with the smallest box consists of eight billion particles in a box of 70 h
−1 Mpc (a mass resolution of 3.44 × 106 h
−1 M
⊙). These simulations can follow the evolution of halos over masses of eight orders of magnitude, from small dwarf galaxies to massive clusters. Using the unprecedentedly high resolution and powerful statistics of the ν2GC simulations, we provide statistical results of the halo mass function, mass accretion rate, formation redshift, and merger statistics, and present accurate-fitting functions for the Planck cosmology. By combining the ν2GC simulations with our new semianalytic galaxy formation model, we are able to prepare mock catalogs of galaxies and active galactic nuclei, which will be publicly available in the near future.
ABSTRACT We have investigated the redshift evolution of the relationship between supermassive black hole (SMBH) mass and host bulge mass using a semi-analytical galaxy formation model ν2GC. Our model ...reproduces the relation in the local universe well. We find that, at high redshift (z ≳ 3), two sequences appear in the SMBH mass–bulge mass plane. The emergence of these two sequences can be attributed to the primary triggers of the growth of the SMBHs and bulges: galaxy mergers and disc instabilities. The growth of SMBHs and bulges as a result of galaxy mergers is responsible for giving rise to the high-mass sequence, in which SMBHs are more massive for a given host bulge mass than in the low-mas sequence. Conversely, disc instabilities are accountable for the emergence of the low-mass sequence. At lower redshifts, galaxy mergers tend to become increasingly deficient in gas, resulting in a preferential increase of bulge mass without a corresponding growth in SMBH mass. This has the effect of causing galaxies in the upper sequence to shift towards the lower one on the SMBH mass–bulge mass plane. The galaxies that undergo dry mergers serve to bridge the gap between the two sequences, eventually leading to convergence into a single relation known in the local universe. Our results suggest that the observations of the SMBH mass–bulge mass relation in high redshifts can provide insight into their growth mechanisms.
Abstract
Dwarf galaxies provide us many important clues to understanding of galaxy formation. By using the current version of our own semi-analytic model of galaxy formation, in which cosmic ...structure forms and evolves based on the cold dark matter model of cosmology, we analyze dwarf galaxies. We find that the model well reproduces many properties such as magnitudes, sizes, and velocity dispersions of, especially, dwarf elliptical galaxies. We also find that the dynamical response of the gravitational potential well of dwarf galaxies to the supernova-induced gas removal plays a very important role to obtain large sizes and small velocity dispersions as observed.
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