Migration of supermassive black holes in galactic nuclei

The migration of central black holes in galactic nuclei through their encounters with galactic globular clusters is studied. The black hole moves in the field of the galactic bulge with a fixed potential. The dependences of the black-hole drift amplitude on orbital parameters of the globular cluster, its mass, and bulge parameters have been found. The drift amplitude of the central black hole can reach several parsecs in our Galaxy and several tens of parsecs in early-type (Sa) and late-type (Sc) spiral galaxies.     

Observational signatures of close binaries of supermassive black holes in active galactic nuclei

Inspired by the General Relativity for many decades, experimental physicists and astronomers have a solid dream to detect gravitational waves(GWs) from mergers of black holes, which came true until the excellent performance of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory(LIGO) at hundreds Hz. Nano-Hz GWs are expected to be radiated by close-binaries of supermassive black holes(CB-SMBHs;defined as those with separations less than ～0.1 pc) formed during galaxy mergers and detected through the Pulsar Timing Array(PTA) technique. As of the writing, there remains no nano-Hz GWs detection.Searching for CB-SMBHs is also observationally elusive though there exist a number of possible candidates.In this review, we focus on observational signatures of CB-SMBHs from theoretic expectations, simulations and observations. These signatures appear in energy distributions of multiwavelength continuum, long term variations of continuum, jet morphology, reverberation delay maps and spectroastrometry of broad emission lines, AGN type transitions between type-1 and type-2(changing-look), and gaseous dynamics of circumbinary disks, etc. Unlike hundred-Hz GWs from stellar mass black hole binaries, the waveform chirping of nano-Hz GWs is too slow to detect in a reasonable human timescale. We have to resort to electromagnetic observations to measure orbital parameters of CB-SMBHs to test nano-Hz GW properties.Reverberation mapping is a powerful tool for probing kinematics and geometry of ionized gas in the gravitational well of SMBHs(single or binary) and therefore provides a potential way to determine orbital parameters of CB-SMBHs. In particular, a combination of reverberation mapping with spectroastrometry(realized at the Very Large Telescope Interferometer) will further reinforce this capability. The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array(ALMA) and the forthcoming Square Kilometre Array(SKA) are suggested to reveal dynamics of circumbinary disks through molecular emission lines.     

Mass function of dormant black holes and the evolution of active galactic nuclei

Under the assumption that accretion on to massive black holes (BHs) powers active galactic nuclei (AGNs), the mass function (MF) of the BHs responsible for their past activity is estimated. For this, we take into account not only the activity related to the optically selected AGNs, but also that required to produce the hard X-ray background (HXRB). The MF of the massive dark objects (MDOs) in nearby quiescent galaxies is computed by means of the most recent results on their demography. The two mass functions match well under the assumption that the activity is concentrated in a single significant burst with λ L L _Edd being a weakly increasing function of luminosity. This behaviour may be indicative of some level of recurrence and/or of accretion rates insufficient to maintain the Eddington rates in low-luminosity/low-redshift objects. Our results support the scenario in which the early phase of intense nuclear activity occurred mainly in early-type galaxies (E/S0) during the relatively short period in which they still had an abundant interstellar medium. Only recently, with the decline of the quasi-stellar object (QSO) luminosities, did the activity in late‐type galaxies (Sa/Sab) become statistically significant.     

Formation and evolution of galactic nuclei, black holes

The formation and evolution of galactic nuclei is discussed, mainly from the viewpoint of the dense gaseous and stellar system in the central portions of young galactic nuclei. A review is given on models of galactic nuclei containing one or more black holes and how the standard historic Rees-Spitzer-Stone scenario of isolated nuclei formation has been changed by the cosmological structure formation scenario. The dynamical interaction of two or more black holes with their stellar environment and their merging possibilities is presented. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Supermassive black-hole binary systems in active galactic nuclei

An analysis of periodic components of flux variability was carried out based on the long-term monitoring of the nuclei of active galaxies 3C454.3, 1633+382, and 3C120, performed in the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory from 1985 to 2008 at 22.2 and 36.8 GHz. Long-period components of the variability (12–14 yrs) were detected and interpreted in terms of the precessional motion of the central body in binary systems. Short-period components (1.5–3 yrs) related to the orbital periods for the motions of the central supermassive black holes were also detected. We concluded that the brightest active galaxies observed as nonstationary sources in a wide range of wavelengths are binary systems of supermassive black holes at the stage of evolution close to coalescence. For the supposed binary black-hole systems, the masses of the central objects and their companions, the orbital radii of the companions, and the coalescence times were determined. The ratios of the masses in the binary systems in all cases proved to be less than ten, pointing to a strong gravitational effect of the companion on the central black hole. The velocities of the central body motion proved to be high, approximately 1000 km/s. This fact should be accounted for in the calculations of the rate of accretion onto the central body. The orbital radii of the companions fall into a narrow range between 4 × 10¹⁶ cm and 6 × 10¹⁶ cm, demonstrating a strong dependence of the masses of the binary systems on the orbital sizes and the energy loss for the gravitational radiation. Within the orbit of the companion during its motion through the accretion disk, a high temperature of surrounding gas is achieved. The high density of the medium, 10⁹–10¹⁰ cm^?3, combined with the magnetic field and shock waves propagating in the accretion disk, develop the conditions for powerful energy release in the directed jets.     

Masses and accretion rates of supermassive black holes in active galactic nuclei from the INTEGRAL survey

The masses of 68 supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in nearby (z < 0.15) active galactic nuclei (AGNs) detected by the INTEGRAL observatory in the hard X-ray energy band (17?C60 keV) outside the Galactic plane (|b| 5°) have been estimated. Well-known relations between the SMBHmass and (1) the infrared luminosity of the stellar bulge (from 2MASS data) and (2) the characteristics of broad emission lines (from RTT-150 data) have been used. A comparison with the more accurate SMBH mass estimates obtained by the reverberation-mapping technique and from direct dynamical measurements is also made for several objects. The SMBH masses derived from the correlation with the bulge luminosity turn out to be systematically higher than the estimates made by other methods. The ratio of the bolometric luminosity to the critical Eddington luminosity has been found for all AGNs. It ranges from 1 to 100% for the overwhelming majority of objects.     

Gravitational waves from scattering of stellar-mass black holes in galactic nuclei

Stellar-mass black holes (BHs) are expected to segregate and form a steep density cusp around supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in galactic nuclei. We follow the evolution of a multimass system of BHs and stars by numerically integrating the Fokker–Planck energy diffusion equations for a variety of BH mass distributions. We find that the BHs 'self-segregate', and that the rarest, most massive BHs dominate the scattering rate closest to the SMBH  (≲10⁻¹ pc)  . BH–BH binaries form out of gravitational wave emission during BH encounters. We find that the expected rate of BH coalescence events detectable by Advanced LIGO is  ∼1–10² yr⁻¹  , depending on the initial mass function of stars in galactic nuclei and the mass of the most massive BHs. We find that the actual merger rate is likely ∼10 times larger than this due to the intrinsic scatter of stellar densities in many different galaxies. The BH binaries that form this way in galactic nuclei have significant eccentricities as they enter the LIGO band (90 per cent with   e > 0.9  ), and are therefore distinguishable from other binaries, which circularize before becoming detectable. We also show that eccentric mergers can be detected to larger distances and greater BH masses than circular mergers, up to  ∼700 M_⊙  . Future ground-based gravitational wave observatories will be able to constrain both the mass function of BHs and stars in galactic nuclei.     

A simple model for lensing by black holes in galactic nuclei

The lensing properties of the Plummer model with a central point mass and external shear are derived, including the image multiplicities, critical curves and caustics. This provides a simple model for a flattened galaxy with a central supermassive black hole. For the Plummer model with black hole, the maximum number of images is four, provided the black hole mass is less than an upper bound which is calculated analytically. This introduces a method to constrain black hole masses by counting images, thus applicable at cosmological distance. With shear, the maximum number of images is six and we illustrate the occurrence of an astroid caustic and two metamorphoses.     

X-ray emission from accretion disks in active galactic nuclei

We constructed a grid of relativistic models for standard high-relative-luminosity accretion α-disks around supermassive Kerr black holes (BHs) and computed X-ray spectra for their hot, effectively optically thin inner parts by taking into account general-relativity effects. They are known to be heated to high (～10⁶–10⁹ K) temperatures and to cool down through the Comptonization of intrinsic thermal radiation. Their spectra are power laws with an exponential cutoff at high energies; i.e., they have the same shape as those observed in active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Fitting the observed X-ray spectra of AGNs with computed spectra allowed us to estimate the fundamental parameters of BHs (their mass and Kerr parameter) and accretion disks (luminosity and inclination to the line of sight) in 28 AGNs. We show that the Kerr parameter for BHs in AGNs is close to unity and that the disk inclination correlates with the Seyfert type of AGN, in accordance with the unification model of activity. The estimated BH masses M_x are compared with the masses M_rev determined by the reverberation mapping technique. For AGNs with luminosities close to the Eddington limit, these masses agree and the model under consideration may be valid for them. For low-relative-luminosity AGNs, the differences in masses increase with decreasing relative luminosity and their X-ray emission cannot be explained by this model.     

High-redshift galaxies, their active nuclei and central black holes

We demonstrate that the luminosity function of the recently detected population of actively star-forming galaxies at redshift z  = 3 and the B -band luminosity function of quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) at the same redshift can both be matched with the mass function of dark matter haloes predicted by standard variants of hierarchical cosmogonies for lifetimes of optically bright QSOs anywhere in the range 10⁶ to 10⁸ yr. There is a strong correlation between the lifetime and the required degree of non-linearity in the relation between black hole and halo mass. We suggest that the mass of supermassive black holes may be limited by the back-reaction of the emitted energy on the accretion flow in a self-gravitating disc. This would imply a relation of black hole to halo mass of the form M _bh ∝  v ⁵_halo ∝  M ^5/3_halo and a typical duration of the optically bright QSO phase of a few times 10⁷ yr. The high integrated mass density of black holes inferred from recent black hole mass estimates in nearby galaxies may indicate that the overall efficiency of supermassive black holes for producing blue light is smaller than previously assumed. We discuss three possible accretion modes with low optical emission efficiency: (i) accretion at far above the Eddington rate, (ii) accretion obscured by dust, and (iii) accretion below the critical rate leading to an advection-dominated accretion flow lasting for a Hubble time. We further argue that accretion with low optical efficiency might be closely related to the origin of the hard X-ray background and that the ionizing background might be progressively dominated by stars rather than QSOs at higher redshift.     

Fermi gamma-ray and multi-wave band emission from TeV active galactic nuclei

Using γ-ray data detected by Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) and multi-wave band data for 40 TeV active galactic nuclei (AGNs), we have studied the correlations between flux densities (F _R, F _IR, F _O, F _X and F _γ ) in the radio, infrared, optical, X-ray and γ-ray wave bands. Our results are the following: (1) For TeV HSP BL Lacertae objects (THBLs), there are strong correlations between F _γ and F _R and between F _γ and F _IR in all states (average/high/low); (2) The TeV radio galaxies (TRGs) deviate from the area occupied by THBLs; (3) The TeV flat-spectrum radio quasars (TFSRQs) have much stronger γ-ray emission than THBLs; (4) For THBLs, there are weak correlations between F _γ and F _X in all states as well as between F _γ and F _O in both average and high states, and a strong correlation between F _γ and F _O in the low state; (5) For THBLs, there are strong correlations between F _O and F _R in both low and average states as well as between F _O and F _IR in all states and between F _IR and F _R in all states, but no strong correlations among other bands are found. From these results, we suggest that for THBLs, the synchrotron self-Compton radiation (SSC) is the main mechanism of high energy γ-ray emission and the inverse Compton scattering of circum-nuclear dust is likely to be a important complementary mechanism. Compared with THBLs, TRGs and TFSRQs may have a different origin of high energy γ-ray.     

Shock and photoionization models for infrared lines from active galactic nuclei

IR lines are calculated for AGN by SVMA code. IR line ratios, as temperature and density diagnostic of the emitting gas, show that the [S III] lines ratio increases with shock velocity, following compression and cooling of the gas downstream. The results are compared with observations and briefly discussed.