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At least 919 records · Page 51
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2013

STELLAR ENERGY RELAXATION AROUND A MASSIVE BLACK HOLE

Orbital energy relaxation around a massive black hole (MBH) plays a key role in the dynamics of galactic nuclei. Its standard description as diffusion provides a perturbative solution in the weak two-body interaction limit. Our N-body simulations show this fails to describe the short-timescale evolution, which is impacted by extreme events even in the weak limit, and is thus difficult to characterize and measure. We derive a non-perturbative solution for energy relaxation as an anomalous diffusion process, and a robust estimation technique to measure it in N-body simulations, and use these to analyze our numerical results. We empirically validate, for the first time, this theoretical description of energy relaxation around an MBH on all timescales. We constrain the modest contribution from strong encounters, and precisely measure that from the weakest encounters, and thereby calibrate the Coulomb logarithm. This yields a robust analytical estimate for the energy diffusion time, t{sub E} . We relate t{sub E} to the time t{sub r} it takes a small density perturbation to return to steady state in a relaxed, single mass stellar cusp, t{sub r} {approx_equal} 10t{sub E} {approx_equal} (5/32)Q {sup 2} P{sub h} /N{sub h} log Q, where Q = M {sub .}/M {sub *} is the MBH to star mass ratio, and the orbital period P{sub h} and star number N{sub h} are evaluated at the energy scale of the MBH's sphere of influence, E{sub h} = {sigma}{sup 2} {sub {infinity}}, where {sigma}{sub {infinity}} is the velocity dispersion at infinity. The observed M {sub .}/{sigma}{sub {infinity}} correlation then implies that passively evolving stellar cusps around lower-mass MBHs (M {sub .} {approx}< 10{sup 7} M {sub Sun }) should be dynamically relaxed by the Hubble time. We briefly consider the implications of anomalous diffusion for stars near the Galactic MBH.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Dusty Gas Accretion onto Massive Black Holes and Infrared Diagnosis of the Eddington Ratio

Evidence for dust around supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in the early universe is strongly suggested by recent observations. However, the accretion mechanism of SMBHs in dusty gas is not well understood yet. We investigate the growth of intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) of ∼10{sup 4}--10{sup 6} M{sub ⊙} in dusty clouds by using one-dimensional radiative-hydrodynamics simulations. We find that the accretion of dusty gas onto IMBHs proceeds gently with small fluctuations of the accretion rate, whereas that of pristine gas causes more violent periodic bursts. At dust-to-gas mass ratios similar to the solar neighborhood, the time-averaged luminosity becomes smaller than that for primordial gas by one order of magnitude and the time-averaged Eddington ratio ranges from ∼10{sup −4} to ∼10{sup −2} in clouds with initial gas densities of n{sub H}=10--1000 cm{sup −3}. Our calculations show that the effect of dust opacity alone is secondary compared to the radiation pressure on dust in regulating the BH growth. We also derive spectral energy distributions at IR bands by calculating dust thermal emission and show that the flux ratio between λ≲20 μm and ≳100 μm is closely related to the Eddington ratio. Thermal emission from hot dust near the BH dominates only during the phase of high accretion, producing higher flux density at ≲20 μm. Therefore, we suggest that a combination of mid-IR observations by the James Webb Space Telescope and far-IR observations by ALMA or Spitzer can be used to estimate the Eddington ratio of massive BHs. We also extend our simple modeling to SMBHs of 10{sup 8}--10{sup 9} M{sub ⊙} and show that ALMA can detect SMBHs of ∼10{sup 9} M{sub ⊙} at z≳5.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Aspects of nonlinear effect on black hole superradiance

Under some conditions, light boson fields grow exponentially around a rotating black hole, called the superradiance instability. We discuss effects of nonlinear interactions of the boson on the instability. In particular, we focus on the effect of the particle production and show that the growth of the boson cloud may be saturated much before the black hole spin is extracted by the boson cloud, while the nonlinear interactions also induce the boson emission. For application, we revisit the superradiant instability of the standard model photon, axion and hidden photon.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2012

DYNAMICAL MEASUREMENTS OF BLACK HOLE MASSES IN FOUR BRIGHTEST CLUSTER GALAXIES AT 100 Mpc

We present stellar kinematics and orbit superposition models for the central regions of four brightest cluster galaxies, based upon integral-field spectroscopy at Gemini, Keck, and McDonald Observatories. Our integral-field data span radii from <100 pc to tens of kiloparsecs, comparable to the effective radius of each galaxy. We report black hole masses, M{sub .}, of 2.1{sup +1.6}{sub -1.6} Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 10} M{sub Sun} for NGC 4889, 9.7{sup +3.0}{sub -2.5} Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 9} M{sub Sun} for NGC 3842, and 1.3{sup +0.5}{sub -0.4} Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 9} M{sub Sun} for NGC 7768, with errors representing 68% confidence limits. For NGC 2832, we report an upper limit of M{sub .} < 9.0 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 9} M{sub Sun }. Our models of each galaxy include a dark matter halo, and we have tested the dependence of M{sub .} on the model dark matter profile. Stellar orbits near the center of each galaxy are tangentially biased, on comparable spatial scales to the galaxies' photometric cores. We find possible photometric and kinematic evidence for an eccentric torus of stars in NGC 4889, with a radius of nearly 1 kpc. We compare our measurements of M{sub .} to the predicted black hole masses from various fits to the relations between M{sub .} and stellar velocity dispersion ({sigma}), luminosity (L), or stellar mass (M{sub *}). Still, the black holes in NGC 4889 and NGC 3842 are significantly more massive than all {sigma}-based predictions and most L-based predictions. The black hole in NGC 7768 is consistent with a broader range of predictions.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

EFFECTS OF CIRCUMNUCLEAR DISK GAS EVOLUTION ON THE SPIN OF CENTRAL BLACK HOLES

Mass and spin are the only two parameters needed to completely characterize black holes (BHs) in general relativity. However, the interaction between BHs and their environment is where complexity lies, as the relevant physical processes occur over a large range of scales. That is particularly relevant in the case of supermassive black holes (SMBHs), hosted in galaxy centers, and surrounded by swirling gas and various generations of stars. These compete with the SMBH for gas consumption and affect both dynamics and thermodynamics of the gas itself. How the behavior of such a fiery environment influences the angular momentum of the gas accreted onto SMBHs, and, hence, BH spins, is uncertain. We explore the interaction between SMBHs and their environment via first three-dimensional sub-parsec resolution simulations (ranging from {approx}0.1 pc to {approx}1 kpc scales) that study the evolution of the SMBH spin by including the effects of star formation, stellar feedback, radiative transfer, and metal pollution according to the proper stellar yields and lifetimes. This approach is crucial in investigating the impact of star formation processes and feedback effects on the angular momentum of the material that could accrete on the central hole. We find that star formation and feedback mechanisms can locally inject significant amounts of entropy in the surrounding medium, and impact the inflow inclination angles and Eddington fractions. As a consequence, the resulting trends show upper-intermediate equilibrium values for the spin parameter of a {approx_equal} 0.6-0.9, corresponding to radiative efficiencies {epsilon} {approx_equal} 9%-15%. These results suggest that star formation feedback taking place in the circumnuclear disk during the infall alone cannot induce very strong chaotic trends in the gas flow, quite independently from the different numerical parameters.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Twisted black hole is Taub-NUT

Recently a purportedly novel solution of the vacuum Einstein field equations was discovered: it supposedly describes an asymptotically flat twisted black hole in 4-dimensions whose exterior spacetime rotates in a peculiar manner—the frame dragging in the northern hemisphere is opposite from that of the southern hemisphere, which results in a globally vanishing angular momentum. Furthermore it was shown that the spacetime has no curvature singularity. We show that the geometry of this black hole spacetime is nevertheless not free of pathological features. In particular, it harbors a rather drastic conical singularity along the axis of rotation. In addition, there exist closed timelike curves due to the fact that the constant r and constant t surfaces are not globally Riemannian. In fact, none of these are that surprising since the solution is just the Taub-NUT geometry. As such, despite the original claim that the twisted black hole might have observational consequences, it cannot be.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Black hole spectroscopy and AdS 2 holography

We compute the spectrum of extremal nonBPS black holes in four dimensions by studying supergravity on their AdS 2 × S2 near horizon geometry. We find that the spectrum exhibits significant simplifications even though supersymmetry is completely broken. We interpret our results in the framework of nAdS 2 /nCFT 1 correspondence and by comparing with dimensional reduction from AdS 3 /CFT 2 duality. As an additional test we compute quantum corrections to extremal black hole entropy on the nonBPS branch and recover results previously determined using very different methods.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Primordial black holes and local non-Gaussianity in canonical inflation

Primordial black holes (PBHs) cannot be produced abundantly enough to be the dark matter in canonical single-field inflation under slow roll. This conclusion is robust to local non-Gaussian correlations between long- and short-wavelength curvature modes, which we show have no effect in slow roll on local primordial black hole abundances. For the prototypical model which evades this no go, ultra-slow roll (USR), these squeezed non-Gaussian correlations have at most an order unity effect on the variance of PBH-producing curvature fluctuations for models that would otherwise fail to form sufficient PBHs. Moreover, the transition out of USR, which is necessary for a success fulmodel, suppresses even this small enhancement unless it causes a large increase in the inflaton kinetic energy in a fraction of ane-fold, which we call a large and fast transition. Along the way we apply the in-in formalism, the $δN$ formalism, and gauge transformations to compute non-Gaussianities and illuminate different aspects of the physical origin of these results. Local non-Gaussianity in the squeezed limit does not weaken the Gaussian conclusion that PBHs as dark matter in canonical single-field inflation require a complicated and fine-tuned potential shape with an epoch where slow roll is transiently violated

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Primordial Black Holes with QCD Color Charge

We describe a realistic mechanism whereby black holes with significant QCD color charge could have formed during the early Universe. Primordial black holes (PBHs) could make up a significant fraction of the dark matter if they formed well before the QCD confinement transition. Such PBHs would form by absorbing unconfined quarks and gluons and hence could acquire a net color charge. We estimate the number of PBHs per Hubble volume with near-extremal color charge for various scenarios and discuss possible phenomenological implications. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Physics↗
DOE OSTI2018

Primordial black holes from inflaton fragmentation into oscillons

We demonstrate that fragmentation of the inflaton into long-lived spatially localized oscillon configurations can lead to copious production of black holes. In a single-field inflation model primordial black holes of sublunar mass can form, and they can account for all of the dark matter. Furthermore, we explore the possibility that solar-mass primordial black holes, particularly relevant for gravitational wave astronomy, are produced from the same mechanism.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

DYNAMICAL FRICTION AROUND SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLES

The density of stars in galactic bulges is often observed to be flat or slowly rising inside the influence radius of the supermassive black hole (SMBH). Attributing the dynamical-friction force to stars moving more slowly than the test body, as is commonly done, is likely to be a poor approximation in such a core since there are no stars moving more slowly than the local circular velocity. We have tested this prediction using large-scale N-body experiments. The rate of orbital decay never drops precisely to zero, because stars moving faster than the test body also contribute to the frictional force. When the contribution from the fast-moving stars is included in the expression for the dynamical-friction force, and the changes induced by the massive body on the stellar distribution are taken into account, Chandrasekhar's theory is found to reproduce the rate of orbital decay remarkably well. However, this rate is still substantially smaller than the rate predicted by Chandrasekhar's formula in its most widely used forms, implying longer timescale for inspiral. Motivated by recent observations that suggest a parsec-scale core around the Galactic center (GC) SMBH, we investigate the evolution of a population of stellar-mass black holes (BHs) as they spiral into the center of the Galaxy. After {approx}10 Gyr, we find that the density of BHs can remain substantially less than the density in stars at all radii; we conclude that it would be unjustified to assume that the spatial distribution of BHs at the GC is well described by steady-state models. One consequence is that rates of capture of BHs by the SMBH at the Galactic center (extreme-mass-ratio inspirals) may be much lower than in standard models. When capture occurs, inspiraling BHs often reach the gravitational-radiation-dominated regime while on orbits that are still highly eccentric; even after the semimajor axis has decreased to values small enough for detection by space-based interferometers, eccentricities can be large enough that the efficient analysis of gravitational wave signals would require the use of eccentric templates. We finally study the orbital decay of satellite galaxies into the central region of giant ellipticals and discuss the formation of multi nuclei and multiplet of black holes in such systems.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1988

Do massive black holes reside in elliptical galaxies?

The accretion by a central black hole of the hot interstellar medium in an elliptical galaxy is investigated, and the minimum expected luminosity and manner of its emission is estimated. It is not obviously detected at any wavelength. The problem of 'starving the monster', if indeed there is a monster, is raised. The simplest conclusion from the evidence is that most bright elliptical galaxies do not contain massive black holes.

Fabian, A. C.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Primordial Black Hole Triggered Type Ia Supernovae. I. Impact on Explosion Dynamics and Light Curves

Primordial black holes (PBHs) in the asteroid-mass window are compelling dark matter candidates, made plausible by the existence of black holes and by the variety of mechanisms of their production in the early Universe. If a PBH falls into a white dwarf (WD), the strong tidal forces can generate enough heat to trigger a thermonuclear runaway explosion, depending on the WD’s mass and the PBH’s orbital parameters. In this work, we investigate the WD explosion triggered by the passage of a PBH. We perform 2D simulations of the WD undergoing thermonuclear explosion in this scenario, with the predicted ignition site as a parameter assuming the deflagration–detonation transition model. We study the explosion dynamics, and predict the associated light curves and nucleosynthesis. We find that the model sequence predicts light curves which align with the Phillips relation (B max versus ΔM 15 ). Our models hint at a unifying approach in triggering Type Ia supernovae without involving two distinctive evolutionary tracks.

Dark matter↗
DOE OSTI2014

Black holes at the centers of nearby dwarf galaxies

Using a distance-limited portion of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 7, we have identified 28 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) in nearby (d⩽80 Mpc) low-mass, low-luminosity dwarf galaxies. The accreting objects at the galaxy centers are expected to be intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) with M{sub BH}⩽10{sup 6} M{sub ⊙}. The AGNs were selected using several optical emission-line diagnostics after careful modeling of the continuum present in the spectra. We have limited our survey to objects with spectral characteristics similar to those of Seyfert nuclei, excluding emission-line galaxies with ambiguous spectra that could be powered by stellar processes. Thus, as a set, the host galaxies in our sample are the least massive objects in the very local universe certain to contain central black holes. Our sample is dominated by narrow-line (type 2) AGNs, and it appears to have a much lower fraction of broad-line objects than that observed for luminous, optically selected Seyfert galaxies. Given our focus on the nearest objects included in the SDSS, our survey is more sensitive to low-luminosity emission than previous optical searches for AGNs in low-mass galaxies. The [O iii] λ5007 luminosities of the Seyfert nuclei in our sample have a median value of L{sub 5007}=2×10{sup 5} L{sub ⊙} and extend down to ∼10{sup 4} L{sub ⊙}. Using published data for broad-line IMBH candidates, we have derived an [O iii] bolometric correction of log(L{sub bol}/L{sub 5007})=3.0±0.3, which is significantly lower than values obtained for high-luminosity AGNs. Applying this correction to our sample, we obtain minimum black hole mass estimates that fall mainly in the 10{sup 3} M{sub ⊙}–10{sup 4} M{sub ⊙} range, which is roughly where the predicted mass functions for different black hole seed formation scenarios overlap the most. In the stellar mass range that includes the bulk of the AGN host galaxies in our sample, we derive a lower limit on the AGN fraction of a few percent, indicating that active nuclei in dwarf galaxies are not as rare as previously thought.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS2013

Accretion Disks Around Binary Black Holes of Unequal Mass: GRMHD Simulations Near Decoupling

We report on simulations in general relativity of magnetized disks onto black hole binaries. We vary the binary mass ratio from 1:1 to 1:10 and evolve the systems when they orbit near the binary disk decoupling radius. We compare (surface) density profiles, accretion rates (relative to a single, non-spinning black hole), variability, effective alpha-stress levels and luminosities as functions of the mass ratio. We treat the disks in two limiting regimes: rapid radiative cooling and no radiative cooling. The magnetic field lines clearly reveal jets emerging from both black hole horizons and merging into one common jet at large distances. The magnetic fields give rise to much stronger shock heating than the pure hydrodynamic flows, completely alter the disk structure, and boost accretion rates and luminosities. Accretion streams near the horizons are among the densest structures; in fact, the 1:10 no-cooling evolution results in a refilling of the cavity. The typical effective temperature in the bulk of the disk is approx. 10(exp5) (M / 10(exp 8)M solar mass (exp -1/4(L/L(sub edd) (exp 1/4K) yielding characteristic thermal frequencies approx. 10 (exp 15) (M /10(exp 8)M solar mass) (exp -1/4(L/L (sub edd) (1+z) (exp -1)Hz. These systems are thus promising targets for many extragalactic optical surveys, such as LSST, WFIRST, and PanSTARRS.

Supermassive↗
DOE OSTI2012

A STAR DISRUPTED BY A STELLAR BLACK HOLE AS THE ORIGIN OF THE CLOUD FALLING TOWARD THE GALACTIC CENTER

We propose that the cloud moving on a highly eccentric orbit near the central black hole in our Galaxy, reported by Gillessen et al., is formed by a photoevaporation wind originating in a disk around a star that is tidally perturbed and shocked at every peribothron passage. The disk is proposed to have formed when a stellar black hole flew by the star, tidally disrupted its envelope, and placed the star on its present orbit with some of the tidal debris forming a disk. A disrupting encounter at the location of the observed cloud is most likely to be caused by a stellar black hole because of the expected dynamical mass segregation; the rate of these disk-forming encounters may be as high as {approx}10{sup -6} per year. The star should also be spun up by the encounter, so the disk may subsequently expand by absorbing angular momentum from the star. Once the disk expands up to the tidal truncation radius, the tidal perturbation of the outer disk edge at every peribothron may place gas streams on larger orbits, which can give rise to a photoevaporation wind that forms the cloud at every orbit. This model predicts that, after the cloud is disrupted at the next peribothron passage in 2013, a smaller unresolved cloud will gradually grow around the star on the same present orbit. An increased infrared luminosity from the disk may also be detectable when the peribothron is reached. We also note that this model revives the encounter theory for planet formation.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Primordial black holes from no-scale supergravity

We calculate the primordial black hole abundance in the context of a Wess-Zumino type no-scale supergravity model. We modify the Kähler potential, by adding an extra exponential term. Using just one parameter in the context of this model, we are able to satisfy the Planck cosmological constraints for the spectral index n s , the tensor-to-scalar ratio r, and to produce up to ~ 20 % of the dark matter of the Universe in the form of primordial black holes.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

THE BLACK HOLE–DARK MATTER HALO CONNECTION

We explore the connection between the central supermassive black holes (SMBH) in galaxies and the dark matter halo through the relation between the masses of the SMBHs and the maximum circular velocities of the host galaxies, as well as the relationship between stellar velocity dispersion of the spheroidal component and the circular velocity. Our assumption here is that the circular velocity is a proxy for the mass of the dark matter halo. We rely on a heterogeneous sample containing galaxies of all types. The only requirement is that the galaxy has a direct measurement of the mass of its SMBH and a direct measurement of its circular velocity and its velocity dispersion. Previous studies have analyzed the connection between the SMBH and dark matter halo through the relationship between the circular velocity and the bulge velocity dispersion, with the assumption that the bulge velocity dispersion stands in for the mass of the SMBH, via the well-established SMBH mass–bulge velocity dispersion relation. Using intermediate relations may be misleading when one is studying them to decipher the active ingredients of galaxy formation and evolution. We believe that our approach will provide a more direct probe of the SMBH and the dark matter halo connection. We find that the correlation between the mass of SMBHs and the circular velocities of the host galaxies is extremely weak, leading us to state the dark matter halo may not play a major role in regulating the black hole growth in the present Universe.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗