Accretion Driven Evolution of Quasars and Black Holes: Theoretical Models

We present a flexible framework for constructing physical models of quasar evolution that can incorporate a variety of observational constraints, such as multi-wavelength luminosity functions, estimated masses and accretion rates of active black holes, space densities of quasar hosts, and the local...

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Veröffentlicht in:arXiv.org 2003-11
Hauptverfasser: Steed, Adam, Weinberg, David H
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:We present a flexible framework for constructing physical models of quasar evolution that can incorporate a variety of observational constraints, such as multi-wavelength luminosity functions, estimated masses and accretion rates of active black holes, space densities of quasar hosts, and the local black hole mass function. We focus on the accretion rate distribution p(mdot|M,z), the probability that a black hole of mass M at redshift z accretes at a rate mdot in Eddington units. Given the radiative efficiency as a function of mdot, the quasar luminosity function (QLF) is determined by a convolution of p(mdot|M,z) with the black hole mass function n(M,z). In the absence of mergers p(mdot|M,z) also determines the full evolution of n(M,z), given a "boundary value" of n(M) at some redshift. Matching the observed decline of the QLF break luminosity at z
ISSN:2331-8422