Quenching as a Contest between Galaxy Halos and Their Central Black Holes

Authors

• Zhu Chen, Shanghai Normal University
• S. M. Faber, University of California, Santa Cruz
• David C. Koo, University of California, Santa Cruz
• Rachel S. Somerville, Simons Foundation
• Joel R. Primack, University of California, Santa Cruz
• Avishai Dekel, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• Aldo Rodríguez-Puebla, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
• Yicheng Guo, University of Missouri
• Guillermo Barro, University of the PacificFollow
• Dale D. Kocevski, Colby College
• A. van der Wel, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy
• Joanna Woo, University of Victoria
• Eric F. Bell, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• Jerome J. Fang, Orange Coast College
• Henry C. Ferguson, Space Telescope Science Institute
• Mauro Giavalisco, University of Massachusetts Amherst
• Marc Huertas-Company, Université PSL
• Fangzhou Jiang, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• Susan Kassin, Space Telescope Science Institute
• Lin Lin, Shanghai Astronomical Observatory Chinese Academy of Sciences
• F. S. Liu, Shenyang Normal University
• Yifei Luo, University of California, Santa Cruz

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Astrophysical Journal

Department

Physics

ISSN

15384357

Volume

897

Issue

1

DOI

10.3847/1538-4357/ab9633

First Page

1

Last Page

46

Publication Date

7-7-2020

Abstract

Existing models of galaxy formation have not yet explained striking correlations between structure and star formation activity in galaxies, notably the sloped and moving boundaries that divide star-forming from quenched galaxies in key structural diagrams. This paper uses these and other relations to "reverse engineer"the quenching process for central galaxies. The basic idea is that star-forming galaxies with larger radii (at a given stellar mass) have lower black hole (BH) masses due to lower central densities. Galaxies cross into the green valley when the cumulative effective energy radiated by their BH equals ∼4× their halo gas-binding energy. Because larger-radii galaxies have smaller BHs, one finds that they must evolve to higher stellar masses in order to meet this halo energy criterion, which explains the sloping boundaries. A possible cause of radii differences among star-forming galaxies is halo concentration. The evolutionary tracks of star-forming galaxies are nearly parallel to the green-valley boundaries, and it is mainly the sideways motions of these boundaries with cosmic time that cause galaxies to quench. BH scaling laws for star-forming, quenched, and green-valley galaxies are different, and most BH mass growth takes place in the green valley. Implications include the radii of star-forming galaxies are an important second parameter in shaping their BHs; BHs are connected to their halos but in different ways for star-forming, quenched, and green-valley galaxies; and the same BH-halo quenching mechanism has been in place since z ∼ 3. We conclude with a discussion of BH-galaxy coevolution and the origin and interpretation of BH scaling laws.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Chen, Zhu; Faber, S. M.; Koo, David C.; Somerville, Rachel S.; Primack, Joel R.; Dekel, Avishai; Rodríguez-Puebla, Aldo; Guo, Yicheng; Barro, Guillermo; Kocevski, Dale D.; van der Wel, A.; Woo, Joanna; Bell, Eric F.; Fang, Jerome J.; Ferguson, Henry C.; Giavalisco, Mauro; Huertas-Company, Marc; Jiang, Fangzhou; Kassin, Susan; Lin, Lin; Liu, F. S.; and Luo, Yifei, "Quenching as a Contest between Galaxy Halos and Their Central Black Holes" (2020). Pacific Faculty Work. 276.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/all-faculty/276