Self-Regulated Black Hole Growth via Momentum Deposition in Galaxy Merger Simulations

Understand

We perform hydrodynamical simulations of major galaxy mergers using new methods for calculating the growth of massive black holes (BH) in galactic nuclei and their impact on the surrounding galaxy.

• We model BH growth by including a subgrid model for accretion produced by angular momentum transport on unresolved scales.
• The impact of the BHs radiation on surrounding gas is approximated by depositing momentum into the ambient gas, which produces an outward force away from the BH.
• We argue that these phenomenological models for BH growth and feedback better approximate the interaction between the BH and dense gas in galaxies than previous models.