The Co-Evolution of Galaxies and Supermassive Black Holes: Insights from Surveys of the Contemporary Universe

Understand

We summarize what large surveys of the contemporary universe have taught us about the physics and phenomenology of the processes that link the formation and evolution of galaxies and their central supermassive black holes.

• We present a picture in which the population of AGN can be divided into two distinct populations.
• The Radiative-Mode AGN are associated with black holes that produce radiant energy powered by accretion at rates in excess of ~1% of the Eddington Limit.
• They are primarily associated with less massive black holes growing in high-density pseudo-bulges at a rate sufficient to produce the total mass budget in these black holes in ~10 Gyr.