Impact of supermassive black hole growth on star formation

TL;DR

This paper reviews how the growth of supermassive black holes influences star formation in host galaxies through energetic feedback, highlighting current observational insights and uncertainties.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive review of observational evidence and discusses potential signatures of AGN feedback affecting star formation.

Findings

Observational results suggest a link between black hole activity and star formation rates.

Possible signatures of AGN feedback include outflows and suppressed star formation regions.

Uncertainties remain about the timing and mechanisms of feedback effects.

Abstract

Supermassive black holes are found at the centre of massive galaxies. During the growth of these black holes they light up to become visible as active galactic nuclei (AGN) and release extraordinary amounts of energy across the electromagnetic spectrum. This energy is widely believed to regulate the rate of star formation in the black holes' host galaxies via so-called "AGN feedback". However, the details of how and when this occurs remains uncertain from both an observational and theoretical perspective. I review some of the observational results and discuss possible observational signatures of the impact of super-massive black hole growth on star formation.