Bridging Scales: Coupling the galactic nucleus to the larger cosmic environment

TL;DR

This study investigates how black hole feeding and feedback processes across different scales influence galaxy centers, revealing that higher feedback efficiencies, potentially from black hole spin, are needed to match observations of M87* and Sgr A*.

Contribution

It provides high-resolution MHD simulations demonstrating the necessity of enhanced feedback, possibly from black hole spin, to reconcile models with observational data.

Findings

Feedback efficiency >15% is required to match M87* observations.

Accretion rates remain high even with 2% feedback efficiency, exceeding observational constraints.

Sgr A* is likely in a temporary quiescent phase based on simulation results.

Abstract

Coupling black hole (BH) feeding and feedback involves interactions across vast spatial and temporal scales that is computationally challenging. Tracking gas inflows and outflows from kilo-parsec scales to the event horizon for non-spinning BHs in the presence of strong magnetic fields, Cho et al. (2023, 2024) report strong suppression of accretion on horizon scales and low (2%) feedback efficiency. In this letter, we explore the impact of these findings for the supermassive BHs M87* and Sgr A*, using high-resolution, non-cosmological, magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations with the Feedback In Realistic Environments (FIRE-2) model. With no feedback, we find rapid BH growth due to "cooling flows," and for 2% efficiency feedback, while accretion is suppressed, the rates still remain higher than constraints from Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) data (Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration et al. 2021, 2022) for M87* and Sgr A*. To match EHT observations of M87*, a feedback efficiency greater than 15% is required, suggesting the need to include enhanced feedback from BH spin. Similarly, a feedback efficiency of $>15\%$ is needed for Sgr A* to match the estimated observed star formation rate of $\lesssim 2 {\rm M_\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$. However, even with 100% feedback efficiency, the accretion rate onto Sgr A* matches with EHT data only on rare occasions in the simulations, suggesting that Sgr A* is likely in a temporary quiescent phase currently. Bridging accretion and feedback across scales, we conclude that higher feedback efficiency, possibly due to non-zero BH spin, is necessary to suppress "cooling flows" and match observed accretion and star formation rates in M87* and Sgr A*.