Journal
MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
Volume 451, Issue 2, Pages 1868-1874Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stv1060
Keywords
methods: numerical; galaxies: evolution; galaxies: kinematics and dynamics; quasars: supermassive black holes
Categories
Funding
- NSF [AST-0908499, AST-0607819, AST 1107675]
- NASA ATP [NNX08AG84G]
- SAO [TM1-12007X]
- European Community [PCIG10-GA-2011-303609]
- National Science Foundation ITR [PHY-0205413]
- NSF ITR [NSF-0205611]
- NSF PRAC [1144357]
- Direct For Computer & Info Scie & Enginr [1144357] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Division Of Astronomical Sciences [1410012] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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We introduce a sub-grid force correction term to better model the dynamical friction experienced by a supermassive black hole (SMBH) as it orbits within its host galaxy. This new approach accurately follows an SMBH's orbital decay and drastically improves over commonly used 'advection' methods. The force correction introduced here naturally scales with the force resolution of the simulation and converges as resolution is increased. In controlled experiments, we show how the orbital decay of the SMBH closely follows analytical predictions when particle masses are significantly smaller than that of the SMBH. In a cosmological simulation of the assembly of a small galaxy, we show how our method allows for realistic black hole orbits. This approach overcomes the limitations of the advection scheme, where black holes are rapidly and artificially pushed towards the halo centre and then forced to merge, regardless of their orbits. We find that SMBHs from merging dwarf galaxies can spend significant time away from the centre of the remnant galaxy. Improving the modelling of SMBH orbital decay will help in making robust predictions of the growth, detectability and merger rates of SMBHs, especially at low galaxy masses or at high redshift.
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