Quasar

Demography

Active galactic nucleus

Galaxy

Computer science

Astronomy

Accretion (finance)

Astrophysics

Sociology

Star formation

Stellar mass

Routing (electronic design automation)

Supermassive black hole

Population

Black hole (networking)

Link-state routing protocol

Eddington luminosity

Galaxy merger

Redshift

Routing protocol

Physics

Computer network

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

We study the population of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) and their effects on massive central galaxies in the IllustrisTNG cosmological hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy formation. The employed model for SMBH growth and feedback assumes a two-mode scenario in which the feedback from active galactic nuclei occurs through a kinetic, comparatively efficient mode at low accretion rates relative to the Eddington limit, and in the form of a thermal, less efficient mode at high accretion rates. We show that the quenching of massive central galaxies happens coincidently with kinetic-mode feedback, consistent with the notion that active supermassive black holes cause the low specific star formation rates observed in massive galaxies. However, major galaxy mergers are not responsible for initiating most of the quenching events in our model. Up to black hole masses of about |$10^{8.5}\, {\rm M}_{\odot}$|⁠, the dominant growth channel for SMBHs is in the thermal mode. Higher mass black holes stay mainly in the kine...

Supermassive black holes and their feedback effects in the IllustrisTNG simulation