Radiation pattern and outflow geometry: a new probe of black hole spin?
arXiv:1904.03203 · doi:10.1093/mnras/stz987
Abstract
We explore the impact of the central black hole (BH) spin on the large-scale properties of the host galaxy, by considering radiative feedback. The BH spin determines the radiation pattern from the accretion disc, which directly imprints on the geometry of the radiation-driven outflows. We show that for low BH spins, the emission is vertically focused, giving rise to polar/prolate outflows; while for high BH spins, the radiation pattern is more isotropic, leading to quasi-spherical/oblate outflows. Reversing the argument, we can potentially deduce the spin of the central BH from the observed morphology of galactic outflows. In principle, this may provide a novel way of constraining the central BH spin from galaxy-scale observations. Indeed, the BH spin can have significant macroscopic effects on galactic scales, ultimately shaping the large-scale feedback and the resulting obscuration.
accepted for publication in MNRAS
References in corpus (5)
- BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey - V. X-ray properties of the Swift/BAT 70-month AGN catalog
- The effect of radiation pressure on dusty absorbing gas around AGN
- Heavily reddened type 1 quasars at z > 2 I: Evidence for significant obscured black-hole growth at the highest quasar luminosities
- Radiation pressure and absorption in AGN: results from a complete unbiased sample from Swift
- Dissecting the active galactic nucleus in Circinus -- I. Peculiar mid-IR morphology explained by a dusty hollow cone
Cited by in corpus (10)
- SUPER-II: Spatially resolved ionized gas kinematics and scaling relations in z~2 AGN host galaxies
- Chemical abundances in Seyfert galaxies -- V. The discovery of shocked emission outside the AGN ionization axis
- Radiation pressure-driven outflows from dusty AGN
- Spatially resolved observations of outflows in the radio loud AGN of UGC 8782
- On the connection between AGN radiative feedback and massive black hole spin
- AGN anisotropic radiative feedback set by black hole spin
- Supercritical dusty BH growth in the early Universe
- The disk-torus system in active galactic nuclei: possible evidence of highly spinning black holes
- Jet-driven shocks and turbulence in radio-loud Active Galactic Nuclei observed with JWST MIRI/MRS
- How black hole activity may influence exoplanetary evolution in our Galaxy