The Accretion Mode in Sub-Eddington Supermassive Black Holes: Getting into the Central Parsecs of Andromeda

Abstract

The inner kiloparsec regions surrounding sub-Eddington (luminosity less than 10${}^{-3}$ in Eddington units, L${}_{Edd}$) supermassive black holes (BHs) often show a characteristic network of dust filaments that terminate in a nuclear spiral in the central parsecs. Here we study the role and fate of these filaments in one of the least accreting BHs known, M31 (10${}^{-7}$ L${}_{Edd}$) using hydrodynamical simulations. The evolution of a streamer of gas particles moving under the barred potential of M31 is followed from kiloparsec distance to the central parsecs. After an exploratory study of initial conditions, a compelling fit to the observed dust/ionized gas morphologies and line-of-sight velocities in the inner hundreds of parsecs is produced. After several million years of streamer evolution, during which friction, thermal dissipation, and self-collisions have taken place, the gas settles into a disk tens of parsecs wide. This is fed by numerous filaments that arise from an outer circumnuclear ring and spiral toward the center. The final configuration is tightly constrained by a critical input mass in the streamer of several 10${}^3$ M${}_{\odot }$ (at an injection rate of 10${}^{-4}$ M${}_{\odot }$ yr${}^{-1}$); values above or below this lead to filament fragmentation or dispersion respectively, which are not observed. The creation of a hot gas atmosphere in the region of $\sim$10${}^6$ K is key to the development of a nuclear spiral during the simulation. The final inflow rate at 1pc from the center is $\sim$1.7 $\times$ 10${}^{-7}$ M${}_{\odot }$ yr${}^{-1}$, consistent with the quiescent state of the M31 BH.

13 pages, 11 figures