Estimation of black hole spins in low-mass AGNs and comparison with other types of AGNs

Abstract

We estimated the spins of a sample of 58 low-mass AGNs. Analysis of the obtained spins showed that they decrease with increasing SMBH mass, leading us to hypothesize that mergers and/or chaotic accretion are the primary mechanisms for mass growth. In this regard, we proposed a more general hypothesis about the evolution of AGNs. We assume that early low-mass SMBHs have high spins, then, during their evolution, the spins initially decrease and then begin to increase, with the rate of increase gradually slowing.

10 pages, 14 figures