On the Signature of Black Holes on the Quenched Stellar Mass Function
As star-forming galaxies approach or exceed a stellar mass of around 10 ^11 M _⊙ , they are increasingly likely to be quenched in a process generically called mass quenching. Central galaxies, which are quenched via mass rather than environmental quenching, therefore accumulate in a peak around this...
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IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adcc2d |
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| author | Antonio J. Porras-Valverde John C. Forbes |
| author_facet | Antonio J. Porras-Valverde John C. Forbes |
| author_sort | Antonio J. Porras-Valverde |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | As star-forming galaxies approach or exceed a stellar mass of around 10 ^11 M _⊙ , they are increasingly likely to be quenched in a process generically called mass quenching. Central galaxies, which are quenched via mass rather than environmental quenching, therefore accumulate in a peak around this characteristic mass. While a number of processes may influence the shape of the quenched central stellar mass function, we find that its low-mass slope is strongly affected by the scatter in the mass of black holes at a given stellar mass, with higher scatters in the black hole population yielding shallower slopes. Higher scatters in the black hole mass spread out the stellar mass range over which quenching occurs, leading to shallower slopes. This trend holds across a variety of semianalytic models and cosmological hydrodynamic simulations. A comparison with observations provides indirect evidence for a large scatter in black hole mass $\sigma ({\mathrm{log}}_{10}({M}_{{\rm{BH}}})| {M}_{* })\gtrsim 0.5$ dex, and a joint constraint on active galactic nuclei feedback physics and the coevolution of galaxies and black holes. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e07172f30b37408181ed63f0f7755b14 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
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| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-e07172f30b37408181ed63f0f7755b142025-08-20T03:10:49ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572025-01-0198429610.3847/1538-4357/adcc2dOn the Signature of Black Holes on the Quenched Stellar Mass FunctionAntonio J. Porras-Valverde0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1996-0445John C. Forbes1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1975-4449Department of Astronomy, Yale University , P.O. Box 208101, New Haven, CT 06520, USA ; antonio.porras@yale.eduSchool of Physical and Chemical Sciences–Te Kura Matū, University of Canterbury , Christchurch 8140, New ZealandAs star-forming galaxies approach or exceed a stellar mass of around 10 ^11 M _⊙ , they are increasingly likely to be quenched in a process generically called mass quenching. Central galaxies, which are quenched via mass rather than environmental quenching, therefore accumulate in a peak around this characteristic mass. While a number of processes may influence the shape of the quenched central stellar mass function, we find that its low-mass slope is strongly affected by the scatter in the mass of black holes at a given stellar mass, with higher scatters in the black hole population yielding shallower slopes. Higher scatters in the black hole mass spread out the stellar mass range over which quenching occurs, leading to shallower slopes. This trend holds across a variety of semianalytic models and cosmological hydrodynamic simulations. A comparison with observations provides indirect evidence for a large scatter in black hole mass $\sigma ({\mathrm{log}}_{10}({M}_{{\rm{BH}}})| {M}_{* })\gtrsim 0.5$ dex, and a joint constraint on active galactic nuclei feedback physics and the coevolution of galaxies and black holes.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adcc2dGalaxy formationGalaxy evolutionGalaxy quenching |
| spellingShingle | Antonio J. Porras-Valverde John C. Forbes On the Signature of Black Holes on the Quenched Stellar Mass Function The Astrophysical Journal Galaxy formation Galaxy evolution Galaxy quenching |
| title | On the Signature of Black Holes on the Quenched Stellar Mass Function |
| title_full | On the Signature of Black Holes on the Quenched Stellar Mass Function |
| title_fullStr | On the Signature of Black Holes on the Quenched Stellar Mass Function |
| title_full_unstemmed | On the Signature of Black Holes on the Quenched Stellar Mass Function |
| title_short | On the Signature of Black Holes on the Quenched Stellar Mass Function |
| title_sort | on the signature of black holes on the quenched stellar mass function |
| topic | Galaxy formation Galaxy evolution Galaxy quenching |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adcc2d |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT antoniojporrasvalverde onthesignatureofblackholesonthequenchedstellarmassfunction AT johncforbes onthesignatureofblackholesonthequenchedstellarmassfunction |