Feeding and feedback from little monsters: AGN in dwarf galaxies. Issue Volume 15:Issue S359(2020) (March 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Mezcua, Mar
• Editors: Bergmann, Thaisa Storchi; Forman, William; Overzier, Roderik; Riffel, Rogério
• Is Part Of: Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union. Volume 15:Issue S359(2020)
• Page Start: 238
• Page End: 242
• Publication Date: 2019-03
• Subjects: galaxies: dwarf, -- active, -- accretion, -- nuclei, -- evolution; Astronomy -- Congresses; Astronomy -- Periodicals; 520
• DOI: 10.1017/S1743921320002240
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1743-9213

Abstract

Abstract: Detecting the seed black holes from which quasars formed is extremely challenging; however, those seeds that did not grow into supermassive should be found as intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) of 100 – 10 5 M ⊙ in local dwarf galaxies. The use of deep multiwavelength surveys has revealed that a population of actively accreting IMBHs (low-mass AGN) exists in dwarf galaxies at least out to z ˜3. The black hole occupation fraction of these galaxies suggests that the early Universe seed black holes formed from direct collapse of gas, which is reinforced by the possible flattening of the black hole-galaxy scaling relations at the low-mass end. This scenario is however challenged by the finding that AGN feedback can have a strong impact on dwarf galaxies, which implies that low-mass AGN in dwarf galaxies might not be the untouched relics of the early seed black holes. This has important implications for seed black hole formation models.