Publication details
Galaxy-SMBH co-evolution in 2435 DESI disc galaxies and merger-free BH growth in bulgeless discs
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2026 |
| Type | Peer-reviewed scientific article |
| Magazine / Source | MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| web | https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/552/4/stag1783/8825389 |
| Doi | https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stag1783 |
| Keywords | galaxies: active; galaxies: bulges; galaxies: evolution; quasars: supermassive black holes; galaxies: spiral |
| Attached files | |
| Description | We analyse black hole scaling relations for disc-dominated galaxies, and present evidence for secularly driven galaxy-black hole co-evolution. We do this observationally by looking at 'bulgeless' galaxies, where the lack of a stellar bulge suggests a quiet merger history. We first compose a sample of 2435 disc-dominated galaxies hosting optical broad line active galactic nuclei (AGNs) from DESI data, and find an M-BH -M-& lowast; scaling relation of log(M-BH ) = -3.7(+0.3) (-0.3) + 1.00(+0.03) (-0.03) log(M-& lowast; ). From these, we identify 546 bulgeless galaxies hosting AGNs, a factor of greater than or similar to 5 larger than pre-existing samples, and find they follow the same M-BH -M-& lowast; relation as the general disc galaxy sample. Comparing the bulgeless galaxies to those with some bulge component, we find good agreement in the M-BH -M-& lowast; relation (within 3 sigma ), but disagreement in the M-BH -M-& lowast;,bulge relation (at >7 sigma ). This is the opposite of what is expected from merger-driven co-evolution, suggesting secular growth is significant in establishing observed M-BH -M-& lowast; scaling relations. Furthermore, in a control sample of early-type galaxies, we find tentative evidence of increased AGN luminosity compared to the bulgeless sample, but no statistical difference in black hole mass. This suggests the assumed merger-dominated evolutionary history of early-type galaxies does not lead to significantly increased long-term BH growth. These results support numerous recent observational and theoretical studies which suggest secular processes fuel significant supermassive black hole growth and galaxy-black hole co-evolution. |
| Related projects: |