TRINITY – III. Quasar luminosity functions decomposed by halo, galaxy, and black hole masses as well as Eddington ratios from z = 0–10

Haowen Zhang, Peter Behroozi, Marta Volonteri, Joseph Silk, Xiaohui Fan, James Aird, Jinyi Yang, Philip F. Hopkins

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

We present the redshift evolution of quasar luminosity functions (QLFs) decomposed by halo mass, galaxy mass, supermassive black hole (SMBH) mass, and Eddington ratio, as well as SMBH/radiative energy output ratios from TRINITY, a flexible empirical model that self-consistently infers the halo–galaxy–SMBH connection that match observational data. Key findings include: (1) The normalization of quasar luminosity function increases by ∼3–4 dex from z ∼ 10 to z ∼ 4, due to the fast mass build-up of different SMBH populations; (2) From z ∼ 4 to z ∼ 1, less massive galaxies and SMBHs make up bigger and bigger fractions of QLFs, due to the active galactic nuclei (AGNs) downsizing effect; (3) At z ∼ 0, massive haloes/galaxies/SMBHs are responsible for most bright quasars due to low Eddington ratios among all SMBHs; (4) The bright ends of QLFs are dominated by SMBHs that are at least 0.3 dex overmassive relative to the median SMBH mass–galaxy mass relation; (5) QLFs at z ∼ 6–7 are dominated by SMBHs accreting at Eddington ratios 0.1 < ηrad < 1, but super-Eddington AGNs contribute more significantly to QLFs towards z ∼ 9–10.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2777-2793
Number of pages17
JournalMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume529
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 1 2024

Keywords

  • galaxies: evolution
  • galaxies: haloes
  • quasars: supermassive black holes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

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