---
_id: '17618'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: The largest observed supermassive black holes (SMBHs) have a mass of M_BH
    ~ 10^{10} M_sun, nearly independent of redshift, from the local (z~0) to the early
    (z>6) Universe. We suggest that the growth of SMBHs above a few 10^{10} M_sun
    is prevented by small-scale accretion physics, independent of the properties of
    their host galaxies or of cosmology. Growing more massive BHs requires a gas supply
    rate from galactic scales onto a nuclear region as high as >10^3 M_sun/yr. At
    such a high accretion rate, most of the gas converts to stars at large radii (~10-100
    pc), well before reaching the BH. We adopt a simple model (Thompson et al. 2005)
    for a star-forming accretion disk, and find that the accretion rate in the sub-pc
    nuclear region is reduced to the smaller value of at most a few M_sun/yr. This
    prevents SMBHs from growing above ~10^{11} M_sun in the age of the Universe. Furthermore,
    once a SMBH reaches a sufficiently high mass, this rate falls below the critical
    value at which the accretion flow becomes advection dominated. Once this transition
    occurs, BH feeding can be suppressed by strong outflows and jets from hot gas
    near the BH. We find that the maximum SMBH mass, given by this transition, is
    between M_{BH,max} ~ (1-6) * 10^{10} M_sun, depending primarily on the efficiency
    of angular momentum transfer inside the galactic disk, and not on other properties
    of the host galaxy.
article_number: '110'
article_processing_charge: No
article_type: original
arxiv: 1
author:
- first_name: Kohei
  full_name: Inayoshi, Kohei
  last_name: Inayoshi
- first_name: Zoltán
  full_name: Haiman, Zoltán
  id: 7c006e8c-cc0d-11ee-8322-cb904ef76f36
  last_name: Haiman
citation:
  ama: Inayoshi K, Haiman Z. Is there a maximum mass for black holes in galactic nuclei?
    <i>The Astrophysical Journal</i>. 2016;828(2). doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.3847/0004-637x/828/2/110">10.3847/0004-637x/828/2/110</a>
  apa: Inayoshi, K., &#38; Haiman, Z. (2016). Is there a maximum mass for black holes
    in galactic nuclei? <i>The Astrophysical Journal</i>. American Astronomical Society.
    <a href="https://doi.org/10.3847/0004-637x/828/2/110">https://doi.org/10.3847/0004-637x/828/2/110</a>
  chicago: Inayoshi, Kohei, and Zoltán Haiman. “Is There a Maximum Mass for Black
    Holes in Galactic Nuclei?” <i>The Astrophysical Journal</i>. American Astronomical
    Society, 2016. <a href="https://doi.org/10.3847/0004-637x/828/2/110">https://doi.org/10.3847/0004-637x/828/2/110</a>.
  ieee: K. Inayoshi and Z. Haiman, “Is there a maximum mass for black holes in galactic
    nuclei?,” <i>The Astrophysical Journal</i>, vol. 828, no. 2. American Astronomical
    Society, 2016.
  ista: Inayoshi K, Haiman Z. 2016. Is there a maximum mass for black holes in galactic
    nuclei? The Astrophysical Journal. 828(2), 110.
  mla: Inayoshi, Kohei, and Zoltán Haiman. “Is There a Maximum Mass for Black Holes
    in Galactic Nuclei?” <i>The Astrophysical Journal</i>, vol. 828, no. 2, 110, American
    Astronomical Society, 2016, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.3847/0004-637x/828/2/110">10.3847/0004-637x/828/2/110</a>.
  short: K. Inayoshi, Z. Haiman, The Astrophysical Journal 828 (2016).
date_created: 2024-09-05T13:44:44Z
date_published: 2016-09-12T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2024-09-24T08:11:51Z
day: '12'
doi: 10.3847/0004-637x/828/2/110
extern: '1'
external_id:
  arxiv:
  - '1601.02611'
intvolume: '       828'
issue: '2'
language:
- iso: eng
main_file_link:
- open_access: '1'
  url: ' https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.1601.02611'
month: '09'
oa: 1
oa_version: Preprint
publication: The Astrophysical Journal
publication_identifier:
  issn:
  - 0004-637X
  - 1538-4357
publication_status: published
publisher: American Astronomical Society
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Is there a maximum mass for black holes in galactic nuclei?
type: journal_article
user_id: 317138e5-6ab7-11ef-aa6d-ffef3953e345
volume: 828
year: '2016'
...