Black holes regulate cool gas accretion in massive galaxies

Tao Wang (), Ke Xu, Yuxuan Wu, Yong Shi, David Elbaz, Luis C. Ho, Zhi-Yu Zhang, Qiusheng Gu, Yijun Wang, Chenggang Shu, Feng Yuan, Xiaoyang Xia and Kai Wang
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Tao Wang: Nanjing University
Ke Xu: Nanjing University
Yuxuan Wu: Nanjing University
Yong Shi: Nanjing University
David Elbaz: CEA, CNRS, AIM
Luis C. Ho: Peking University
Zhi-Yu Zhang: Nanjing University
Qiusheng Gu: Nanjing University
Yijun Wang: Nanjing University
Chenggang Shu: Shanghai Normal University
Feng Yuan: Fudan University
Xiaoyang Xia: Tianjin Normal University
Kai Wang: Peking University

Nature, 2024, vol. 632, issue 8027, 1009-1013

Abstract: Abstract The nucleus of almost all massive galaxies contains a supermassive black hole (BH)1. The feedback from the accretion of these BHs is often considered to have crucial roles in establishing the quiescence of massive galaxies2–14, although some recent studies show that even galaxies hosting the most active BHs do not exhibit a reduction in their molecular gas reservoirs or star formation rates15–17. Therefore, the influence of BHs on galaxy star formation remains highly debated and lacks direct evidence. Here, based on a large sample of nearby galaxies with measurements of masses of both BHs and atomic hydrogen (HI), the main component of the interstellar medium18, we show that the HI gas mass to stellar masses ratio (μHI = MHI/M⋆) is more strongly correlated with BH masses (MBH) than with any other galaxy parameters, including stellar mass, stellar mass surface density and bulge masses. Moreover, once the μHI–MBH correlation is considered, μHI loses dependence on other galactic parameters, demonstrating that MBH serves as the primary driver of μHI. These findings provide important evidence for how the accumulated energy from BH accretion regulates the cool gas content in galaxies, by ejecting interstellar medium gas and/or suppressing gas cooling from the circumgalactic medium.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07821-2

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