The evolution of SMBH spin and AGN luminosities for z < 6 within a semi-analytic model of galaxy formation

Griffin, Andrew J. and Lacey, Cedric G. and Gonzalez-Perez, Violeta and Lagos, Claudia del P. and Baugh, Carlton M. and Fanidakis, Nikos (2019) The evolution of SMBH spin and AGN luminosities for z < 6 within a semi-analytic model of galaxy formation. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 487 (1). pp. 198-227. ISSN 0035-8711

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Abstract

Understanding how Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) evolve through cosmic time allows us to probe the physical processes that control their evolution. We use an updated model for the evolution of masses and spins of supermassive black holes (SMBHs), coupled to the latest version of the semi-analytical model of galaxy formation GALFORM using the Planck cosmology and a high resolution Millennium style dark matter simulation to make predictions for AGN and SMBH properties for $0 <z <6$. We compare the model to the observed black hole mass function and the SMBH versus galaxy bulge mass relation at $z=0$, and compare the predicted bolometric, hard X-ray, soft X-ray and optical AGN luminosity functions to observations at $z <6$, and find that the model is in good agreement with the observations. The model predicts that at $z