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The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) has been conducted for nearly 60 years. A Dyson Sphere, a spherical structure that surrounds a star and transports its radiative energy outward as an energy source for an advanced civilisation, is one of the main targets of SETI. In this study, we discuss whether building a Dyson Sphere around a black hole is effective. We consider six energy sources: (i) the cosmic microwave background, (ii) the Hawking radiation, (iii) an accretion disk, (iv) Bondi accretion, (v) a corona, and (vi) relativistic jets. To develop future civilisations (for example, a Type II civilisation), $4\times10^{26}\,{\rm W}$($1\,{\rm L_{\odot}}$) is expected to be needed. Among (iii) to (vi), the largest luminosity can be collected from an accretion disk, reaching $10^{5}\,{\rm L_{\odot}}$, enough to maintain a Type II civilisation. Moreover, if a Dyson Sphere collects not only the electromagnetic radiation but also other types of energy (e.g., kinetic energy) from the jets, the total collected energy would be approximately 5 times larger. Considering the emission from a Dyson Sphere, our results show that the Dyson Sphere around a stellar-mass black hole in the Milky Way ($10\,\rm kpc$ away from us) is detectable in the ultraviolet$(\rm 10-400\,{\rm nm)}$, optical$(\rm 400-760\,{\rm nm)}$, near-infrared($\rm 760\,{\rm nm}-5\,{\rm \mu m}$), and mid-infrared($\rm 5-40\,{\rm \mu m}$) wavelengths via the waste heat radiation using current telescopes such as Galaxy Evolution Explorer Ultraviolet Sky Surveys. Performing model fitting to observed spectral energy distributions and measuring the variability of radial velocity may help us to identify these possible artificial structures., Comment: This paper has been accepted for publication in MNRAS

We study effects of heating by dark matter (DM) annihilation on black hole gas accretion. We observe that, for reasonable assumptions about DM densities in spikes around supermassive black holes, as well as DM masses and annihilation cross-sections within the standard WIMP model, heating by DM annihilation may have an appreciable effect on the accretion onto Sgr A$^*$ in the Galactic center. Motivated by this observation we study the effects of such heating on Bondi accretion, i.e. spherically symmetric, steady-state Newtonian accretion onto a black hole. We consider different adiabatic indices for the gas, and different power-law exponents for the DM density profile. We find that typical transonic solutions with heating have a significantly reduced accretion rate. However, for many plausible parameters, transonic solutions do not exist, suggesting a breakdown of the underlying assumptions of steady-state Bondi accretion. Our findings indicate that heating by DM annihilation may play an important role in the accretion onto supermassive black holes at the center of galaxies, and may help explain the low accretion rate observed for Sgr A$^*$., Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, version accepted for publication in MNRAS

We study the properties of rotating accretion flows onto supermassive black holes (SMBHs) using axisymmetric two-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations with radiative cooling and BH feedback. The simulations resolve the accretion dynamics of gas outside from the BH influence radius through an inner accretion disk. For lower Bondi accretion rates in units of the Eddington rate ($\dot{M}_{\rm B}\ll 10^{-3}~\dot{M}_{\rm Edd}$), the BH feeding is suppressed due to turbulent motion by several orders of magnitudes from the Bondi rate. Thus, the radiative luminosity results in as low as $\sim 10^{-10}-10^{-7}~L_{\rm Edd}$, where $L_{\rm Edd}$ is the Eddington luminosity. For higher rates of $\dot{M}_{\rm B}> 10^{-3}~\dot{M}_{\rm Edd}$, the optically-thin accreting gas cools via free-free emission and forms a geometrically-thin disk, which feeds the BH efficiently and increases the radiative luminosity to $> 10^{-3}~L_{\rm Edd}$. The transitional behavior of accreting BHs in galactic nuclei from radiatively inefficient phases to cold disk accretion naturally explains (1) the reason for the offset between the observed luminosities and theoretical predictions for nearby quiescent SMBHs, and (2) the conditions to fuel gas into the nuclear SMBH. In addition, the cold disk formed in galactic nuclei tends to be gravitationally unstable and leads to star formation when the Bondi rate is as high as $ \dot{M}_{\rm B} > 10^{-2}~M_\odot~{\rm yr}^{-1}$. This is a plausible explanation of the correlation observed between star formation rates and BH feeding rates in Seyfert galaxies., 16 pages, 13 figures, published in MNRAS

We study an idealized one-dimensional model for the evolution of hot gas in darkmatter haloes for redshifts z = 0, 6]. We introduce a numerical set-up incorporating cosmological accretion of gas, along with the growth of the halo, based on the Van den Bosch model for the average growth of haloes as a function of cosmic time. We evolve one-dimensional Lagrangian shells with radiative cooling of the gas and heating due to feedback from the gas cooling and moving in towards the centre. A simple Bondi accretion model on to a central black hole is used to include feedback heating. The set-up captures some of the key characteristics of spherically symmetric accretion on to the haloes: formation of virial shocks slightly outside r(200) and long-term thermal balance in the form of cooling and heating cycles. The gas density outside our initial haloes at z = 6 is constrained by requiring that the baryon fraction within the virial radius for non-radiative evolution be equal to the universal value at almost all times. The total mass in the cold phase (taken to be similar to 10(4) K) within 40 kpc is tracked as a function of the halo mass and redshift. We compare the evolution of the cold gas mass to the observed stellar mass versus halo mass relations, following which, we can constrain the feedback energy required for different halo masses and redshifts. We also compare and match the hot gas density and temperature profiles for our most massive halo to those of clusters observed upto redshift 2. Our model is thus an improvement over the semi-analytic models in which isothermal condition and rho proportional to r(-2) are assumed.

Mass accretion rate is a key parameter in accretion disk theory. It determines black hole accretion mode. In large scale cosmological simulations studying galaxy formation and evolution, Bondi radius can at most be marginally resolved. In those simulations, Bondi accretion formula is always used to estimate black hole accretion rate. Bondi solution is too simple, which cannot represent the real accretion process. We perform simulations of hot accretion flow at parsec scale irradiated by a low luminosity active galactic nucleus (AGN). We perform 77 simulations with varying density and temperature at outer boundary (10 parsec). Our purpose is to find a formula to calculate real black hole accretion rate based on the gas density and temperature at parsec scale. We define Eddington accretion rate to be $\dot M_{\rm Edd}=10L_{\rm Edd}/c^2$, with $L_{\rm Edd}$ and $c$ been Eddington luminosity and speed of light respectively. We set black hole mass to be $10^8M_{\odot}$, $M_{\odot}$ is solar mass. We find that black hole accretion rate can be expressed as $\frac{\dot M_{\rm BH} }{\dot M_{\rm Edd}}=10^{-3.11} (\rho_0/10^{-22}{\rm g cm}^{-3})^{1.36} (T_0/10^7 {\rm K})^{-1.9}$, with $\rho_0$ and $T_0$ being density and temperature at parsec scale, respectively. We find the formula can accurately predict the luminosity of observed low-luminosity AGNs (with black hole mass $\sim 10^8M_{\odot}$). This formula can be used in the sub-grid models in large scale cosmological simulations with a black hole mass of $\sim 10^8M_{\odot}$., Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, accepted by MNRAS

We develop an analytic, steady-state model for the gas environment in quiescent galactic nuclei. We assume that the mass is constantly supplied by a spherically symmetric distribution of wind emitting stars, and that gravity is solely due to a central supermassive black hole. We show that at some finite radius, where the Keplerian velocity is comparable to the wind velocity, the bulk velocity vanishes. Matter generated below that radius will be accreted onto the black hole, while matter outside it will escape the system. Under certain conditions, the flow may become supersonic at both domains. We obtain radial profiles of the hydrodynamic variables and verify them using a time-dependent hydrodynamic simulation. We delineate the conditions under which radiative cooling can be neglected, and predict the luminosity and spectrum of the free-free X-ray emission from such a system. We discuss applications of our solution to our own Galactic Centre and other quiescent galactic nuclei.

We present three-dimensional calculations of spherically symmetric Bondi accretion onto a stationary supermassive black hole (SMBH) of mass $10^{8}$ $M_{\odot}$ within a radial range of $0.02-10$ pc, using a modified version of the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) \gad \sp code, which ensures approximate first-order consistency (i.e., second-order accuracy) for the particle approximation. First-order consistency is restored by allowing the number of neighbours, $n_{\rm neigh}$, and the smoothing length, $h$, to vary with the total number of particles, $N$, such that the asymptotic limits $n_{\rm neigh}\to\infty$ and $h\to 0$ hold as $N\to\infty$. The ability of the method to reproduce the isothermal ($\gamma =1$) and adiabatic ($\gamma =5/3$) Bondi accretion is investigated with increased spatial resolution. In particular, for the isothermal models the numerical radial profiles closely match the Bondi solution, except near the accretor, where the density and radial velocity are slightly underestimated. However, as $n_{\rm neigh}$ is increased and $h$ is decreased, the calculations approach first-order consistency and the deviations from the Bondi solution decrease. The density and radial velocity profiles for the adiabatic models are qualitatively similar to those for the isothermal Bondi accretion. Steady-state Bondi accretion is reproduced by the highly resolved consistent models with a percent relative error of $\lesssim 1$\% for $\gamma =1$ and $\sim 9$\% for $\gamma =5/3$, with the adiabatic accretion taking longer than the isothermal case to reach steady flow. The performance of the method is assessed by comparing the results with those obtained using the standard Gadget and the Gizmo codes., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS, 31 pages, 15 figures

We present a new 300 ks Chandra observation of M87 that limits pileup to only a few per cent of photon events and maps the hot gas properties closer to the nucleus than has previously been possible. Within the supermassive black hole's gravitational sphere of influence, the hot gas is multiphase and spans temperatures from 0.2 to 1 keV. The radiative cooling time of the lowest temperature gas drops to only 0.1-0.5 Myr, which is comparable to its free fall time. Whilst the temperature structure is remarkably symmetric about the nucleus, the density gradient is steep in sectors to the N and S, with $\rho{\propto}r^{-1.5\pm0.1}$, and significantly shallower along the jet axis to the E, where $\rho{\propto}r^{-0.93\pm0.07}$. The density structure within the Bondi radius is therefore consistent with steady inflows perpendicular to the jet axis and an outflow directed E along the jet axis. By putting limits on the radial flow speed, we rule out Bondi accretion on the scale resolved at the Bondi radius. We show that deprojected spectra extracted within the Bondi radius can be equivalently fit with only a single cooling flow model, where gas cools from 1.5 keV down below 0.1 keV at a rate of 0.03 M$_{\odot}$/yr. For the alternative multi-temperature spectral fits, the emission measures for each temperature component are also consistent with a cooling flow model. The lowest temperature and most rapidly cooling gas in M87 is therefore located at the smallest radii at ~100 pc and may form a mini cooling flow. If this cooling gas has some angular momentum, it will feed into the cold gas disk around the nucleus, which has a radius of ~80 pc and therefore lies just inside the observed transition in the hot gas structure., Comment: 18 pages, 11 figures, 3 tables, accepted to MNRAS

Several arguments suggest that stochastic condensation of cold gas and its accretion onto the central supermassive black hole (SMBH) is essential for active galactic nuclei (AGN) feedback to work in the most massive galaxies that lie at the centres of galaxy clusters. Our 3-D hydrodynamic AGN jet-ICM (intracluster medium) simulations, looking at the detailed angular momentum distribution of cold gas and its time variability for the first time, show that the angular momentum of the cold gas crossing $\lesssim 1$ kpc is essentially isotropic. With almost equal mass in clockwise and counter-clockwise orientations, we expect a cancellation of angular momentum on roughly the dynamical time. This means that a compact accretion flow with a short viscous time ought to form, through which enough accretion power can be channeled into jet mechanical energy sufficiently quickly to prevent a cooling flow. The inherent stochasticity, expected in feedback cycles driven by cold gas condensation, gives rise to a large variation in the cold gas mass at the centres of galaxy clusters, for similar cluster and SMBH masses, in agreement with the observations. Such correlations are expected to be much tighter for the smoother hot/Bondi accretion. The weak correlation between cavity power and Bondi power obtained from our simulations also match observations., Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, 1 table; accepted in MNRAS

Accretion onto central massive black holes in galaxies is often modelled with the Bondi solution. In this paper we study a generalization of the classical Bondi accretion theory, considering the additional effects of the gravitational potential of the host galaxy, and of electron scattering in the optically thin limit. We provide a general analysis of the bias in the estimates of the Bondi radius and mass accretion rate, when adopting as fiducial values for the density and temperature at infinity the values of these quantities measured at finite distance from the central black hole. We also give general formulae to compute the correction terms of the critical accretion parameter in relevant asymptotic regimes. A full analytical discussion is presented in the case of an Hernquist galaxy, when the problem reduces to the discussion of a cubic equation, therefore allowing for more than one critical point in the accretion structure. The results are useful for observational works (especially in the case of low-luminosity systems), as well as for numerical simulations, where accretion rates are usually defined in terms of the gas properties near the, Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, submitted to MNRAS. Comments welcome

We analyse the environment of the supermassive black hole (SMBH) in the centre of a massive elliptical galaxy NGC 1275 in the Perseus cluster, hosting the radio source 3C 84. We focus on the young radio lobe observed inside the estimated Bondi accretion radius. We discuss the momentum balance between the jet associated with the lobe and the surrounding gas. The results are compared with the proper motion of the radio lobe obtained with the very long baseline interferometry. We find that under assumption of a high-density environment >~ 100 cm^-3), the jet power must be comparable to the Eddington luminosity --- this is clearly inconsistent with the current moderate activity of 3C 84, which indicates instead that the jet is expanding in a very low density region (, Comment: Replaced with published version

We examine unresolved nuclear X-ray sources in 57 brightest cluster galaxies to study the relationship between nuclear X-ray emission and accretion on to supermassive black holes. The majority of the clusters in our sample have prominent X-ray cavities embedded in the surrounding hot atmospheres, which we use to estimate mean jet power and average accretion rate on to the supermassive black holes over the past several hundred Myr. We find that roughly half of the sample have detectable nuclear X-ray emission. The nuclear X-ray luminosity is correlated with average accretion rate determined using X-ray cavities, which is consistent with the hypothesis that nuclear X-ray emission traces ongoing accretion. The results imply that jets in systems that have experienced recent active galactic nucleus (AGN) outbursts, in the last ∼107 yr, are ‘on’ at least half of the time. Nuclear X-ray sources become more luminous with respect to the mechanical jet power as the mean accretion rate rises. We show that nuclear radiation exceeds the jet power when the mean accretion rate rises above a few per cent of the Eddington rate, or a power output of ∼1045ergs−1, where the AGN apparently transitions to a quasar. The nuclear X-ray emission from three objects (A2052, Hydra A, M84) varies by factors of 2–10 on time-scales of 6 months to 10 years. If variability at this level is a common phenomenon, it can account for much of the scatter in the relationship between mean accretion rate and nuclear X-ray luminosity. We find no significant change in the spectral energy distribution as a function of luminosity in the variable objects. The nuclear X-ray luminosity is consistent with emission from either a jet, an advection-dominated accretion flow, or a combination of the two, although other origins are possible. We also consider the longstanding problem of whether jets are powered by the accretion of cold circumnuclear gas or nearly spherical inflows of hot keV gas. For a subset of 13 nearby systems in our sample, we re-examine the relationship between the jet power and the Bondi accretion rate. The results indicate weaker evidence for a trend between Bondi accretion and jet power, due to uncertainties in the cavity volumes and gas densities at the Bondi radius. We suggest that cold gas fuelling could be a likely source of accretion power in these objects; however, we cannot rule out Bondi accretion, which could play a significant role in low-power jets.

We argue that one of the basic assumptions of the Bondi accretion process, that the accreting object has zero pressure, might not hold in many galaxies because of the pressure exerted by stellar winds of star orbiting the central super massive black hole (SMBH). Hence, the Bondi accretion cannot be used in these cases, such as in the galaxy NGC 3115. The winds of these high-velocity stars are shocked to temperatures above the virial temperature of the galaxy, leading to the formation of a hot bubble of size ~0.1-10 pc near the center. This hot bubble can substantially reduce the mass accretion rate by the SMBH. If the density of the hot bubble is lower than that of the interstellar medium (ISM), a density-inversion layer is formed. As the gas loses energy by X-ray radiation, eventually more mass of the cooling shocked stellar winds will be accreted to the SMBH. This accretion will be of cold clumps. After a period of millions of years of low AGN activity, therefore, a stronger AGN activity will occur that will heat and expel gas, much as in cooling flow clusters. Adding to other problems of the Bondi process, our results render the Bondi accretion irrelevant for AGN feedback in cooling flow in galaxies and small groups of galaxies and during galaxy formation., Comment: Published in MNRAS

A numerical scheme is described for including radiation in multi-dimensional general-relativistic conservative fluid dynamics codes. In this method, a covariant form of the M1 closure scheme is used to close the radiation moments, and the radiative source terms are treated semi-implicitly in order to handle both optically thin and optically thick regimes. The scheme has been implemented in a conservative general relativistic radiation hydrodynamics code KORAL. The robustness of the code is demonstrated on a number of test problems, including radiative relativistic shock tubes, static radiation pressure supported atmosphere, shadows, beams of light in curved spacetime, and radiative Bondi accretion. The advantages of M1 closure relative to other approaches such as Eddington closure and flux-limited diffusion are discussed, and its limitations are also highlighted., 19 pages, 15 figures, as published in MNRAS

We identify a physical mechanism that would have resulted in rapid, obscured growth of seed super-massive black-holes in galaxies at z>6. Specifically, we find that the density at the centre of typical high redshift galaxies was at a level where the Bondi accretion rate implies a diffusion speed of photons that was slower than the gravitational infall velocity, resulting in photons being trapped within the accretion flow and advected into the black-hole. We show that there is a range of black-hole masses (M_bh ~ 10^3-10^5 solar masses) where the accretion flow traps radiation, corresponding to black-holes that were massive enough to generate a photon trapping accretion flow, but small enough that their Bondi radii did not exceed the isothermal scale height of self-gravitating gas. Under these conditions we find that the accretion reaches levels far in excess of the Eddington rate. A prediction of this scenario is that X-ray number counts of active galactic nuclei at z>6 would exhibit a cutoff at the low luminosities corresponding to black-hole masses below ~10^5 solar masses. At low redshifts we find photon trapping to be unimportant because it could only occur in rare low spin halos, and would require black-hole masses in excess of expectations from the observed black-hole - halo mass relation. The super-Eddington growth of ~10^5 solar mass seed black-holes at high redshift may have provided a natural acceleration towards the growth of super-massive black-holes at z~6-7, less than a billion years after the Big Bang.

We develop a new sub-grid model for the growth of supermassive Black Holes (BHs) and their associated Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) feedback in hydrodynamical cosmological simulations. Assuming that BHs are created in the early stages of galaxy formation, they grow by mergers and accretion of gas at a Eddington-limited Bondi accretion rate. However this growth is regulated by AGN feedback which we model using two different modes: a quasar-heating mode when accretion rates onto the BHs are comparable to the Eddington rate, and a radio-jet mode at lower accretion rates. In other words, our feedback model deposits energy as a succession of thermal bursts and jet outflows depending on the properties of the gas surrounding the BHs. We assess the plausibility of such a model by comparing our results to observational measurements of the coevolution of BHs and their host galaxy properties, and check their robustness with respect to numerical resolution. We show that AGN feedback must be a crucial physical ingredient for the formation of massive galaxies as it appears to be the only physical mechanism able to efficiently prevent the accumulation of and/or expel cold gas out of halos/galaxies and significantly suppress star formation. Our model predicts that the relationship between BHs and their host galaxy mass evolves as a function of redshift, because of the vigorous accretion of cold material in the early Universe that drives Eddington-limited accretion onto BHs. Quasar activity is also enhanced at high redshift. However, as structures grow in mass and lose their cold material through star formation and efficient BH feedback ejection, the AGN activity in the low-redshift Universe becomes more and more dominated by the radio mode, which powers jets through the hot circum-galactic medium.

We test how accurately the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) numerical technique can follow spherically-symmetric Bondi accretion. Using the 3D SPH code GADGET-3, we perform simulations of gas accretion onto a central supermassive black hole (SMBH) of mass 10 8 Mwithin the radial range of 0:1 200 pc. We carry out simulations without and with radiative heating by a central X-ray corona and ra- diative cooling. For an adiabatic case, the radial profiles of hydrodynamical properties match the Bondi solution, except near the inner and outer radius of the computational domain. The deviation from the Bondi solution close to the inner radius is caused by the combination of numerical resolution, artificial viscosity, and our inner boundary condition. Near the outer radius (6 200 pc), we observe either an outflow or devel- opment of a non-spherical inflow depending on the details of the implementation of outer boundary conditions. This dependence is caused by a difficultyof implementing, in an SPH code, the Bondi assumption of an infinite and spherical reservoir of gas at infinity. We find that adiabatic Bondi accretion can be reproduced for durations of a few dynamical times at the Bondi radius, and for longer times if the outer radius is increased. In particular, the mass inflow rate at the inner boundary, which we mea- sure, is within 3 4% of the Bondi accretion rate. With radiative heating and cooling included, the spherically accreting gas takes a longer time to reach a steady-state than the adiabatic Bondi accretion runs, and in some cases does not reach a steady-state even within several hundred dynamical times. We find that artificial viscosity in the GADGET code causes excessive heating near the inner radius, making the thermal properties of the gas inconsistent with a physical solution. This overheating occurs typically only in the supersonic part of the flow, so that it does not affect the mass accretion rate. We see that increasing the X-ray luminosity produces a lower central mass inflow rate, implying that feedback due to radiative heating is operational in our simulations. With a sufficiently high X-ray luminosity, the inflowing gas is r heated up, and an outflow develops. We conclude that the SPH simulations can cap- ture the gas dynamics needed to study radiative feedback provided artificial viscosity alters only highly supersonic part of the inflow.

A supermassive black hole in the nucleus of an elliptical galaxy at the centre of a cool-core group or cluster of galaxies is immersed in hot gas. Bondi accretion should occur at a rate determined by the properties of the gas at the Bondi radius and the mass of the black hole. X-ray observations of massive nearby elliptical galaxies, including M87 in the Virgo cluster, indicate a Bondi accretion rate Mdot which roughly matches the total kinetic power of the jets, suggesting that there is a tight coupling between the jet power and the mass accretion rate. While the Bondi model considers non-rotating gas, it is likely that the external gas has some angular momentum, which previous studies have shown could decrease the accretion rate drastically. We investigate here the possibility that viscosity acts at all radii to transport angular momentum outward so that the accretion inflow proceeds rapidly and steadily. The situation corresponds to a giant Advection Dominated Accretion Flow (ADAF) which extends from beyond the Bondi radius down to the black hole. We find solutions of the ADAF equations in which the gas accretes at just a factor of a few less than Mdot. These solutions assume that the atmosphere beyond the Bondi radius rotates with a sub-Keplerian velocity and that the viscosity parameter is large, alpha~0.1. The infall time of the ADAF solutions is no more than a few times the free-fall time. Thus the accretion rate at the black hole is closely coupled to the surrounding gas, enabling tight feedback to occur. We show that jet powers of a few per cent of Mdot c^2 are expected if either a fraction of the accretion power is channeled into the jet or the black hole spin energy is tapped by a strong magnetic field pressed against the black hole by the pressure of the accretion flow.(Truncated)

We show that cold clumps in the intra--cluster medium (ICM) efficiently lose their angular momentum as they fall in, such that they can rapidly feed the central AGN and maintain a heating feedback process. Such cold clumps are predicted by the cold feedback model, a model for maintaining the ICM in cooling flows hot by a feedback process. The clumps very effectively lose their angular momentum in two channels: the drag force exerted by the ICM and the random collisions between clumps when they are close to the central black hole. We conclude that the angular momentum cannot prevent the accretion of the cold clumps, and the cold feedback mechanism is a viable model for a feedback mechanism in cooling flows. Cold feedback does not suffer from the severe problems of models that are based on the Bondi accretion.

We report the most accurate X-ray position of the X-ray source in the giant globular cluster G1 in M31 by using the Chandra X-ray Observatory, Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope (CFHT). G1 is clearly detected with Chandra and by cross-registering with HST and CFHT images, we derive a 1σ error radius of 0.15 arcsec, significantly smaller than the previous measurement by XMM–Newton. We conclude that the X-ray emission of G1 is likely to come from within the core radius of the cluster. We have considered a number of possibilities for the origin of the X-ray emission but can rule all but two scenarios out: it could be due to either accretion on to a central intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) or an ordinary low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB). Based on the X-ray luminosity and the Bondi accretion rate, an IMBH accreting from the cluster gas seems unlikely and we suggest that the X-rays are due to accretion from a companion. Alternatively, the probability that a 1.5 M⊙ cluster LMXB lies within the 95 per cent X-ray error circle is about 0.7. Therefore we cannot rule out a single LMXB as the origin of the X-ray emission. While we cannot distinguish between different models with current observations, future high-resolution and high-sensitivity radio imaging observations will reveal whether there is an IMBH at the centre of G1.

We present a Chandra observation of the only low redshift, z=0.299, galaxy cluster to contain a highly luminous radio-quiet quasar, H1821+643. By simulating the quasar PSF, we subtract the quasar contribution from the cluster core and determine the physical properties of the cluster gas down to 3 arcsec (15 kpc) from the point source. The temperature of the cluster gas decreases from 9.0\pm0.5 keV down to 1.3\pm0.2 keV in the centre, with a short central radiative cooling time of 1.0\pm0.1 Gyr, typical of a strong cool-core cluster. The X-ray morphology in the central 100 kpc shows extended spurs of emission from the core, a small radio cavity and a weak shock or cold front forming a semi-circular edge at 15 arcsec radius. The quasar bolometric luminosity was estimated to be 2 x 10^{47} erg per sec, requiring a mass accretion rate of 40 Msolar per yr, which corresponds to half the Eddington accretion rate. We explore possible accretion mechanisms for this object and determine that Bondi accretion, when boosted by Compton cooling of the accretion material, could provide a significant source of the fuel for this outburst. We consider H1821+643 in the context of a unified AGN accretion model and, by comparing H1821+643 with a sample of galaxy clusters, we show that the quasar has not significantly affected the large-scale cluster gas properties., Comment: 20 pages, 19 figures, accepted by MNRAS

The power of jets from black holes are expected to depend on both the spin of the black hole and the structure of the accretion disk in the region of the last stable orbit. We investigate these dependencies using two different physical models for the jet power: the classical Blandford-Znajek (BZ) model and a hybrid model developed by Meier. In the BZ case, the jets are powered by magnetic fields directly threading the spinning black hole while in the hybrid model, the jet energy is extracted from both the accretion disk as well as the black hole via magnetic fields anchored to the accretion flow inside and outside the hole's ergosphere. The hybrid model takes advantage of the strengths of both the Blandford-Payne and BZ mechanisms, while avoiding the more controversial features of the latter. We develop these models more fully to account for general relativistic effects and to focus on advection-dominated accretion flows (ADAF) for which the jet power is expected to be a significant fraction of the accreted rest mass energy. We apply the models to elliptical galaxies, in order to see if these models can explain the observed correlation between the Bondi accretion rates and the total jet powers. For typical values of the disk viscosity parameter alpha~0.04-0.3 and mass accretion rates consistent with ADAF model expectations, we find that the observed correlation requires j>0.9; i.e., it implies that the black holes are rapidly spinning. Our results suggest that the central black holes in the cores of clusters of galaxies must be rapidly rotating in order to drive jets powerful enough to heat the intracluster medium and quench cooling flows., 12 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We present upper-limits on the masses of the putative central intermediate-mass black holes in two nearby Galactic globular clusters: 47Tuc (NGC104), the second brightest Galactic globular cluster, and NGC6397, a core-collapse globular cluster and, with a distance of 2.7 kpc, quite possibly the nearest globular cluster, using a technique suggested by T. Maccarone. These mass estimates have been derived from 3sigma upper limits on the radio continuum flux at 1.4 GHz, assuming that the putative central black hole accretes the surrounding matter at a rate between 0.1% and 1% of the Bondi accretion rate. For 47Tuc, we find a 3sigma upper limit of 2060 - 670 solar masses, depending on the actual accretion rate of the black hole and the distance to 47Tuc. For NGC6397, which is closer to us, we derive a 3sigma upper limit of 1290 - 390 solar masses. While estimating mass upper-limits based on radio continuum observations requires making assumptions about the gas density and the accretion rate of the black hole, their derivation does not require complex and time consuming dynamical modeling. Thus, this method offers an independent way of estimating black hole masses in nearby globular clusters. If, generally, central black holes in stellar systems accrete matter faster than 0.1% of the Bondi accretion rate, then these results indicate the absence of black holes in these globular clusters with masses as predicted by the extrapolated M-sigma relation.

The luminosities of the centers of nearby elliptical galaxies are very low compared to models of thin disc accretion to their black holes at the Bondi rate, typically a few hundredths to a few tenths of a solar mass per year. This has motivated models of inefficiently-radiated accretion that invoke weak electron-ion thermal coupling, and/or inhibited accretion rates due to convection or outflows. Here we point out that even if such processes are operating, a significant fraction of the accreting gas is prevented from reaching the central black hole because it condenses into stars in a gravitationally unstable disc. Star formation occurs inside the Bondi radius (typically ~100pc in giant ellipticals), but still relatively far from the black hole in terms of Schwarzschild radii. Star formation depletes and heats the gas disc, eventually leading to a marginally stable, but much reduced, accretion flow to the black hole. We predict the presence of cold (~100K), dusty gas discs, containing clustered H-alpha emission and occasional type II supernovae, both resulting from the presence of massive stars. Star formation accounts for several features of the M87 system: a thin disc, traced by H-alpha emission, is observed on scales of about 100pc, with features reminiscent of spiral arms and dust lanes; the star formation rate inferred from the intensity of H-alpha emission is consistent with the Bondi accretion rate of the system. Star formation may therefore help suppress accretion onto the central engines of massive ellipticals. We also discuss some implications for the fueling of the Galactic center and quasars., Comment: 13 pages, accepted to MNRAS

Gas supplied conservatively to a black hole at rates well below the Eddington rate may not be able to radiate effectively and the net energy flux, including the energy transported by the viscous torque, is likely to be close to zero at all radii. This has the consequence that the gas accretes with positive energy so that it may escape. Accordingly, we propose that only a small fraction of the gas supplied actually falls onto the black hole and that the binding energy it releases is transported radially outward by the torque so as to drive away the remainder in the form of a wind. This is a generalization of and an alternative to an "ADAF" solution. Some observational implications and possible ways to distinguish these two types of flow are briefly discussed., 5 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Letters

We examine the spatial stability of spherical adiabatic Bondi accretion on to a point gravitating mass against external perturbations. Both transonic critical and subsonic subcritical accretion are shown to be stable against purely radial acoustic, vortex or entropy perturbations. In the case of non-radial perturbations the amplitude of the perturbations grows without limit with smaller radii. Instability manifests itself only if the size of the accreting body is much less than the Bondi radius so that the inflow is highly supersonic or highly subsonic at the surface of the accretor in the case of critical or subcritical accretion respectively. These asymptotics hold and consequently the instability may develop for adiabatic index of accreting gas γ

It is believed that most giant elliptical galaxies possess nuclear black holes with masses in excess of $10^8\Msun$. Bondi accretion from the interstellar medium might then be expected to produce quasar-like luminosities from the nuclei of even quiescent elliptical galaxies. It is a puzzle that such luminosities are not observed. Motivated by this problem, Fabian & Rees have recently suggested that the final stages of accretion in these objects occurs in an advection-dominated mode with a correspondingly small radiative efficiency. Despite possessing a long-known active nucleus and dynamical evidence for a black hole, the low radiative and kinetic luminosities of the core of M87 provide the best illustration of this problem. We examine an advection-dominated model for the nucleus of M87 and show that accretion at the Bondi rate is compatible with the best known estimates for the core flux from radio through to X-ray wavelengths. The success of this model prompts us to propose that FR-I radio galaxies and quiescent elliptical galaxies accrete in an advection dominated mode whereas FR-II type radio-loud nuclei possess radiatively efficient thin accretion disks., 6 pages, 2 postscript figues included. Accepted for publication in MNRAS (pink pages)

We present deep GMOS-S/Gemini optical broad-band images for a complete sample of 46 southern 2Jy radio galaxies at intermediate redshifts (0.05