Sanchez et. al 2023
(submitted to ApJ)
The Scatter Matters:
Circumgalactic Metal Content in the Context of the M − σ Relation
The interaction between supermassive black hole (SMBH) feedback and the circumgalactic medium (CGM) continues to be an open question in galaxy evolution. In our study, we use SPH simulations to explore the impact of SMBH feedback on galactic metal retention and the motion of metals and gas into and through the CGM of L∗ galaxies. We examine 140 galaxies from the 25 Mpc cosmological volume, Romulus25, having stellar masses between 3 × 10^9 – 3 × 10^11 M⊙. We measure the metals retained in the disk and CGM by comparing the amount of metals present in each region to the metals formed through stellar evolution. For each galaxy’s central SMBH, we calculate an expected mass based on the M − σ relation to determine how far above or below a SMBH has grown in comparison. We call this quantity, ∆MBH, the deviation from expected SMBH mass and determine how it compares to the overall potential of its host via σ). We find that SMBHs that have accreted mass above the empirical M − σ relation are about 15% more effective at removing metals from their disks than under-massive SMBHs if they are hosted by star forming galaxies. Additionally, quiescent galaxies experience even more metal ejection from their centers than their star-forming counterparts. Overmassive SMBHs suppress the overall star formation of their host galaxies and more effectively move metals out from the disk into the CGM. However, we see little evidence for the evacuation of gas from their halos, in contrast with other simulations. Finally, we predict that C IV column densities in the CGM of L∗ galaxies may depend on host galaxy black hole mass. Our results show that the scatter in the low mass end of M − σ relation may indicate how effective a SMBH is at the local redistribution of mass in its host galaxy.