Open AccessCan supermassive black holes alter cold dark matter cusps through accretion?
Author(s) -
Read J. I.,
Gilmore G.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.058
H-Index - 383
eISSN - 1365-2966
pISSN - 0035-8711
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-8711.2003.06232.x
Subject(s) - physics , supermassive black hole , astrophysics , accretion (finance) , gamma ray burst progenitors , cold dark matter , astronomy , spin flip , intermediate mass black hole , dark matter , galaxy
We present some simple models to determine whether or not the accretion of cold dark matter by supermassive black holes is astrophysically important. Contrary to some claims in the literature, we show that supermassive black holes cannot significantly alter a power‐law density cusp via accretion, whether during mergers or in the steady state.