The Co-Evolution of Galaxies and Black Holes: Current Status and Future Prospects

Abstract

I begin by summarizing the evidence that there is a close relationship between the evolution of galaxies and supermassive black holes. They evidently share a common fuel source, and feedback from the black hole may be needed to suppress over-cooling in massive galaxies. I then review what we know about the co-evolution of galaxies and black holes in the modern universe (z < 1). We now have a good documentation of which black holes are growing (the lower mass ones), where they are growing (in the less massive early-type galaxies), and how this growth is related in a statistical sense to star formation in the central region of the galaxy. The opportunity in the next decade will be to use the new observatories to undertake ambitious programs of 3-D imaging spectroscopy of the stars and gas in order to understand the actual astrophysical processes that produce the demographics we observe. At high redshift (z > 2) the most massive black holes and the progenitors of the most massive galaxies are forming. Here, we currently have a tantalizing but fragmented view of their co-evolution. In the next decade the huge increase in sensitivity and discovery power of our observatories will enable us to analyze the large, complete samples we need to achieve robust and clear results.