AGN Flickering and Chaotic Accretion
arXiv:1507.05960 · doi:10.1093/mnrasl/slv098
Abstract
Observational arguments suggest that the growth phases of the supermassive black holes in active galactic nuclei have a characteristic timescale $\sim 10^5$ yr. We show that this is the timescale expected in the chaotic accretion picture of black hole feeding, because of the effect of self-gravity in limiting the mass of any accretion disc feeding event.
3 pages. Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letters