| Black holes are thought to be a common feature of most galaxies today. This being the case, the effects that they can have on their host galaxies, and the possibility that their presence can explain some common observational features of galaxies, make BH-galaxy interaction an interesting and timely (as more and better black hole detections are made) subject for study.; This thesis concentrates on the interaction of the central supermassive black hole with its host galaxy within a framework in which the black hole grows slowly as it accretes matter. Specifically, two aspects of this growth are examined in detail. The recent claim (Richstone et al., 1998) that quasars at high redshifts of z 2 should be identified with black holes that are larger by a factor F ∼ 10 is investigated to see if such growth is plausible if the black hole accretes dark matter. It is found that appropriate timescales can be reached, but depend strongly on the initial conditions assumed. Secondly, the strong correlation between black hole mass and the velocity dispersion in the bulge of the host galaxy (Gebhardt et al . (2000), Ferrarese & Merritt (2000)) is examined in this framework of slow growth of the central black hole. It is found that this type of black hole growth cannot disturb the stellar orbits out to the required radius (the effective, or half-light, radius), and so a closer connection between the black hole and its host galaxy (such as their formation together) is suggested. |
