Meso-Scale Turbulence Emerges as Hidden Regulator of Black Hole Feeding in Galaxy Groups
Preprint simulations reveal meso-scale turbulence shapes CCA kinematics and variability without altering net SMBH feeding rates, with direct consequences for cosmological model sub-grid physics.
The arXiv preprint (v1, May 2026) from Barbani, Gaspari and collaborators uses GPU-accelerated 3D hydrodynamical runs of a stratified galaxy-group halo to show that chaotic cold accretion (CCA) remains super-Bondi across two subsonic turbulence regimes, yet the meso-scale (0.1–1 kpc) imprints distinct kinematic and variability signatures. Strong stirring sustains fragmented, multiphase filaments that boost inflow coherence, while weaker turbulence produces smoother cascades; both nevertheless deliver statistically indistinguishable central accretion rates. This decouples macro-scale weather from micro-scale feeding, a result that existing cosmological simulations—which rarely resolve below ~kpc—systematically miss. The power spectra of accretion rate follow broken power laws (pink noise flattening to red-noise tails), matching parsec-scale collisional damping observed in X-ray binaries and AGN light curves. Complementary diagnostics—the C-ratio near unity flagging soft X-ray condensation sites and k-plots revealing broader, overlapping velocity fields in stormy runs—highlight how meso-scale kinematics bridge halo rain to SMBH growth. Prior CCA studies (Gaspari et al. 2013, MNRAS; 2017, MNRAS) established the condensation mechanism but lacked the dynamic-range resolution needed to quantify this scale-dependent kinematic imprint. The present work therefore supplies the missing link for sub-grid prescriptions in large-volume simulations, implying that black-hole maintenance-mode feedback efficiency may be more universal than halo weather suggests. Limitations include idealised driven turbulence (no self-consistent cosmic rays or magnetic fields) and the absence of full radiative transfer; results remain simulation-based until confronted with XRISM or Athena X-IFU kinematics.
HELIX: Meso-scale kinematics will become the decisive observable for testing whether CCA prescriptions in cosmological runs correctly capture black-hole feeding independence from large-scale weather.
Sources (3)
- [1]Primary Source(https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.27504)
- [2]Related Source(https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2013MNRAS.432.1266G)
- [3]Related Source(https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2017MNRAS.467.3024G)