2018MNRAS.480.1022Y

It is well known that environment affects galaxy evolution, which is broadly related to supermassive black hole (SMBH) growth. We investigate whether SMBH evolution also depends on host-galaxy local (sub-Mpc) and global (≃1-10 Mpc) environment. We construct the surface-density field (local environment) and cosmic web (global environment) in the Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) field at z = 0.3-3.0. The environments in COSMOS range from the field to clusters (M_halo <= 10¹⁴ M_☉), covering the environments where ~¡99 per cent of galaxies in the Universe reside. We measure sample-averaged SMBH accretion rate () from X-ray observations, and study its dependence on overdensity and cosmic-web environment at different redshifts while controlling for galaxy stellar mass (M_*). Our results show that  does not significantly depend on overdensity or cosmic-web environment once M_* is controlled, indicating that environment-related physical mechanisms (e.g. tidal interaction and ram-pressure stripping) might not significantly affect SMBH growth. We find that  is strongly related to host-galaxy M_*, regardless of environment.