Abstract:
Shklovsky (1982) has hypothesized escape of accreting supermassive black holes from galactic nuclei as a consequence of asymmetric ejection of plasma clouds from their accretion disks and their subsequent defunction for explaining evolutionary effects in quasars. It has been argued here that such an interpretation must accomodate the possibility of substantial capture of stars and gas by the black hole on its way out - which can prolong the life of the quasar - unless the mass of the black hole is less than ≡107 M_sun; and a large enough initial recoil velocity is achieved.