No Arabic abstract
[Abridged] We investigate the nature of the relations between black hole (BH) mass ($M_{rm BH}$) and the central velocity dispersion ($sigma$) and, for core-Sersic galaxies, the size of the depleted core ($R_{rm b}$). Our sample of 144 galaxies with dynamically determined $M_{rm BH}$ encompasses 24 core-Sersic galaxies, thought to be products of gas-poor mergers, and reliably identified based on high-resolution HST imaging. For core-Sersic galaxies -- i.e., combining normal-core ($R_{rm b} < 0.5 $ kpc) and large-core galaxies ($R_{rm b} gtrsim 0.5$ kpc), we find that $M_{rm BH}$ correlates remarkably well with $R_{rm b}$ such that $M_{rm BH} propto R_{rm b}^{1.20 pm 0.14}$ (rms scatter in log $M_{rm BH}$ of $Delta_{rm rms} sim 0.29$ dex), confirming previous works on the same galaxies except three new ones. Separating the sample into Sersic, normal-core and large-core galaxies, we find that Sersic and normal-core galaxies jointly define a single log-linear $M_{rm BH}-sigma$ relation $M_{rm BH} propto sigma^{ 4.88 pm 0.29}$ with $Delta_{rm rms} sim 0.47$ dex, however, at the high-mass end large-core galaxies (four with measured $M_{rm BH}$) are offset upward from this relation by ($2.5-4) times sigma_{rm s}$, explaining the previously reported steepening of the $M_{rm BH}-sigma$ relation for massive galaxies. Large-core spheroids have magnitudes $M_{V} le -23.50$ mag, half-light radii Re $>$ 10 kpc and are extremely massive $M_{*} ge 10^{12}M_{odot}$. Furthermore, these spheroids tend to host ultramassive BHs ($M_{rm BH} ge 10^{10}M_{odot}$) tightly connected with their $R_{rm b}$ rather than $sigma$. The less popular $M_{rm BH}-R_{rm b}$ relation exhibits $sim$ 62% less scatter in log $M_{rm BH}$ than the $M_{rm BH}- sigma$ relations.
Strong scaling relations between host galaxy properties (such as stellar mass, bulge mass, luminosity, effective radius etc) and their nuclear supermassive black holes mass point towards a close co-evolution. In this work, we first review previous efforts supporting the fundamental importance of the relation between supermassive black hole mass and stellar velocity dispersion ($M_{rm BH}$-$sigma_{rm e}$). We then present further original work supporting this claim via analysis of residuals and principal component analysis applied to some among the latest compilations of local galaxy samples with dynamically measured supermassive black hole masses. We conclude with a review of the main physical scenarios in favour of the existence of a $M_{rm BH}$-$sigma_{rm e}$ relation, with a focus on momentum-driven outflows.
We present high resolution spectroscopy taken with the Keck Echellete Spectrograph and Imager to measure stellar velocity dispersions for eight active dwarf galaxies ($M_{ast}<3times10^{9}~M_{odot}$) with virial black hole masses. We double the number of systems in this stellar mass regime with measurements of both black hole mass ($M_{rm BH}$) and stellar velocity dispersion ($sigma_{ast}$), and place them on the $M_{rm BH}-sigma_{ast}$ relation. The tight relation between $M_{rm BH}$ and $sigma_{ast}$ for higher mass galaxies is a strong piece of evidence for the co-evolution of BHs and their host galaxies, but it has been unclear whether this relation holds in the dwarf galaxy regime. Our sample is in good agreement with the extrapolation of the $M_{rm BH}-sigma_{ast}$ relation to low BH/galaxy masses, suggesting that the processes which produce $M_{rm BH}-sigma_{ast}$ can also operate in dwarf galaxies. These results provide important constraints for massive black hole seed formation models and models exploring the impact of AGN feedback in dwarf galaxies.
We revisit the possibility of redshift evolution in the $M_{rm{BH}}-sigma_*$ relation with a sample of 22 Seyfert 1 galaxies with black holes (BHs) in the mass range $10^{6.3}-10^{8.3}~M_odot$ and redshift range $0.03<z<0.57$ with spectra obtained from spatially resolved Keck/Low-Resolution Imaging Spectrometer observations. Stellar velocity dispersions were measured directly from the Mg Ib region, taking into consideration the effect of Fe II contamination, active galactic nucleus (AGN) dilution, and host-galaxy morphology on our measurements. BH masses are estimated using the H$beta$ line width, and the luminosity at 5100 $overset{lower.5emcirc}{mathrm{A}}$ is estimated from surface brightness decomposition of the AGN from the host galaxy using high-resolution imaging from the Hubble Space Telescope. Additionally, we investigate the use of the [O III]$lambda5007$ emission line width as a surrogate for stellar velocity dispersion, finding better correlation once corrected for Fe II contamination and any possible blueshifted wing components. Our selection criteria allowed us to probe lower-luminosity AGNs and lower-mass BHs in the non-local universe than those measured in previous single-epoch studies. We find that any offset in the $M_{rm{BH}}-sigma_*$ relation up to $zsim0.6$ is consistent with the scatter of local BH masses, and address the sources of biases and uncertainties that contribute to this scatter.
The tight correlations between the mass of supermassive black holes ($M_{rm BH}$) and their host-galaxy properties have been of great interest to the astrophysical community, but a clear understanding of their origin and fundamental drivers still eludes us. The local relations for active galaxies are interesting in their own right and form the foundation for any evolutionary study over cosmic time. We present Hubble Space Telescope optical imaging of a sample of 66 local active galactic nuclei (AGNs); for 14 objects, we also obtained Gemini near-infrared images. We use state of the art methods to perform surface photometry of the AGN host galaxies, decomposing them in spheroid, disk and bar (when present) and inferring the luminosity and stellar mass of the components. We combine this information with spatially-resolved kinematics obtained at the Keck Telescopes to study the correlations between $M_{rm BH}$ (determined from single-epoch virial estimators) and host galaxy properties. The correlations are uniformly tight for our AGN sample, with intrinsic scatter 0.2-0.4 dex, smaller than or equal to that of quiescent galaxies. We find no difference between pseudo and classical bulges or barred and non-barred galaxies. We show that all the tight correlations can be simultaneously satisfied by AGN hosts in the 10$^7$-10$^9$ $M_{odot}$ regime, with data of sufficient quality. The MBH-$sigma$ relation is also in agreement with that of AGNs with $M_{rm BH}$ obtained from reverberation mapping, providing an indirect validation of single-epoch virial estimators of $M_{rm BH}$.
Liu and collaborators recently proposed an elliptical accretion disk model for tidal disruption events (TDEs). They showed that the accretion disks of optical/UV TDEs are large and highly eccentric and suggested that the broad optical emission lines with complex and diverse profiles originate in the cool eccentric accretion disk of random inclination and orientation. In this paper, we calculate the radiation efficiency of the elliptical accretion disk and investigate the implications for the observations of TDEs. We compile observational data for the peak bolometric luminosity and total radiation energy after peak brightness of 18 TDE sources and compare these data to the predictions from the elliptical accretion disk model. Our results show that the observations are consistent with the theoretical predictions and that the majority of the orbital energy of the stellar debris is advected into the black hole (BH) without being converted into radiation. Furthermore, we derive the masses of the disrupted stars and the masses of the BHs of the TDEs. The BH masses obtained in this paper are also consistent with those calculated with the $M_{rm BH} - sigma_*$ relation. Our results provide an effective method for measuring the masses of BHs in large numbers of TDEs to be discovered in ongoing and next-generation sky surveys, regardless of whether the BHs are located at the centers of galactic nuclei or wander in disks and halos.