The ALMA view of the high-redshift relation between supermassive black holes and their host galaxies

This work aims at studying the $M_{BH}-M_{dyn}$ relation of a sample of $2<z<7$ quasars by constraining their host galaxy masses through full kinematical modeling of the cold gas kinematics, thus avoiding all possible biases and effects introduced by the rough virial estimates usually adopted so far. For this purpose we retrieved public observations of $72$ quasar host galaxies observed in ${rm [CII]_{158mu m}}$ or ${rm CO}$ transitions with the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA). We then selected those quasars whose line emission is spatially resolved and performed a kinematic analysis on ALMA observations. We estimated the dynamical mass of the systems by modeling the gas kinematics with a rotating disc taking into account geometrical and instrumental effects. Our dynamical mass estimates, combined with $M_{BH}$ obtained from literature and our own new ${rm CIV}lambda1550$ observations, have allowed us to investigate the $ M_{BH}/M_{dyn}$ in the early Universe. Overall we obtained a sample of $10$ quasars at $zsim2-7$ in which line emission is detected with high S/N ($> 5-10$) and the gas kinematics is spatially resolved and dominated by ordered rotation. The estimated dynamical masses place $6$ out of $10$ quasars above the local relation yielding to a $M_{BH}/M_{dyn}$ ratios $sim10times$ higher than those estimated in low-$z$ galaxies. On the other hand, we found that $4$ quasars at $zsim 4-6$ have dynamical-to-BH mass ratios consistent with what is observed in early-type galaxies in the local Universe.

Beyond the Bulge: a Fundamental Relation Between Supermassive Black Holes and Dark Matter Halos

The possibility that the masses of supermassive black holes (SBHs) correlate with the total gravitational mass of their host galaxy, or the mass of the dark matter halo in which they presumably formed, is investigated using a sample of 16 spiral and 20 elliptical galaxies. The bulge velocity dispersion, typically defined within an aperture of size less than 0.5 kpc, is found to correlate tightly with the galaxys circular velocity, the latter measured at distances from the galactic center at which the rotation curve is flat, 20 to 80kpc. By using the well known M-sigma relation for SBHs, and a prescription to relate the circular velocity to the mass of the dark matter halo in a standard CDM cosmology, the correlation between velocity dispersion and circular velocity is equivalent to one between SBH and halo masses. Such a correlation is found to be nonlinear, with the ratio between the two masses decreasing from 2X10^-4 for halos of 10^14 solar masses, to 10^-5 for halos of 10^12 solar masses. Preliminary evidence suggests that halos smaller than ~5X10^11 solar masses are increasingly less efficient -- perhaps unable -- at forming SBHs.

Correlations between Supermassive Black Holes and their Hosts in Active Galaxies

In the last decades several correlations between the mass of the central supermassive black hole (BH) and properties of the host galaxy - such as bulge luminosity and mass, central stellar velocity dispersion, Sersic index, spiral pitch angle etc. - have been found and point at a coevolution scenario of BH and host galaxy. In this article, I review some of these relations for inactive galaxies and discuss the findings for galaxies that host an active galactic nucleus/quasar. I present the results of our group that finds that active galaxies at $zlesssim 0.1$ do not follow the BH mass - bulge luminosity relation. Furthermore, I show near-infrared integral-field spectroscopic data that suggest that young stellar populations cause the bulge overluminosity and indicate that the host galaxy growth started first. Finally, I discuss implications for the BH-host coevolution.

An Observed Fundamental Plane Relation for Supermassive Black Holes

We study observed correlations between supermassive black hole (BHs) and the properties of their host galaxies, and show that the observations define a BH fundamental plane (BHFP), of the form M_BH sigma^(3.0+-0.3)*R_e^(0.43+-0.19), or M_BH M_bulge^(0.54+-0.17)*sigma^(2.2+-0.5), analogous to the FP of elliptical galaxies. The BHFP is preferred over a simple relation between M_BH and any of sigma, M_bulge, M_dyn, or R_e alone at >99.9% significance. The existence of this BHFP has important implications for the formation of supermassive BHs and the masses of the very largest black holes, and immediately resolves several apparent conflicts between the BH masses expected and measured for outliers in both the M_BH-sigma and M_BH-M_bulge relations.

The mass relations between supermassive black holes and their host galaxies at 1<z<2 with HST-WFC3

Correlations between the mass of a supermassive black hole and the properties of its host galaxy (e.g., total stellar mass (M*), luminosity (Lhost)) suggest an evolutionary connection. A powerful test of a co-evolution scenario is to measure the relations MBH-Lhost and MBH-M* at high redshift and compare with local estimates. For this purpose, we acquired HST imaging with WFC3 of 32 X-ray-selected broad-line AGN at 1.2<z<1.7 in deep survey fields. By applying state-of-the-art tools to decompose the HST images including available ACS data, we measured the host galaxy luminosity and stellar mass along with other properties through the 2D model fitting. The black hole mass was determined using the broad Halpha line, detected in the near-infrared with Subaru/FMOS, which potentially minimizes systematic effects using other indicators. We find that the observed ratio of MBH to total M* is 2.7 times larger at z~1.5 than in the local universe, while the scatter is equivalent between the two epochs. A non-evolving mass ratio is consistent with the data at the 2-3 sigma confidence level when accounting for selection effects and their uncertainties. The relationship between MBH-Lhost paints a similar picture. Therefore, our results cannot distinguish whether SMBHs and their total M* and Lhost proceed in lockstep or whether the growth of the former somewhat overshoots the latter, given the uncertainties. Based on a statistical estimate of the bulge-to-total mass fraction, the ratio MBH/M* is offset from the local value by a factor of ~7 which is significant even accounting for selection effects. Taken together, these observations are consistent with a scenario in which stellar mass is subsequently transferred from an angular momentum supported component of the galaxy to the pressure supported one through secular processes or minor mergers at a faster rate than mass accretion onto the SMBH.