2002/01/07 by R. J. McLure, J. S. Dunlop · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Bulge #Elliptical galaxy #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Redshift #Scaling #Stellar mass #Virial theorem #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/10899892_8
published in ESO astrophysics symposia, 26-31 (Springer Science+Business Media) · 6 pages, 3 figures, to appear in proceedings for the ESO workshop "The mass of galaxies at low and high redshift", Venice, Oct 24-26, 2001
arxiv created 2002/01/07 · openalex publication_date 2006/02/10 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2018/03/29 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
New virial black-hole mass estimates are presented for a sample of 72 AGN covering three decades in optical luminosity. Using a model in which the AGN broad-line region (BLR) has a flattened geometry, we investigate the M_bh)-Lbulge relation for a combined 90-object sample, consisting of the AGN plus a sample of 18 nearby inactive elliptical galaxies with dynamical black-hole mass measurements. It is found that, for all reasonable mass-to-light ratios, the Mbh-Lbulge relation is equivalent to a linear scaling between bulge and black-hole mass. The best-fitting normalization of the Mbh-Mbulge relation is found to be Mbh=0.0012Mbulge, in agreement with recent black-hole mass studies based on stellar velocity dispersions. Furthermore, the scatter around the Mbh-Lbulge relation for the full sample is found to be significantly smaller than has been previously reported (Δlog Mbh=0.39 dex). Finally, using the nearby inactive elliptical galaxy sample alone, it is shown that the scatter in the Mbh-Lbulge relation is only 0.33 dex, comparable to that of the Mbh-sigma relation. These results indicate that reliable black-hole mass estimates can be obtained for high redshift galaxies.