A Fundamental Relation between Supermassive Black Holes and Their Host Galaxies

Ferrarese, Laura; Merritt, David

doi:10.1086/312838

Cited by 4,271 publications

(4,285 citation statements)

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“…The discovery of the M − σ correlation (Ferrarese & Merritt 2000;Gebhardt et al 2000a) has motivated a great deal of observational effort toward measurement of stellar velocity dispersions in active galaxies. Since the M − σ relation is apparently very tight, with < 0.3 dex scatter , it has been used as a means to estimate black hole masses in AGNs directly from their stellar velocity dispersions.…”

Section: Can the Stellar Velocity Dispersions Of Quasar Host Galaxiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Black hole masses in active galaxies

Barth

2004

Proc. IAU

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Section: Can the Stellar Velocity Dispersions Of Quasar Host Galaxiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Black hole masses in active galaxies

Barth

2004

Proc. IAU

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“…(b) There is a relationship (Gebhardt et al 2000b;Ferrarese et al 2001) between the RM-based black hole masses and the host galaxy stellar velocity dispersion σ * similar to that seen in quiescent galaxies (Ferrarese & Merritt 2000;Gebhardt et al 2000a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Black hole masses from reverberation measurements

Peterson¹

2004

Proc. IAU

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Abstract.We have reanalyzed in a consistent way existing reverberation data for 35 AGNs for the purpose of refining the black hole masses derived from these data. We find that the precision (or random component of the error) of reverberation-based black hole mass measurements is typically around 30%, comparable to the precision attained in measurement of black hole masses in quiescent galaxies by gas or stellar dynamical methods. As discussed in this volume by Onken et al., we have established an absolute calibration for AGN reverberation-based masses by assuming that AGNs and quiescent galaxies follow an identical relationship between black hole mass and host-galaxy bulge velocity dispersion. The scatter around this relationship implies that the typical systematic uncertainties in reverberation-based black hole masses are smaller than a factor of three. We present a preliminary version of a mass-luminosity relationship that is much better defined than any previous attempt. Scatter about the mass-luminosity relationship for these AGNs appears to be real and could be correlated with either Eddington ratio or source inclination.

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“…While the more commonly-used forms of these relationships tend to be those derived for black holes with dynamically-modeled black hole masses (e.g., Magorrian et al 1998;Ferrarese & Merritt 2000;Gebhardt et al 2000;Gültekin et al 2009;McConnell & Ma 2013;Kormendy & Ho 2013), the AGN relationships provide a useful counterpoint given the differences between the two samples. In particular, the AGN reverberation sample has a large percentage of latetype, disk-dominated galaxies, whereas the quiescent galaxy sample with dynamical black hole masses is comprised mainly of early-type galaxies.…”

Section: Black Hole Scaling Relationshipsmentioning

confidence: 99%

AGN Reverberation Mapping

Bentz

2016

Astronomy at High Angular Resolution

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Reverberation mapping is now a well-established technique for investigating spatially-unresolved structures in the nuclei of distant galaxies with activelyaccreting supermassive black holes. Structural parameters for the broad emissionline region, with angular sizes of microarcseconds, can be constrained through the substitution of time resolution for spatial resolution. Many reverberation experiments over the last 30 years have led to a practical understanding of the requirements necessary for a successful program. With reverberation measurements now in hand for 60 active galaxies, and more on the horizon, we are able to directly constrain black hole masses, derive scaling relationships that allow large numbers of black hole mass estimates throughout the observable Universe, and begin investigating the detailed geometry and kinematics of the broad line region. Reverberation mapping is therefore one of the few techniques available that will allow a deeper understanding of the physical mechanisms involved in AGN feeding and feedback at very small scales, as well as constraints on the growth and evolution of black holes across cosmic time. In this contribution, I will briefly review the background, implementation, and major results derived from this high angular resolution technique.

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A Fundamental Relation between Supermassive Black Holes and Their Host Galaxies

Cited by 4,271 publications

References 40 publications

Black hole masses in active galaxies

Black hole masses in active galaxies

Black hole masses from reverberation measurements

AGN Reverberation Mapping

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