A Fundamental Relation Between Supermassive Black Holes and Their Host Galaxies
Abstract
The masses of supermassive black holes correlate almost perfectly with the velocity dispersions of their host bulges, M(BH) ~ sigma^alpha, where alpha =4.8 +/- 0.5$. The relation is much tighter than the relation between M(BH) and bulge luminosity, with a scatter no larger than expected on the basis of measurement error alone. Black hole masses estimated by Magorrian et al. (1998) lie systematically above the M(BH)-sigma relation defined by more accurate mass estimates, some by as much as two orders of magnitude. The tightness of the M(BH)-sigma relation implies a strong link between black hole formation and the properties of the stellar bulge.
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0006053,
title = {A Fundamental Relation Between Supermassive Black Holes and Their Host Galaxies},
author = {Laura Ferrarese and David Merritt},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0006053},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
ApJ, 539, L9. Rutgers Astrophysics Preprint Series No. 274 This version is slightly modified to fit within the ApJL page limits