Refining the M {sub BH}-V {sub c} scaling relation with H I rotation curves of water megamaser galaxies
- Department of Astrophysics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540 (United States)
- National Radio Astronomy Observatory, 520 Edgemont Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903 (United States)
- Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, P.O. Box 23-141, Taipei 10617, Taiwan (China)
- McDonald Observatory, The University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712 (United States)
Black-hole-galaxy scaling relations provide information about the coevolution of supermassive black holes and their host galaxies. We compare the black-hole mass-circular-velocity (M {sub BH}-V {sub c}) relation with the black-hole-mass-bulge-stellar-velocity-dispersion (M {sub BH}-σ{sub *}) relation to see whether the scaling relations can passively emerge from a large number of mergers or require a physical mechanism, such as feedback from an active nucleus. We present Very Large Array H I observations of five galaxies, including three water megamaser galaxies, to measure the circular velocity. Using 22 galaxies with dynamical M {sub BH} measurements and V {sub c} measurements extending to large radius, our best-fit M {sub BH}-V {sub c} relation, log M{sub BH}=α+βlog (V{sub c}/200 km s{sup −1}), yields α=7.43{sub −0.13}{sup +0.13}, β=3.68{sub −1.20}{sup +1.23}, and an intrinsic scatter ϵ{sub int}=0.51{sub −0.09}{sup +0.11}. The intrinsic scatter may well be higher than 0.51, as we take great care to ascribe conservatively large observational errors. We find comparable scatter in the M {sub BH}-σ{sub *} relations, ϵ{sub int}=0.48{sub −0.08}{sup +0.10}, while pure merging scenarios would likely result in a tighter scaling with the dark halo (as traced by V {sub c}) properties rather than the baryonic (σ{sub *}) properties. Instead, feedback from the active nucleus may act on bulge scales to tighten the M {sub BH}-σ{sub *} relation with respect to the M {sub BH}-V {sub c} relation, as observed.
- OSTI ID:
- 22342011
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 778, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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