Open AccessThe Relation Between Black Hole Mass and Velocity Dispersion at z ~ 0.37
Author(s) -
Tommaso Treu,
Matthew A. Malkan,
R. D. Blandford
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
the astrophysical journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.376
H-Index - 489
eISSN - 1538-4357
pISSN - 0004-637X
DOI - 10.1086/426437
Subject(s) - velocity dispersion , physics , astrophysics , offset (computer science) , galaxy , black hole (networking) , photoionization , dispersion (optics) , spectral line , dispersion relation , luminosity , optics , ionization , astronomy , quantum mechanics , ion , computer network , routing protocol , routing (electronic design automation) , link state routing protocol , computer science , programming language
The velocity dispersion of 7 Seyfert 1 galaxies at z~0.37 is measured usinghigh signal-to-noise Keck spectra. Black hole (BH) mass estimates are obtainedvia an empirically calibrated photoionization method. We derive the BH massvelocity dispersion relationship at z~0.37. We find an offset with respect tothe local relationship, in the sense of somewhat lower velocity dispersion at afixed BH mass at z~0.37 than today, significant at the 97% level. The offsetcorresponds to Delta log sigma = -0.16 with rms scatter of 0.13 dex. Ifconfirmed by larger samples and independent checks on systematic uncertaintiesand selection effects, this result would be consistent with spheroids evolvingfaster than BHs in the past 4 Gyrs and inconsistent with pure luminosityevolution.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter, 12 pages, 3 figure
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