Defining the (Black Hole)-spheroid connection with the discovery of morphology-dependent substructure in the MBH-nsph and MBH-Re,sph Diagrams: New tests for advanced theories and realistic simulations

Nandini Sahu, Alister W. Graham, Benjamin L. Davis

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    For 123 local galaxies with directly measured black hole masses (MBH), we provide the host spheroid's Sérsic index (nsph), effective half-light radius (Re,sph), and effective surface brightness (μe), obtained from careful multicomponent decompositions, and we use these to derive the morphology-dependent MBH-nsph and MBH-Re,sph relations. We additionally present the morphology-dependent M∗,sph-nsph and M∗,sph-Re,sph relations. We explored differences due to early-type galaxies (ETGs) versus late-type galaxies (LTGs), Sérsic versus core-Sérsic galaxies, barred versus non-barred galaxies, and galaxies with and without a stellar disk. We detect two different MBH-nsph relations due to ETGs and LTGs with power-law slopes 3.95 ± 0.34 and 2.85 ± 0.31. We additionally quantified the correlation between MBH and the spheroid's central concentration index, which varies monotonically with the Sérsic index. Furthermore, we observe a single, near-linear M∗,sph-Re,sph1.08±0.04 relation for ETGs and LTGs, which encompasses both classical and alleged pseudobulges. In contrast, ETGs and LTGs define two distinct MBH-Re,sph relations with Drms BH ∼ 0.60 dex (cf. 0.51 dex for the MBH-σ relation and 0.58 dex for the MBH-M∗,sph relation), and the ETGs alone define two steeper MBH-Re,sph relations, offset by 1dex in the logMBH direction, depending on whether they have a disk or not and explaining their similar offset in the MBH-M∗,sph diagram. This trend holds using 10%, 50%, or 90% radii. These relations offer pivotal checks for simulations trying to reproduce realistic galaxies, and for theoretical studies investigating the dependence of black hole mass on basic spheroid properties.

    Original languageEnglish (US)
    Article number97
    JournalAstrophysical Journal
    Volume903
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    StatePublished - Nov 10 2020

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Astronomy and Astrophysics
    • Space and Planetary Science

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