A Correlation between Galaxy Light Concentration and Supermassive Black Hole Mass

Graham, A. W.; Erwin, P.; Caon, N.; Trujillo, I.
Bibliographical reference

The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 563, Issue 1, pp. L11-L14.

Advertised on:
12
2001
Number of authors
4
IAC number of authors
4
Citations
325
Refereed citations
288
Description
We present evidence for a strong correlation between the concentration of bulges and the mass of their central supermassive black hole (Mbh)-more concentrated bulges have more massive black holes. Using Cre(1/3) from Trujillo, Graham, & Caon as a measure of bulge concentration, we find that log(Mbh/Msolar)=6.81(+/- 0.95)Cre(1/3)+5.03+/-0.41. This correlation is shown to be marginally stronger (Spearman's rs=0.91) than the relationship between the logarithm of the stellar velocity dispersion and logMbh (Spearman's rs=0.86) and has comparable or less scatter (0.31 dex in logMbh, which decreases to 0.19 dex when we use only those galaxies whose supermassive black hole radii of influence are resolved and we remove one well-understood outlying data point).