We present a compilation of properties of the 105,783 quasars in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 (DR7) quasar catalog. In this product, we compile continuum and emission line measurements around the Hα, Hβ, Mg II, and C IV regions, as well as other quantities such as radio properties, and flags indicating broad absorption line quasars, disk emitters, etc. We also compile virial black hole mass estimates based on various calibrations. For the fiducial virial mass estimates we use the Vestergaard & Peterson (VP06) calibrations for Hβ and C IV, and our own calibration for Mg II which matches the VP06 Hβ masses on average. We describe the construction of this catalog and discuss its limitations. The catalog and its future updates will be made publicly available online.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0067-0049/194/2/45/pdf

A catalog of quasar properties from sloan digital sky survey data release 7

New kinematic data and modeling efforts in the past few years have substantially expanded and revised dynamical measurements of black hole masses (M ?) at the centers of nearby galaxies. Here we compile an updated sample of 72 black holes and their host galaxies, and present revised scaling relations between M ? and stellar velocity dispersion (?), V-band luminosity (L), and bulge stellar mass (M bulge), for different galaxy subsamples. Our best-fitting power-law relations for the full galaxy sample are log10(M ?) = 8.32 + 5.64log10(?/200 km s?1), log10(M ?) = 9.23 + 1.11log10(L/1011 L ?), and log10(M ?) = 8.46 + 1.05log10(M bulge/1011 M ?). A log-quadratic fit to the M ?-? relation with an additional term of ?2 [log10(?/200 km s?1)]2 gives ?2 = 1.68 ? 1.82 and does not decrease the intrinsic scatter in M ?. Including 92 additional upper limits on M ? does not change the slope of the M ?-? relation. When the early- and late-type galaxies are fit separately, we obtain similar slopes of 5.20 and 5.06 for the M ?-? relation but significantly different intercepts?M ? in early-type galaxies are about two times higher than in late types at a given sigma. Within early-type galaxies, our fits to M ?(?) give M ? that is about two times higher in galaxies with central core profiles than those with central power-law profiles. Our M ?-L and M ?-M bulge relations for early-type galaxies are similar to those from earlier compilations, and core and power-law galaxies yield similar L- and M bulge-based predictions for M ?. When the conventional quadrature method is used to determine the intrinsic scatter in M ?, our data set shows weak evidence for increased scatter at M bulge < 1011 M ? or LV < 1010.3 L ?, while the scatter stays constant for 1011 < M bulge < 1012.3 M ? and 1010.3 < LV < 1011.5 L ?. A Bayesian analysis indicates that a larger sample of M ? measurements would be needed to detect any statistically significant trend in the scatter with galaxy properties.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0004-637X/764/2/184/pdf

Revisiting the scaling relations of black hole masses and host galaxy properties

What drives the growth of black holes

We present an updated and improved Mbh–σ diagram containing 64 galaxies for which Mbh measurements (not just upper limits) are available. Because of new and increased black hole masses at the high-mass end, and a better representation of barred galaxies at the low-mass end, the ‘classical’ (all morphological type) Mbh–σ relation for predicting black hole masses is log (Mbh/M⊙) = (8.13 ± 0.05) + (5.13 ± 0.34)log [σ/200 km s−1], with an rms scatter of 0.43 dex. Modifying the regression analysis to correct for a hitherto overlooked sample bias in which black holes with masses <106 M⊙ are not (yet) detectable, the relation steepens further to give log (Mbh/M⊙) = (8.15 ± 0.06) + (5.95 ± 0.44)log [σ/200 km s−1]. We have also updated the ‘barless’ and ‘elliptical-only’Mbh–σ relations introduced by Graham and Hu in 2008 due to the offset nature of barred galaxies. These relations have a total scatter as low as 0.34 dex and currently define the upper envelope of points in the Mbh–σ diagram. They also have a slope consistent with a value 5, in agreement with the prediction by Silk & Rees based on feedback from massive black holes in bulges built by monolithic collapse.



Using updated virial products and velocity dispersions from 28 active galactic nuclei, we determine that the optimal scaling factor f– which brings their virial products in line with the 64 directly measured black hole masses – is 2.8+0.7−0.5. This is roughly half the value reported by Onken et al. and Woo et al., and consequently halves the mass estimates of most high-redshift quasars. Given that barred galaxies are, on average, located ∼0.5 dex below the ‘barless’ and ‘elliptical-only’Mbh–σ relations, we have explored the results after separating the samples into barred and non-barred galaxies, and we have also developed a preliminary corrective term to the velocity dispersion based on bar dynamics. In addition, given the recently recognized coexistence of massive black holes and nuclear star clusters, we present the first ever (Mbh+Mnc)–σ diagram and begin to explore how galaxies shift from their former location in the Mbh–σ diagram.

https://researchbank.swinburne.edu.au/file/4859a5d7-a62f-40b2-98a1-a5084b3ee946/1/PDF (Accepted manuscript).pdf

An expanded Mbh–σ diagram, and a new calibration of active galactic nuclei masses

We present the final results from a high sampling rate, multi-month, spectrophotometric reverberation mapping campaign undertaken to obtain either new or improved Hβ reverberation lag measurements for several relatively low-luminosity active galactic nuclei (AGNs). We have reliably measured the time delay between variations in the continuum and Hβ emission line in six local Seyfert 1 galaxies. These measurements are used to calculate the mass of the supermassive black hole at the center of each of these AGNs. We place our results in context to the most current calibration of the broad-line region (BLR) RBLR–L relationship, where our results remove outliers and reduce the scatter at the low-luminosity end of this relationship. We also present velocity-resolved Hβ time-delay measurements for our complete sample, though the clearest velocity-resolved kinematic signatures have already been published.

/pdf/reverberation-mapping-measurements-of-black-hole-masses-in-reutum46ns.pdf

Reverberation Mapping Measurements of Black Hole Masses in Six Local Seyfert Galaxies

(Abridged) To investigate the black hole mass (MBH) vs. stellar velocity dispersion relation of active galaxies, we measured the velocity dispersions of a sample of local Seyfert 1 galaxies, for which we have recently determined MBH using reverberation mapping. For most objects, velocity dispersions were measured from high S/N ratio optical spectra centered on the Ca II triplet region (~8500 A), obtained at the Keck, Palomar, and Lick Observatories. For two objects, in which the Ca II triplet region was contaminated by nuclear emission, the measurement was based on high-quality H-band spectra obtained with the OSIRIS at the Keck-II Telescope. Combining our new measurements with data from the literature, we assemble a sample of 24 active galaxies with stellar velocity dispersions and reverberation-based MBH measurements in the range of black hole mass 10^6<MBH/M_sun<10^9. We use this sample to obtain reverberation mapping constraints on the slope and intrinsic scatter of the M-sigma relation of active galaxies. Assuming a constant virial coefficient f for the reverberation mapping black hole masses, we find a slope b=3.55+-0.60 and the intrinsic scatter sigma_int=0.43+-0.08 dex in the relation log (MBH/M_sun) = a + b log (sigma/200 km/s), which are consistent with those found for quiescent galaxies. We derive an updated value of the virial coefficient f by finding the value which places the reverberation masses in best agreement with the M-sigma relation of quiescent galaxies; using the quiescent M-sigma relation determined by Gultekin et al. we find log f=0.72^{+0.09-0.10} with an intrinsic scatter of 0.44+-0.07 dex. The uncertainty of the virial coefficient remains one of the main sources of the uncertainty in black hole mass determinations using reverberation mapping, and therefore also in single-epoch spectroscopic estimates of MBH in active galaxies.

Ellinor Gates

Papers

The Lick AGN Monitoring Project: The MBH - sigma Relation For Reverberation-Mapped Active Galaxies