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Constraining black hole–galaxy scaling relations and radiative efficiency from galaxy clustering

Constraining black hole–galaxy scaling relations and radiative efficiency from galaxy clustering
Constraining black hole–galaxy scaling relations and radiative efficiency from galaxy clustering
The masses of supermassive black holes are observed to increase with either the total mass or the mean (random) velocity of the stars in their host galaxies. The origin of these correlations remains elusive due to observational systematics and biases that severely limit our knowledge of the local demography of supermassive black holes. Here, we show that the large-scale spatial distribution of local active galactic nuclei (AGN) can constrain the shape and normalization of the black hole–stellar mass relation, thus bypassing resolution-related observational biases. In turn, our results can set more stringent constraints on the AGN radiative efficiency, ε. For currently accepted values of the AGN obscured fractions and bolometric corrections, our estimated local supermassive black hole mass density favours mean ε values of ~10–20%, suggesting that the vast majority of supermassive black holes are spinning moderately to rapidly. With large-scale AGN surveys coming online, our methodology will enable even tighter constraints on the fundamental parameters that regulate the growth of supermassive black holes.
2397-3366
Shankar, F
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Allevato, Viola
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Bernardi, Mariangela
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Marsden, Christopher
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Lapi, Andrea
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Menci, Nicola
e68473f0-6f7f-48b8-8b76-088d8752df6a
Grylls, Philip J.
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Krumpe, Mirko
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Zanisi, Lorenzo
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Ricci, Federica
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La Franca, Fabio
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Baldi, Ranieri D.
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Moreno, Jorge
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Sheth, Ravi K.
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Shankar, F
b10c91e4-85cd-4394-a18a-d4f049fd9cdb
Allevato, Viola
e74ca535-ee08-485b-a961-09c8376668c2
Bernardi, Mariangela
b142f5a1-727d-42db-842c-df77a93af98b
Marsden, Christopher
1ff7ae35-34b5-4717-a9b4-a4879e957ec9
Lapi, Andrea
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Menci, Nicola
e68473f0-6f7f-48b8-8b76-088d8752df6a
Grylls, Philip J.
b702c17a-e8d5-48dd-96ac-3009bb062412
Krumpe, Mirko
93aa430a-4239-4ddb-820e-e89e939e2b6b
Zanisi, Lorenzo
0d346dae-285f-4790-ab3c-b320038bfa07
Ricci, Federica
53c413ba-4ae9-4393-88db-31f84731d597
La Franca, Fabio
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Baldi, Ranieri D.
b24a5da8-abc2-4df6-9496-d0405fa13eb6
Moreno, Jorge
7ad41940-0029-4574-b81e-4e37bd07ae62
Sheth, Ravi K.
898726c8-d913-4b19-8d69-6bc9a71ad674

Shankar, F, Allevato, Viola, Bernardi, Mariangela, Marsden, Christopher, Lapi, Andrea, Menci, Nicola, Grylls, Philip J., Krumpe, Mirko, Zanisi, Lorenzo, Ricci, Federica, La Franca, Fabio, Baldi, Ranieri D., Moreno, Jorge and Sheth, Ravi K. (2019) Constraining black hole–galaxy scaling relations and radiative efficiency from galaxy clustering. Nature Astronomy.

Record type: Article

Abstract

The masses of supermassive black holes are observed to increase with either the total mass or the mean (random) velocity of the stars in their host galaxies. The origin of these correlations remains elusive due to observational systematics and biases that severely limit our knowledge of the local demography of supermassive black holes. Here, we show that the large-scale spatial distribution of local active galactic nuclei (AGN) can constrain the shape and normalization of the black hole–stellar mass relation, thus bypassing resolution-related observational biases. In turn, our results can set more stringent constraints on the AGN radiative efficiency, ε. For currently accepted values of the AGN obscured fractions and bolometric corrections, our estimated local supermassive black hole mass density favours mean ε values of ~10–20%, suggesting that the vast majority of supermassive black holes are spinning moderately to rapidly. With large-scale AGN surveys coming online, our methodology will enable even tighter constraints on the fundamental parameters that regulate the growth of supermassive black holes.

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Constraining black hole–galaxy scaling relations and radiative efficiency from galaxy clustering - Accepted Manuscript
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Accepted/In Press date: 18 October 2019
e-pub ahead of print date: 9 December 2019
Additional Information: arxiv is am

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 437175
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/437175
ISSN: 2397-3366
PURE UUID: b04cbae1-55c5-4e75-a488-0ba2c423b89a

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Date deposited: 21 Jan 2020 17:31
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 06:04

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Contributors

Author: F Shankar
Author: Viola Allevato
Author: Mariangela Bernardi
Author: Christopher Marsden
Author: Andrea Lapi
Author: Nicola Menci
Author: Philip J. Grylls
Author: Mirko Krumpe
Author: Lorenzo Zanisi
Author: Federica Ricci
Author: Fabio La Franca
Author: Ranieri D. Baldi
Author: Jorge Moreno
Author: Ravi K. Sheth

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