Calibrating the Galaxy Halo - Black Hole Relation Based on the Clustering of Quasars

Details Calibrating the Galaxy Halo - Black Hole Relation Based on the Clustering of Quasars Calibrating the Galaxy Halo - Black Hole Relation Based on the Clustering of Quasars

2004-03-31

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0403714v1

Astrophys.J. 621 (2005) 95-103

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

10 pages, 5 figures. Submitted to ApJ

Scientific paper

10.1086/425263

The observed number counts of quasars may be explained either by long-lived activity within rare massive hosts, or by short-lived activity within smaller, more common hosts. It has been argued that quasar lifetimes may therefore be inferred from their clustering length, which determines the typical mass of the quasar host. Here we point out that the relationship between the mass of the black-hole and the circular velocity of its host dark-matter halo is more fundamental to the determination of the clustering length. In particular, the clustering length observed in the 2dF quasar redshift survey is consistent with the galactic halo - black-hole relation observed in local galaxies, provided that quasars shine at ~10-100% of their Eddington luminosity. The slow evolution of the clustering length with redshift inferred in the 2dF quasar survey favors a black-hole mass whose redshift-independent scaling is with halo circular velocity, rather than halo mass. These results are independent from observations of the number counts of bright quasars which may be used to determine the quasar lifetime and its dependence on redshift. We show that if quasar activity results from galaxy mergers, then the number counts of quasars imply an episodic quasar lifetime that is set by the dynamical time of the host galaxy rather than by the Salpeter time. Our results imply that as the redshift increases, the central black-holes comprise a larger fraction of their host galaxy mass and the quasar lifetime gets shorter.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Calibrating the Galaxy Halo - Black Hole Relation Based on the Clustering of Quasars does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Calibrating the Galaxy Halo - Black Hole Relation Based on the Clustering of Quasars, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Calibrating the Galaxy Halo - Black Hole Relation Based on the Clustering of Quasars will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-616806