The co-evolution of spheroids and black holes in the last six billion years

Details The co-evolution of spheroids and black holes in the last six billion years The co-evolution of spheroids and black holes in the last six billion years

Jul 2007

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007hst..prop11208t&link_type=abstract

HST Proposal ID #11208. Cycle 16

Computer Science

Scientific paper

The masses of giant black holes are correlated with the luminosities, masses, and velocity dispersions of the bulges of their host galaxies. This empirical correlation of phenomena on widely different scales from pcs to kpcs suggests that the formation and evolution of galaxies and central black holes are closely linked. In Cycle 13, we have started a campaign to map directly the co-evolution of spheroids and black-holes by measuring in observationally favorable redshift windows the empirical correlations connecting their properties. By focusing on Seyfert 1s, where the nucleus and the stars contribute comparable fractions of total light, black hole mass and bulge dispersion are obtained from Keck spectroscopy. HST is required for accurate measurement of the non stellar AGN continuum, the morphology of the galaxy, and the structural parameters of the bulge. The results at z=0.36 indicate a surprisingly fast evolution of bulges in the past 4 Gyrs significant at the 95%CL, in the sense that bulges were significantly smaller for a given black hole mass. Also, the large fraction of mergers and disturbed galaxies 4+2 out of 20 identifies gas-rich mergers as the mechanisms responsible for bulge-growth. Going to higher redshift -- where evolutionary trends should be stronger -- is needed to confirm these tantalizing results. We propose therefore to push our investigation to the next suitable redshift window z=0.57 lookback-time 6 Gyrs. Fifteen objects are the minimum number required to map the evolution of the empirical correlations between bulge properties and black-hole mass, and to achieve a conclusive detection of evolution >99%CL.;

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