Craig Warner et al. 2003 ApJ 596 72 doi:10.1086/377710
Craig Warner1, Fred Hamann1 and Matthias Dietrich2
Show affiliationsWe analyze spectra for a large sample of 578 active galactic nuclei to examine the relationships between broad emission line properties and central supermassive black hole (SMBH) mass. We estimate SMBH masses by applying the virial theorem to the C IV λ1549 broad emission line. Although the FWHMs of C IV and Hβ appear nearly unrelated in individual objects, these FWHMs are well correlated when averaged over subsamples in our database. Therefore, the lines are equally valid indicators of the average SMBH mass in quasar samples. Our sample spans 5 orders of magnitude in SMBH mass, 6 orders of magnitude in luminosity, and a redshift range of 0 ≤ z ≤ 5. Most lines diminish in equivalent width with increasing black hole mass (the usual "Baldwin effect"), and there are no trends with redshift. Recent studies indicate that there is a relationship between SMBH mass and the overall bulge/spheroidal component mass of the surrounding galaxy. This relation, together with the well-known mass-metallicity relationship among galaxies, predicts a relationship between SMBH mass and quasar metallicity. We estimate the metallicity in the broad emission line region by comparing several line ratios involving nitrogen to theoretical predictions. We find that the data are consistent with a trend between SMBH mass and metallicity, with some line ratios indicating a very strong trend, but the uncertainties in several other important line ratios are too large to confirm or test this correlation.
galaxies: abundances; galaxies: active; galaxies: formation; quasars: emission lines
Issue 1 (2003 October 10)
Received 2003 May 1, accepted for publication 2003 June 23
Craig Warner et al. 2003 ApJ 596 72
O Novotný et al 2009 J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 192 012021
Lea F Santos and Lorenza Viola 2008 New J. Phys. 10 083009
Marco Valerio Battisti 2009 J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 189 012005
, and neighbours: rotation-alignment for the half-filled
subshell?
J K Hwang et al 1998 J. Phys. G: Nucl. Part. Phys. 24 L9
Richard Seto (for the PHENIX Collaboration) 2004 J. Phys. G: Nucl. Part. Phys. 30 S1017
J Allday 1997 Phys. Educ. 32 327
2003 Phys. Educ. 38 496
Clemens Neuenhahn and Florian Marquardt 2008 New J. Phys. 10 115018
Yu-Xiao Liu et al JHEP10(2009)091