Comment on: A SuperMassive Black Hole Fundamental Plane for Ellipticals

TL;DR

This paper critically evaluates a regression model predicting supermassive black hole mass from galaxy bulge properties, finding higher scatter than previously reported, which questions the model's predictive accuracy.

Contribution

It provides an analysis of the regression method's effectiveness and compares its scatter to other predictors, highlighting limitations in current modeling approaches.

Findings

Scatter in black hole mass prediction is 0.32 dex, higher than earlier reports.

The regression model's predictive power is comparable to single-variable predictors.

The study suggests reconsidering the use of this model for accurate black hole mass estimation.

Abstract

A simple regression analysis designed for predicting the supermassive black hole mass from the effective radius and mean effective surface brightness of the host bulge has been performed using the data from Barway & Kembhavi (arXiv:0705.1508). The scatter in the log M_bh direction is 0.32 dex, greater than reported and comparable with values obtained using a single predictor quantity such as luminosity, velocity dispersion or Sersic index.