The Existence of Sterile Neutrino Halos in Galactic Centers as an Explanation of the Black Hole mass - Velocity Dispersion Relation

TL;DR

This paper proposes that sterile neutrino halos in galactic centers could explain the observed correlation between supermassive black hole mass and galaxy velocity dispersion by affecting gas heating and black hole formation.

Contribution

It introduces a novel hypothesis that sterile neutrino halos can account for the black hole mass-velocity dispersion relation through their decay and gravitational effects.

Findings

Sterile neutrino decay heats galactic gas, influencing black hole growth.

A natural correlation between black hole mass and velocity dispersion emerges.

The model predicts specific parameters for the black hole mass relation.

Abstract

If sterile neutrinos exist and form halos in galactic centers, they can give rise to observational consequences. In particular, the sterile neutrinos decay radiatively and heat up the gas in the protogalaxy to achieve hydrostatic equilibrium, and they provide the mass to form supermassive blackholes. A natural correlation between the blackhole mass and velocity dispersion thus arises $\log(M_{BH,f}/M_{\odot})=\alpha \log (\sigma /200 {\rm km s^{-1}})+ \beta$ with $\alpha \approx 4$ and $\beta \approx 8$.