Correlations between Supermassive Black Holes and their Hosts in Active Galaxies

TL;DR

This paper reviews correlations between supermassive black hole masses and host galaxy properties, highlighting differences in active galaxies and suggesting that host galaxy growth may precede black hole development.

Contribution

It presents new findings that active galaxies at low redshift do not follow the typical BH-bulge luminosity relation and discusses implications for coevolution.

Findings

Active galaxies at z<0.1 deviate from the BH-bulge luminosity relation.

Young stellar populations contribute to bulge overluminosity.

Host galaxy growth may start before black hole growth.

Abstract

In the last decades several correlations between the mass of the central supermassive black hole (BH) and properties of the host galaxy - such as bulge luminosity and mass, central stellar velocity dispersion, S\'ersic index, spiral pitch angle etc. - have been found and point at a coevolution scenario of BH and host galaxy. In this article, I review some of these relations for inactive galaxies and discuss the findings for galaxies that host an active galactic nucleus/quasar. I present the results of our group that finds that active galaxies at $z\lesssim 0.1$ do not follow the BH mass - bulge luminosity relation. Furthermore, I show near-infrared integral-field spectroscopic data that suggest that young stellar populations cause the bulge overluminosity and indicate that the host galaxy growth started first. Finally, I discuss implications for the BH-host coevolution.