A Uniformly Selected Sample of Low-Mass Black Holes in Seyfert 1 Galaxies. II. The SDSS DR7 Sample

TL;DR

This paper presents a large, systematically selected sample of low-mass black holes in Seyfert 1 galaxies from SDSS DR7, analyzing their spectral properties, X-ray and radio emissions, and host galaxy characteristics to explore the low-mass end of AGN populations.

Contribution

It provides the largest sample of low-mass black hole AGNs, combining SDSS DR7 data with previous samples, and investigates their spectral, X-ray, radio, and host galaxy properties for the first time at this scale.

Findings

X-ray luminosities extend known correlations with [O III] luminosity.

X spectral index X correlates with black hole mass, flatter for lower masses.

Radio loud fraction is about 4%, mostly radio loud objects.

Abstract

A new sample of 204 low-mass black holes (LMBHs) in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is presented with black hole masses in the range of (1-20) * 10^5 M_sun. The AGNs are selected from a systematic search among galaxies in the Seventh Data Release (DR 7) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), and careful analyses of their optical spectra and precise measurement of spectral parameters. Combining them with our previous sample selected from the SDSS DR 4 makes it the largest LMBH sample so far, totaling over 500 objects. Some of the statistical properties of the combined LMBH AGN sample are briefly discussed, in the context of exploring the low-mass end of the AGN population. Their X-ray luminosities follow the extension of the previously known correlation with the [O III] luminosity. The effective optical-to-X-ray spectral indices \alpha_OX, albeit with a large scatter, are broadly consistent with the extension of the relation with the near-UV luminosity L_2500\AA. Interestingly, a correlation of \alpha_OX with black hole mass is also found in the sense that \alpha_OX is statistically flatter (stronger X-ray relative to optical) for lower black hole mass. Only 26 objects, mostly radio loud, were detected in radio at 20 cm in the FIRST survey, giving a radio loud fraction of 4%. The host galaxies of LMBHs have stellar masses in the range of 10^8.8-10^12.4 M_sun and optical colors typical of Sbc spirals. They are dominated by young stellar populations that seem to have undergone a continuous star formation history.