Black-hole masses of distant quasars

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Book chapter › Research › peer-review

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Black-hole masses of distant quasars. / Vestergaard, Marianne.

Black Holes. Cambridge University Press, 2011. p. 150-172 ( Space Telescope Science Institute Symposium Series, Vol. 21).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Book chapter › Research › peer-review

Harvard

Vestergaard, M 2011, Black-hole masses of distant quasars. in Black Holes. Cambridge University Press, Space Telescope Science Institute Symposium Series, vol. 21, pp. 150-172.

APA

Vestergaard, M. (2011). Black-hole masses of distant quasars. In Black Holes (pp. 150-172). Cambridge University Press. Space Telescope Science Institute Symposium Series Vol. 21

Vancouver

Vestergaard M. Black-hole masses of distant quasars. In Black Holes. Cambridge University Press. 2011. p. 150-172. ( Space Telescope Science Institute Symposium Series, Vol. 21).

Author

Vestergaard, Marianne. / Black-hole masses of distant quasars. Black Holes. Cambridge University Press, 2011. pp. 150-172 ( Space Telescope Science Institute Symposium Series, Vol. 21).

Bibtex

@inbook{708936bfba5140a5bd73f09c403f8534,
title = "Black-hole masses of distant quasars",
abstract = "A brief overview of the methods commonly used to determine or estimate the black hole mass in quiescent or active galaxies is presented and it is argued that the use of mass-scaling relations is both a reliable and the preferred method to apply to large samples of distant quasars. The method uses spectroscopic measurements of a broad emission-line width and continuum luminosity and currently has a statistical 1 sigma uncertainty in the absolute mass values of about a factor of 4. Potentially, this accuracy can be improved in the future. When applied to large samples of distant quasars it is evident that the black hole masses are very large, of order 1 to 10 billion solar masses, even at the highest redshifts of 4 to 6. The black holes must build up their mass very fast in the early universe. Yet they do not grow much larger than that: a maximum mass of about 10 billion solar masses is also observed. Preliminary mass functions of active black holes are presented for several quasar samples, including the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Finally, common concerns related to the application of the mass scaling relations, especially for high redshift quasars, are briefly discussed.",
author = "Marianne Vestergaard",
year = "2011",
language = "English",
series = " Space Telescope Science Institute Symposium Series",
pages = "150--172",
booktitle = "Black Holes",
publisher = "Cambridge University Press",
address = "United Kingdom",

}

RIS

TY - CHAP

T1 - Black-hole masses of distant quasars

AU - Vestergaard, Marianne

PY - 2011

Y1 - 2011

N2 - A brief overview of the methods commonly used to determine or estimate the black hole mass in quiescent or active galaxies is presented and it is argued that the use of mass-scaling relations is both a reliable and the preferred method to apply to large samples of distant quasars. The method uses spectroscopic measurements of a broad emission-line width and continuum luminosity and currently has a statistical 1 sigma uncertainty in the absolute mass values of about a factor of 4. Potentially, this accuracy can be improved in the future. When applied to large samples of distant quasars it is evident that the black hole masses are very large, of order 1 to 10 billion solar masses, even at the highest redshifts of 4 to 6. The black holes must build up their mass very fast in the early universe. Yet they do not grow much larger than that: a maximum mass of about 10 billion solar masses is also observed. Preliminary mass functions of active black holes are presented for several quasar samples, including the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Finally, common concerns related to the application of the mass scaling relations, especially for high redshift quasars, are briefly discussed.

AB - A brief overview of the methods commonly used to determine or estimate the black hole mass in quiescent or active galaxies is presented and it is argued that the use of mass-scaling relations is both a reliable and the preferred method to apply to large samples of distant quasars. The method uses spectroscopic measurements of a broad emission-line width and continuum luminosity and currently has a statistical 1 sigma uncertainty in the absolute mass values of about a factor of 4. Potentially, this accuracy can be improved in the future. When applied to large samples of distant quasars it is evident that the black hole masses are very large, of order 1 to 10 billion solar masses, even at the highest redshifts of 4 to 6. The black holes must build up their mass very fast in the early universe. Yet they do not grow much larger than that: a maximum mass of about 10 billion solar masses is also observed. Preliminary mass functions of active black holes are presented for several quasar samples, including the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Finally, common concerns related to the application of the mass scaling relations, especially for high redshift quasars, are briefly discussed.

M3 - Book chapter

T3 - Space Telescope Science Institute Symposium Series

SP - 150

EP - 172

BT - Black Holes

PB - Cambridge University Press

ER -

ID: 44215461