Can we improve CIV-based single epoch black hole mass estimations?

Abstract

In large optical survey at high redshifts ($z>2$), the CIV broad emission line is the most practical alternative to estimate the mass ($M_{\text{BH}}$) of active super-massive black holes (SMBHs). However, mass determinations obtained with this line are known to be highly uncertain. In this work we use the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 and 12 quasar catalogues to statistically test three alternative methods put forward in the literature to improve CIV-based $M_{\text{BH}}$ estimations. These methods are constructed from correlations between the ratio of the CIV line-width to the low ionization line-widths (H$\alpha$, H$\beta$ and MgII) and several other properties of rest-frame UV emission lines. Our analysis suggests that these correction methods are of limited applicability, mostly because all of them depend on correlations that are driven by the linewidth of the CIV profile itself and not by an interconnection between the linewidth of the CIV line with the linewidth of the low ionization lines. Our results show that optical CIV-based mass estimates at high redshift cannot be a proper replacement for estimates based on IR spectroscopy of low ionization lines like H$\alpha$, H$\beta$ and MgII

14 pages, 5 figures, 7 tables, Accepted for publication in MNRAS

References in corpus (14)

• Biases in Virial Black Hole Masses: An SDSS Perspective
• The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Quasar Catalog: twelfth data release
• The black hole mass - stellar velocity dispersion relation of narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies
• Correcting CIV-Based Virial Black Hole Masses
• Cosmic Evolution of Mass Accretion Rate and Metalicity in Active Galactic Nuclei
• Black-Hole Mass and Growth Rate at High Redshift
• Outflows and the Physical Properties of Quasars
• The effect of nuclear gas distribution on the mass determination of supermassive black holes
• Active galactic nuclei at z ~ 1.5: I. Spectral energy distribution and accretion discs
• Spectral Properties From Lyman-alpha to H-alpha For An Essentially Complete Sample of Quasars I: Data
• An Improved Method for Using MgII to Estimate Black Hole Masses in Active Galactic Nuclei
• CIV and CIII] reverberation mapping of the luminous quasar PG 1247+267
• The underlying driver for the \civ Baldwin effect in QSOs with $0<z<5$
• Bias in C IV-based quasar black hole mass scaling relationships from reverberation mapped samples

Cited by in corpus (24)

• Gemini GNIRS near-infrared spectroscopy of 50 quasars at z>~5.7
• The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Reverberation Mapping Project: Estimating Masses of Black Holes in Quasars with Single-Epoch Spectroscopy
• The X-shooter/ALMA Sample of Quasars in the Epoch of Reionization. II. Black Hole Masses, Eddington Ratios, and the Formation of the First Quasars
• The X-SHOOTER/ALMA sample of Quasars in the Epoch of Reionization. I. NIR spectral modeling, iron enrichment and broad emission line properties
• BASS XXV: DR2 Broad-line Based Black Hole Mass Estimates and Biases from Obscuration
• A dynamical measure of the black hole mass in a quasar 11 billion years ago
• The QUEST-La Silla AGN variability survey: connection between AGN variability and black hole physical properties
• Testing AGN outflow and accretion models with CIV and HeII emission line demographics in z=2 quasars
• The first high-redshift changing-look quasars
• Black hole mass estimates in quasars - A comparative analysis of high- and low-ionization lines
• BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey: XVI. General Physical Characteristics of BAT Blazars
• Extreme quasars at high redshift
• SDSS-IV/SPIDERS: A Catalogue of X-Ray Selected AGN Properties; Spectral Properties and Black Hole Mass Estimates for SPIDERS SDSS DR14 Type 1 AGN
• Exploring the Diversity of Type 1 Active Galactic Nuclei Identified in SDSS-IV/SPIDERS
• AT 2021loi: A Bowen Fluorescence Flare with a Rebrightening Episode, Occurring in a Previously-Known AGN
• An FMOS Survey of moderate-luminosity broad-line AGN in COSMOS, SXDS and E-CDF-S
• The Blueshift Of Civ Broad Emission Line In Qsos
• The intermediate-ionization lines as virial broadening estimators for Population A quasars
• The central engine of the highest redshift blazar
• CIV emission line properties and uncertainties in black hole mass estimates of z ~ 3.5 quasars
• ALMA 300 pc resolution imaging of a z=6.79 quasar: no evidence for supermassive black hole influence on the [C II] kinematics
• A Closer Look at Two of the Most Luminous Quasars in the Universe
• Black Hole masses for 14 gravitational lensed quasars
• The X-ray weakness of Little Red Dots and JWST-selected AGN: comparison with local AGN in different accretion regimes