Expected intermediate-mass black holes in the Virgo cluster. I. Early-type galaxies

Abstract

We expand upon the AMUSE-Virgo survey which imaged 100 early-type Virgo cluster galaxies with the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and we place an emphasis on potential intermediate mass black holes (IMBHs). Virgo early-type galaxies with absolute magnitudes ${\mathfrak{M}}_B\gtrsim -20.5$ mag have $B$-band luminosities that scale with the square of the stellar velocity dispersion: $L_B\propto {\sigma }^2$. We show that the non-linear `super-quadratic' relation $M_{\mathrm{bh}}\propto L_B^2$-$L_B^{2.5}$ from Graham & Scott yields black hole masses, $M_{\mathrm{bh}}$, that agree with the $M_{\mathrm{bh}}$-$\sigma$ relation down to at least $M_{\mathrm{bh}}=10^4{M}_{\odot }$. We predict that 30 of the 100 galaxies have $M_{\mathrm{bh}}\le 10^5{M}_{\odot }$, with IC3602 having $M_{\mathrm{bh}}=10^4{M}_{\odot }$ and IC3633 having $M_{\mathrm{bh}}=$(6-8)$\times 10^3{M}_{\odot }$. We additionally revise the black hole Eddington ratios and their scaling with black hole mass, and report a point-like Chandra source at the nucleus of five additional galaxies (NGC4382, NGC4387, NGC4417, NGC4467, and NGC4472). Moreover, three of the galaxies predicted here to host an IMBH have a point-like Chandra source near their nucleus: IC3442 ($M_{\mathrm{bh}}=2\times 10^5{M}_{\odot }$); IC3492 ($M_{\mathrm{bh}}=5\times 10^4{M}_{\odot }$); and IC3292 ($M_{\mathrm{bh}}=6\times 10^4{M}_{\odot }$). Furthermore, IC3442 and IC3292 host a nuclear star cluster that is expected to house an IMBH. Finally, we present the ($B-K$)-${\mathfrak{M}}_K$ colour-magnitude diagram and discuss the implications for the $M_{\mathrm{bh}}$-$L_K$ and $M_{\mathrm{bh}}$-$M_{\ast ,\mathrm{galaxy}}$ relations, revealing why stripped galaxies, especially rare compact elliptical galaxies, should be excluded from $M_{\mathrm{bh}}$-$L$ and $M_{\mathrm{bh}}$-$M_{\ast ,\mathrm{galaxy}}$ scaling relations.

14 pages of main text (incl. 11 figures) plus 6 pages of appendices and references. Accepted for publication MNRAS

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