Testing the fidelity of simulations of black hole — galaxy co-evolution at z ~ 1.5 with observations. (arXiv:2002.07812v1 [astro-ph.GA])
<a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Ding_X/0/1/0/all/0/1">Xuheng Ding</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Treu_T/0/1/0/all/0/1">Tommaso Treu</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Silverman_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">John D. Silverman</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Bhowmick_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">Aklant K. Bhowmick</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Menci_N/0/1/0/all/0/1">N. Menci</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Matteo_T/0/1/0/all/0/1">Tiziana Di Matteo</a>
We examine the scaling relations between the mass of a supermassive black
hole (SMBH) and its host galaxy properties at $1.2<z<1.7$ using both
observational data and simulations. Recent measurements of 32 X-ray-selected
broad-line Active Galactic Nucleus (AGNs) are compared with two independent
state-of-the-art efforts, including the hydrodynamic simulation MassiveBlackII
(MBII) and a semi-analytic model (SAM). After applying an observational
selection function to the simulations, we find that both MBII and SAM agree
well with the data, in terms of the central distribution. However, the
dispersion in the mass ratio between black hole mass and stellar mass is
significantly more consistent with the MBII prediction ($sim0.3~$dex), than
with the SAM ($sim0.7~$dex), even when accounting for observational
uncertainties. Hence, our observations can distinguish between the different
recipes adopted in the models. The mass relations in the MBII are highly
dependent on AGN feedback while the relations in the SAM are more sensitive to
galaxy merger events triggering nuclear activity. Moreover, the intrinsic
scatter in the mass ratio of our high-$z$ sample is comparable to that observed
in the local sample, all but ruling out the proposed scenario the correlations
are purely stochastic in nature arising from some sort of cosmic central limit
theorem. Our results support the hypothesis of AGN feedback being responsible
for a causal link between the SMBH and its host galaxy, resulting in a tight
correlation between their respective masses.
We examine the scaling relations between the mass of a supermassive black
hole (SMBH) and its host galaxy properties at $1.2<z<1.7$ using both
observational data and simulations. Recent measurements of 32 X-ray-selected
broad-line Active Galactic Nucleus (AGNs) are compared with two independent
state-of-the-art efforts, including the hydrodynamic simulation MassiveBlackII
(MBII) and a semi-analytic model (SAM). After applying an observational
selection function to the simulations, we find that both MBII and SAM agree
well with the data, in terms of the central distribution. However, the
dispersion in the mass ratio between black hole mass and stellar mass is
significantly more consistent with the MBII prediction ($sim0.3~$dex), than
with the SAM ($sim0.7~$dex), even when accounting for observational
uncertainties. Hence, our observations can distinguish between the different
recipes adopted in the models. The mass relations in the MBII are highly
dependent on AGN feedback while the relations in the SAM are more sensitive to
galaxy merger events triggering nuclear activity. Moreover, the intrinsic
scatter in the mass ratio of our high-$z$ sample is comparable to that observed
in the local sample, all but ruling out the proposed scenario the correlations
are purely stochastic in nature arising from some sort of cosmic central limit
theorem. Our results support the hypothesis of AGN feedback being responsible
for a causal link between the SMBH and its host galaxy, resulting in a tight
correlation between their respective masses.
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