The Black Hole–Bulge Relationship for QSOs at High Redshift

Abstract

We examine the black hole mass-galaxy bulge relationship in high-redshift QSOs. Black hole masses are derived from broad emission lines, and the host galaxy stellar velocity dispersion σ* is estimated from the widths of the radio CO emission lines. At redshifts z>3, the CO line widths are narrower than expected for the black hole mass, indicating that these giant black holes reside in undersized bulges by an order of magnitude or more. The largest black holes (MBH>109 Msolar) evidently grow rapidly in the early universe without commensurate growth of their host galaxies. CO line widths offer a unique opportunity to study AGN host galaxy dynamics at high redshift.