Stochastic black hole growth tracks stellar mass in ultramassive galaxies — E8 Intelligence Research
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Over the past three decades, it has been established that galaxy spheroids contain supermassive black holes (BHs) whose masses correlate tightly with the properties of their host galaxies. The most predictive of these correlations is between BH mass and stellar velocity dispersion (the $M_{\rm BH}-σ$ relation), alongside a relation with bulge luminosity or stellar mass (the $M_{\rm BH}-M_\star$ relation). Theoretical models of galaxy evolution predict that for the most massive galaxies, whose late-time growth proceeds mainly via gas-poor `dry' mergers, $M_\star$ should become a better predictor of BH mass than $σ$. However, genuine deviations from the $M_{\rm BH}-σ$ relation have remained difficult to observe due to the extreme rarity and low central surface brightness of such galaxies. Here we report James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) measurements of central BHs in a sample of eight ultramassive galaxies. We find the largest deviations from the $M_{\rm BH}-σ$ relation ever reported, wi Author: Andrew Stewart Caldin, Independent Researcher, UK. Part of the E8 Intelligence Research series. Platform: e8intelligence.com
Author: Caldin, Andrew Stewart
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7225655263
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