Talk Details

Wednesday, June 30, 2010 - 3:15pm

Brandon Kelly:

"Constraints on Black Hole Growth, Quasar Lifetimes, and Eddington Ratio Distributions from the SDSS Broad Line Quasar Black Hole Mass Function"

Abstract. I will present an estimate of the black hole mass function (BHMF) of broad line quasars (BLQSOs), and the distribution of their Eddington ratios, using a method that self-consistently corrects for incompleteness and the statistical uncertainty in the mass estimates, based on a sample of 9886 quasars at 1 < z < 4.5 drawn from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey DR3. I will also discuss the constraints that our estimated mass function enables us to place on the estimated lifetime of the broad line quasar phase, present an estimate for the mass of the most massive black hole implied by our mass function, and discuss our results within the context of self-regulated black hole growth models.