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Description
We create a baseline of the black hole (BH) mass (M_BH_)-stellar-velocity dispersion ({sigma}) relation for active galaxies, using a sample of 66 local (0.02<z<0.09) Seyfert-1 galaxies, selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Analysis of SDSS images yields AGN luminosities free of host-galaxy contamination, and morphological classification. 51/66 galaxies have spiral morphology. Out of these, 28 bulges have Sersic index n<2 and are considered candidate pseudo-bulges, with eight being definite pseudo-bulges based on multiple classification criteria met. Only 4/66 galaxies show signs of interaction/merging. High signal-to-noise ratio Keck spectra provide the width of the broad H{beta} emission line free of Fe II emission and stellar absorption. AGN luminosity and H{beta} line widths are used to estimate M_BH_. The Keck-based spatially resolved kinematics is used to determine stellar-velocity dispersion within the spheroid effective radius ({sigma}_spat,reff_). We find that {sigma} can vary on average by up to 40% across definitions commonly used in the literature, emphasizing the importance of using self-consistent definitions in comparisons and evolutionary studies. The M_BH_-{sigma} relation for our Seyfert-1 galaxy sample has the same intercept and scatter as that of reverberation-mapped AGNs as well as that of quiescent galaxies, consistent with the hypothesis that our single epoch M_BH_ estimator and sample selection function do not introduce significant biases. Barred galaxies, merging galaxies, and those hosting pseudo-bulges do not represent outliers in the M_BH_-{sigma} relation. This is in contrast with previous work, although no firm conclusion can be drawn on this matter due to the small sample size and limited resolution of the SDSS images.
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