Abstract

We study the relation between nuclear massive black holes and their host spheroid gravitational potential. Using simple models, we analyze how gas is expected to be transported in the nuclear regions of galaxies. When we couple it with the expected gas lifetime given by the Kennicutt-Schmidt Law, this naturally leads to the "MBH-bulge virial mass" and "MBH-σ" relations. © 2006. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.