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Abstract:
The angular resolution of the Very Large
Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) and
the excellent sensitivity of GRAVITY
have led to the first detection of spatially
resolved kinematics of high velocity
atomic gas near an accreting supermassive
black hole, revealing rotation
on sub-parsec scales in the quasar
3C 273 at a distance of 550 Mpc. The
observations can be explained as the
result of circular orbits in a thick disc
configuration around a 300 million solar
mass black hole. Within an ongoing
Large Programme, this capability will be
used to study the kinematics of atomic
gas and its relation to hot dust in a
sample of quasars and Seyfert galaxies.
We will measure a new radius-luminosity
relation from spatially resolved data and
test the current methods used to measure
black hole mass in large surveys.