Bayesian Analysis of Reverberation Mapping Data

Abstract

AbstractReverberation mapping is a powerful technique for studying the broad line regions (BLR) and the masses of the central black holes in distant active galactic nuclei (AGN). By monitoring the temporal variations of the continuum emission and the broad emission lines, it is possible to measure the size of the broad line region, and combining this with velocity information from the line widths yields an estimator for the black hole mass. However, this estimator depends on an unknown dimensionless proportionality constant called the virial coefficient. Recently, we have developed an alternative, direct approach to analyzing reverberation mapping data that infers details of the astrophysical situation from the data, bypassing the need for a virial coefficient and providing information about the physical configuration of the BLR. In this contribution I will outline the method and discuss how it differs from traditional reverberation mapping analysis.KeywordsBlack HolePosterior DistributionActive Galactic NucleusVirial CoefficientBlack Hole MassThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.