Constraints on accretion disk size in the massive type 1 quasar PG 2308+098 from optical continuum reverberation lags

Abstract

Abstract Two years’ worth of u-, g-, r-, i-, and z-band optical light curves were obtained for the massive type 1 quasar PG 2308+098 at z = 0.433 using the 1.05 m Kiso Schmidt telescope/Kiso Wide Field Camera, and inter-band time lags of the light curves were measured. Wavelength-dependent continuum reverberation lag signals of several tens of days relative to the u-band were detected at g, r, i, and z bands, where the longer wavelength bands showed larger lags. From the wavelength-dependent lags, and assuming the standard disk temperature radial profile $T \propto R_{\rm disk}^{-3/4}$ and an X-ray/far-ultraviolet reprocessing picture, a constraint on the radius of the accretion disk responsible for the rest-frame 2500 Å disk continuum emission was derived as $R_{\rm disk} = 9.46^{+0.29}_{-3.12}\:$light-day. The derived disk size is slightly (1.2–1.8 times) larger than the theoretical disk size of Rdisk = 5.46 light-day predicted from the black hole mass (MBH) and Eddington ratio estimates of PG 2308+098. This result is roughly in accordance with previous studies of lower-mass active galactic nuclei (AGNs), where measured disk sizes have been found to be larger than the standard disk model predictions by a factor of ∼3; however, the disk size discrepancy is more modest in PG 2308+098. By compiling literature values of the disk size constraints from continuum reverberation and gravitational microlensing observations for AGNs/quasars, we show that the MBH dependence of Rdisk is weaker than that expected from the standard disk model. These observations suggest that the standard Shakura–Sunyaev accretion disk theory has limitations in describing AGN/quasar accretion disks.