The Mass-Luminosity Relation, Accretion Rate-Luminosity Relation, and Evolutionary Sequence of Blazars

Abstract

A sample of 39 blazars each with a well-established rapid variability timescale and bolometric luminosity has been compiled from the literature. Based on the assumption that central supermassive black holes (SMBHs) are Kerr black holes, the upper limits of the SMBHs were estimated. The masses ranged from 10(7.2) to 10(9.4) M-circle dot, showing a distribution of three subclasses: massive flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) and smaller mass BL Lac objects occupying separate regions, while medium-mass FSRQs and BL Lac objects bridge the gap. We found that the mass-intrinsic luminosity relations for FSRQs and BL Lac objects are the same. Analysis reveals a relationship of log (L-in/L-circle dot)=1.225 log (M/M-circle dot) + 1.500, which mimics a relationship found in the main sequence. We found that the intrinsic accretion rates are quite different between FSRQs and BL Lac objects. The diagram of the intrinsic accretion rate-luminosity relation shows that FSRQs occur in the earlier, high-luminosity, violent phase of the galactic evolution sequence, while BL Lac objects occur in the low-luminosity, late phase of the galactic evolution sequence. Of note is that the results of the mass-luminosity relation of blazars are consistent with the accretion rate-luminosity relation, and together they prove that active galactic nuclei evolve from FSRQs to BL Lac objects. The evolution diagram of blazars derived in this paper seems to be a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram of star evolution.