Range Of Black Hole Masses Research Articles

Spatially–resolved gas-phase metallicity in Seyfert galaxies

Abstract We explore the relations between the gas-phase metallicity radial profiles (few hundred inner parsec) and multiple galaxy properties for 15 Seyfert galaxies from the AGNIFS (Active Galactic Nuclei Integral Field Spectroscopy) sample using optical Integral Field Unit (IFU) observations from Gemini Multi-Object Spectrographs (GMOS) and Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) processed archival data. The data were selected at z ≲ 0.013 within black hole mass range [6 < log (MBH/M⊙) < 9] with moderate 14–150 keV X-ray luminosities $\left[42\, \lesssim \, \log L_X (\rm erg\, s^{-1})\, \lesssim \, 44\right]$. We estimated the gas-phase metallicity using the strong-line methods and found mean values for the oxygen dependent (Z ∼ 0.75 Z⊙) and nitrogen dependent (Z ∼ 1.14 Z⊙) calibrations. These estimates show excellent agreement with ΔZ ≈ 0.19 dex and ΔZ ≈ 0.18 dex between the mean values from the two strong-line calibrations for GMOS and MUSE respectively, consistent with the order of metallicity uncertainty via the strong-line methods. We contend that our findings align with a scenario wherein local Seyferts have undergone seamless gas accretion histories, resulting in positive metallicity profile over an extended period of time, thereby providing insights into galaxy evolution and the chemical enrichment or depletion of the universe. Additionally, we argue that metal-poor gas inflow from the local interstellar medium (ISM) and accreted through the circumgalactic medium (CGM) onto the galaxy systems regulates the star formation processes by diluting their central metallicity and inverting their metallicity gradients, producing a more prominent anti-correlation between gas-phase metallicity and Eddington ratio.

Eccentricity Estimation for Five Binary Black Hole Mergers with Higher-order Gravitational-wave Modes

The detection of orbital eccentricity for a binary black hole system via gravitational waves is a key signature to distinguish between the possible binary origins. The identification of eccentricity has been difficult so far due to the limited availability of eccentric gravitational waveforms over the full range of black hole masses and eccentricities. Here we evaluate the eccentricity of five black hole mergers detected by the LIGO and Virgo observatories using the TEOBResumS-DALI, TEOBResumS-GIOTTO, and TEOBResumSP models. This analysis studies eccentricities up to 0.6 at the reference frequency of 5 Hz and incorporates higher-order gravitational-wave modes critical to model emission from highly eccentric orbits. The binaries have been selected due to previous hints of eccentricity or due to their unusual mass and spin. While other studies found marginal evidence for eccentricity for some of these events, our analyses do not favor the incorporation of eccentricity compared to the quasi-circular case. While lacking the eccentric evidence of other analyses, we find our analyses marginally shifts the posterior in multiple parameters for several events when allowing eccentricity to be nonzero.

Reconstruction of Binary Black Hole Harmonics in LIGO Using Deep Learning

Gravitational-wave signals from coalescing compact binaries in the LIGO and Virgo interferometers are primarily detected by the template-based matched filtering method. While this method is optimal for stationary and Gaussian data scenarios, its sensitivity is often affected by nonstationary noise transients in the detectors. Moreover, most of the current searches do not account for the effects of precession of black hole spins and higher-order waveform harmonics, focusing solely on the leading-order quadrupolar modes. This limitation impacts our search for interesting astrophysical sources, such as intermediate-mass black hole binaries and hierarchical mergers. Here we show, for the first time, that deep learning can be used for accurate waveform reconstruction of precessing binary black hole signals with higher-order modes. This approach can also be adapted into a rapid trigger generation algorithm to enhance online searches. Our model, tested on simulated injections in real LIGO noise from the third observing run (2019–2020) achieved a high degree of overlap with injected signals. This accuracy was consistent across a wide range of black hole masses and spin configurations chosen for this study. When applied to real gravitational-wave events, our model's reconstructions achieved between 85% and 98% overlap with those obtained by Coherent WaveBurst (unmodeled) and LALInference (modeled) analyses. These results suggest that deep learning is a potent tool for analyzing signals from a diverse catalog of compact binaries.

Revisiting the black hole mass of M 87 using VLT/MUSE adaptive optics integral field unit data

Context. Stellar dynamic-based black hole mass measurements of M 87 are twice that determined via ionized gas kinematics; the former are closer to the mass estimated from the diameter of the gravitationally lensed ring around the black hole. Aims. Using a deeper and more comprehensive ionized gas kinematic data set, we aim to better constrain the complex morphology and kinematics of the nuclear ionized gas and thus gain insights into the reasons behind the disagreement between the mass measurements. Methods. We use new narrow field mode with adaptive optics and wide field mode integral field spectroscopic data from the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer instrument on the Very Large Telescope to model the morphology and kinematics of multiple ionized gas emission lines (primarily Hα+[N II] λλ6548,6583 and [O I] λ6300) in the nucleus of M 87. We used Kinemetry to fit the position angle, inclination, and velocities of the subarcsecond ionized gas disk. We used KinMSpy to create simulated datacubes across a range of black hole masses and disk inclinations, and parameterized the differences of the resulting residual (observed minus simulated) velocity maps, in order to obtain the best-fit model. Results. The new deep data set reveals complexities in the nuclear ionized gas kinematics that were not seen in earlier sparse and shallower Hubble Space Telescope spectroscopy. Several ionized gas filaments, some with high flow velocities, can be traced down into the projected sphere of influence. However, not all truly pass close to the black hole. Additionally, we find evidence of a partially filled biconical outflow, aligned with the jet, with radial velocities of up to 400 km s−1. The subarcsecond rotating ionized gas “disk” is well resolved in our datacubes. The velocity isophotes of this disk are twisted, and the position angle of the innermost gas disk (≲5 pc) tends toward a value perpendicular to the radio jet axis. The complexity of the nuclear morphology and kinematics (the mix of a warped disk with spiral arms, large linewidths, strong outflows, and filaments crossing the black hole in projection) precludes the measurement of an accurate black hole mass from the ionized gas kinematics. Two results, each relatively weak but together more convincing, support a high-mass black hole (∼6.0 × 109 M⊙) in a low-inclination disk (i ∼ 25°) rather than a low-mass black hole (∼3.5 × 109 M⊙) in a i = 42° disk: (a) Kinemetry fits to the subarcsecond disk support inclinations of ∼20°–25° rather than 42°; and (b) velocity residual (observed minus simulated) maps with slightly smaller residuals are found for the former case. The specific (sub-Keplerian) radiatively inefficient accretion flow (RIAF) model previously proposed to reconcile the mass measurement discrepancy was also tested: the sub-Keplerian factor used in this model is not sufficiently small to make a high-mass black hole in a RIAF inflow masquerade as a low-mass black hole in a Keplerian inflow. In general, Keplerian disk models perform significantly better than the RIAF model when fitting the subarcsecond ionized gas disk. Conclusions. A disk inclination close to 25° for the nuclear gas disk (rather than the previously posited 42°) and the warp in the subarcsecond ionized gas disk help reconcile the contradictory nature of key earlier results: (a) the mass discrepancy between stellar and ionized gas black hole masses (our results support the former) and (b) the misorientation between the axes of the ionized gas disk and the jet (we find them to be aligned in both two and three dimensions). Furthermore, we identify a previously unknown 400 km s−1 (partially filled) biconical outflow along the (three-dimensional) jet axis and show that the velocities of the two largest ionized gas filaments at 8″–30″ nuclear distances can be explained primarily by rotation in the extension of the nuclear ionized gas disk (inclination ∼25°).

Virial black hole mass estimates of quasars in the XQ-100 legacy survey

ABSTRACT The black hole (BH) mass and luminosity are key factors in determining how a quasar interacts with its environment. In this study, we utilize data from the European Southern Observatory Large Programme XQ-100, a high-quality sample of 100 X-shooter spectra of the most luminous quasars in the redshift range 3.5 < z < 4.5, and measure the properties of three prominent optical and ultraviolet broad emission lines present in the wide wavelength coverage of X-shooter: C iv, Mg ii, and H β. The line properties of all three broad lines are used for virial estimates of the BH mass and their resulting mass estimates for this sample are tightly correlated. The BH mass range is $\log {(\rm {\mathit{ M}_{BH}}/\rm {M_\odot })} = 8.6{\!-\!}10.3$ with bolometric luminosities estimated from the 3000 Å continuum in the range $\log {(\rm {\mathit{ L}_{bol}}/\rm {erg\, s^{-1}})} = 46.7{\!-\!}48.0$. Robustly determined properties of these quasars enable a variety of follow-up research in quasar astrophysics, from chemical abundance and evolution in the broad-line region to radiatively driven quasar outflows.

The nature of the X-ray sources in dwarf galaxies in nearby clusters from the KIWICS

ABSTRACT We present a deep search for and analysis of X-ray sources in a sample of dwarf galaxies (Mr < −15.5 mag) located within twelve galaxy clusters from the Kapteyn IAC WHT Enhanced Area Velocity Explores Isaac Newton Telescope Cluster Survey of photometric observations in the r and g using the Wide Field Camera at the 2.5-m Isaac Newton telescope. We first investigated the optical data, identified 2720 dwarf galaxies in all fields and determined their characteristics; namely, their colours, effective radii, and stellar masses. We then searched the Chandra data archive for X-ray counterparts of optically detected dwarf galaxies. We found a total of 20 X-ray emitting dwarf galaxies, with X-ray flux ranging from 1.7 × 10−15 to 4.1 × 10−14 erg cm−2 s−1 and X-ray luminosities varying from 2 × 1039 to 5.4 × 1041 erg s−1. Our results indicate that the X-ray luminosity of the sources in our sample is larger than the Eddington luminosity limit for a typical neutron star, even at the lowest observed levels. This leads us to conclude that the sources emitting X-rays in our sample are likely black holes. Additionally, we have employed a scaling relation between black hole and stellar mass to estimate the masses of the black holes in our sample, and have determined a range of black hole masses from 4.6 × 104 to 1.5 × 106 M⊙. Finally, we find a trend between X-ray to optical flux ratio and X-ray flux. We discuss the implications of our findings and highlight the importance of X-ray observations in studying the properties of dwarf galaxies.

Dust-driven wind as a model of broad absorption line quasars

Context. We test the scenario according to which the broad absorption line (BAL) phenomenon in quasars (QSOs) is not a temporary stage of their life. In this scenario, the BAL effect acts only if the line of sight is within a spatially limited and collimated massive outflow cone covering only a fraction of the sky from the point of view of the nucleus. Aims. The aim is to understand the theoretical mechanism behind the massive outflow in BAL QSOs, which is important for modelling the impact of quasars on the star formation rate in the host galaxy, and, subsequently, on the galaxy evolution. Methods. We applied the specific theoretical model of dust-driven wind that was developed to explain broad emission lines. The model has considerable predictive power. The 2.5D version of the model called failed radiatively accelerated dusty outflow (FRADO) includes the formation of fast funnel-shaped outflow from the disk for a certain range of black hole masses, Eddington ratios, and metallicities. We now interpret BAL QSO as sources that are viewed along the outflowing stream. We calculated the probabilities of seeing the BAL phenomenon as functions of these global parameters, and we compared these probabilities to those seen in the observational data. We included considerations of the presence or absence of obscuring torus. Results. Comparing our theoretical results with observational data for a sample of QSOs consisting of two sub-populations of BAL and non-BAL QSOs, we found that in the model and in the data, the BAL phenomenon mostly occurs for sources with black hole masses higher than 108 M⊙. The effect increases with accretion rate, and high metallicities are also more likely in QSOs showing BAL features if a torus is taken into account. Conclusions. The consistency of the model with the data supports the interpretation of the BAL phenomenon as the result of the orientation of the source. It also supports the underlying theoretical model, although more consistency checks should be made in the future.

A Study of Primordial Very Massive Star Evolution

We present new evolutionary models of primordial very massive stars with initial masses ranging from 100 to 1000 M ⊙ that extend from the main sequence to the onset of dynamical instability caused by the creation of electron–positron pairs during core C, Ne, or O burning, depending on the star’s mass and metallicity. Mass loss accounts for radiation-driven winds, as well as pulsation-driven mass loss on the main sequence and during the red supergiant phase. After examining the evolutionary properties, we focus on the final outcome of the models and associated compact remnants. Stars that avoid the pair instability supernova channel should produce black holes with masses ranging from ≈40 to ≈1000 M ⊙. In particular, stars with initial masses of about 100 M ⊙ could leave black holes of ≃85–90 M ⊙, values consistent with the estimated primary black hole mass of the GW190521 merger event. Overall, these results may contribute to explaining future data from next-generation gravitational-wave detectors, such as the Einstein Telescope and Cosmic Explorer, which will have access to an as-yet-unexplored black hole mass range of ≈102–104 M ⊙ in the early universe.

Signatures from primordial black hole evaporation

Primordial Black Holes are hypothetical Black Holes formed in the very early universe and are potential Dark Matter Candidates. We focus on the primordial black hole mass range [5 · 1014 − 1 · 1016] g. Their evaporation can produce detectable signals in existing experiments. We study neutrinos emitted by PBHs evaporation. The interaction of neutrinos emitted from primordial black hole evaporation can interact through the coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering producing an observable signal in multi-ton DM direct detection experiments. The non-observation of such signals can be used to place forecast constraints on the fraction of Dark Matter composed of Primordial Black Holes. This talk is based on [1]

A Candidate for the Least-massive Black Hole in the First 1.1 Billion Years of the Universe

We report a candidate of a low-luminosity active galactic nucleus (AGN) at z = 5 that was selected from the first near-infrared images of the JWST CEERS project. This source, named CEERS-AGN-z5-1 at absolute 1450 Å magnitude M 1450 = −19.5 ± 0.3, was found via a visual selection of compact sources from a catalog of Lyman break galaxies at z > 4, taking advantage of the superb spatial resolution of the JWST/NIRCam images. The 20 photometric data available from CFHT, Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer, and JWST suggest that the continuum shape of this source is reminiscent of that for an unobscured AGN, and there is a clear color excess in the filters where the redshifted Hβ+[O iii] and Hα are covered. The estimated line luminosity is L Hβ+[O III] = 1043.0 erg s−1 and L Hα = 1042.9 erg s−1 with the corresponding rest-frame equivalent width EWHβ+[O III] = 1100 Å and EWHα = 1600 Å, respectively. Our spectral energy distribution fitting analysis favors the scenario that this object is either a strong broad-line emitter or even a super-Eddington accreting black hole (BH), although a possibility of an extremely young galaxy with moderate dust attenuation is not completely ruled out. The bolometric luminosity, L bol = 2.5 ± 0.3 × 1044 erg s−1, is consistent with those of z < 0.35 broad-line AGNs with M BH ∼ 106 M ⊙ accreting at the Eddington limit. This new AGN population in the first 1.1 billion years of the universe may close the gap between the observed BH mass range at high redshift and that of BH seeds. Spectroscopic confirmation is awaited to secure the redshift and its AGN nature.

Mass Distribution of Black Holes with Effects of Convective Carbon Shell Burning on Pair-instability Pulsation and Fe Core Collapse

Motivated by the determination of black hole masses with gravitational-wave observations, we calculate the evolution of massive stars through presupernova stages and obtain the mass distribution of black holes. In the first part, we calculate the evolution of He stars with masses of 30–120 M ⊙. We study in detail how convective carbon shell burning controls pair-instability pulsations before and during oxygen burning and determine their final fates. In the second part, we calculate the evolution of H-rich stars with initial masses of 13–80 M ⊙ until Fe core collapse and obtain the possible black hole mass range by applying the criterion of the compactness parameters. From these models, we predict the mass distribution of black holes for stars that undergo Fe core collapse and pair-instability pulsation. The predicted masses for black holes range from 4.2 to 46 M ⊙, which are consistent with the gravitational-wave observations.

Observational hints on the torus obscuring gas behaviour through X-rays with NuSTAR data

ABSTRACT According to theory, the torus of active galactic nuclei (AGN) is sustained from a wind coming off the accretion disc, and for low efficient AGN, it has been proposed that such structure disappears. However, the exact conditions for its disappearance remain unclear. This can be studied throughout the reflection component at X-rays, which is associated with distant and neutral material at the inner walls of the torus in obscured AGN. We select a sample of 81 AGNs observed with NuSTAR with a distance limit of D&amp;lt; 200 Mpc and Eddington rate $\rm {\lambda _{Edd} \equiv L_{bol}/L_{Edd}\lt 10^{-3}}$. We fit the 3–70 keV spectra using a model accounting for a partial-covering absorber plus a reflection component from neutral material. We find that the existence of the reflection component spans in a wide range of black hole mass and bolometric luminosities, with only ∼13 per cent of our sample (11 sources) lacking of any reflection signatures. These sources fall in the region in which the torus may be lacking in the L-MBH diagram. For the sources with a detected reflection component, we find that the vast majority of them are highly obscured ($\rm {\log \ N_H \gt 23}$), with $\rm {\sim 20{{\ \rm per\ cent}}}$ being Compton-thick. We also find an increase in the number of unobscured sources and a tentative increase on the ratio between $\rm {FeK\alpha }$ emission line and Compton-hump luminosities toward $\rm {\lambda _{Edd}=10^{-5}}$, suggesting that the contribution of the $\rm {FeK\alpha }$ line changes with Eddington ratio.

Tidal Disruptions of Main-sequence Stars. IV. Relativistic Effects and Dependence on Black Hole Mass

Abstract Using a suite of fully relativistic hydrodynamic simulations applied to main-sequence stars with realistic internal density profiles, we examine full and partial tidal disruptions across a wide range of black hole mass ( ) and stellar mass ( ) as larger M BH leads to stronger relativistic effects. For fixed M ⋆, as M BH increases, the ratio of the maximum pericenter distance yielding full disruptions ( ) to its Newtonian prediction rises rapidly, becoming triple the Newtonian value for , while the ratio of the energy width of the stellar debris for full disruptions to the Newtonian prediction decreases steeply, resulting in a factor of 2 correction at . We provide approximate formulae that express the relativistic corrections of both and the energy width relative to their Newtonian approximate estimates. For partial disruptions, we find that the fractional remnant mass for a given ratio of the pericenter to is higher for larger M BH. These results have several implications. As M BH increases above , the cross section for complete disruptions is suppressed by competition with direct capture. However, the cross-section ratio for partial to complete disruptions depends only weakly on M BH. The relativistic correction to the debris energy width delays the time of peak mass-return rate and diminishes the magnitude of the peak return rate. For , the M BH-dependence of the full disruption cross section and the peak mass-return rate and time is influenced more by relativistic effects than by Newtonian dynamics.

Hawking radiation of non-Schwarzschild black holes in higher derivative gravity: A crucial role of grey-body factors

The higher derivative gravity includes corrections of the second order in curvature and allows for both Schwarzschild and non-Schwarzschild asymptotically flat black-hole solutions. Here we find the grey-body factors and energy emission rates for Hawking radiation of test Dirac and electromagnetic fields in the vicinity of such a non-Schwarzschild black hole. The temperature and mass of the black hole monotonically decrease from its Schwarzschild value to zero when the coupling constant is increased up to its extremal value. Nevertheless, for small and moderate values of the coupling constant the Hawking radiation is enhanced, and only in the regime of large coupling it is suppressed, as one could expect. The reason for such counter-intuitive behavior is the important role of the grey-body factors: for small and moderate couplings the temperature falls relatively slowly, while the effective potentials for black holes of the same mass become considerably lower, allowing for much higher transmission rates. We have also estimated the lifetime of such black holes and shown that the range of black-hole masses at which ultra-relativistic emission of massive electrons and positrons starts is shifted towards smaller black-hole masses when the coupling constant is large.

Measuring the Hubble Constant with Neutron Star Black Hole Mergers.

The detection of GW170817 and the identification of its host galaxy have allowed for the first standard-siren measurement of the Hubble constant, with an uncertainty of ∼14%. As more detections of binary neutron stars with redshift measurement are made, the uncertainty will shrink. The dominating factors will be the number of joint detections and the uncertainty on the luminosity distance of each event. Neutron star black hole mergers are also promising sources for advanced LIGO and Virgo. If the black hole spin induces precession of the orbital plane, the degeneracy between luminosity distance and the orbital inclination is broken, leading to a much better distance measurement. In addition, neutron star black hole sources are observable to larger distances, owing to their higher mass. Neutron star black holes could also emit electromagnetic radiation: depending on the black hole spin and on the mass ratio, the neutron star can be tidally disrupted, resulting in electromagnetic emission. We quantify the distance uncertainty for a wide range of black hole mass, spin, and orientations and find that the 1σ statistical uncertainty can be up to a factor of ∼10 better than for a nonspinning binary neutron star merger with the same signal-to-noise ratio. The better distance measurement, the larger gravitational-wave detectable volume, and the potentially bright electromagnetic emission imply that spinning black hole neutron star binaries can be the optimal standard-siren sources as long as their astrophysical rate is larger than O(10) Gpc^{-3} yr^{-1}, a value allowed by current astrophysical constraints.

Thermal activation of thin-shells in anti-de Sitter black hole spacetime

We investigate thermal activation of thin-shells around anti-de Sitter black holes. Under the thin-shell approximation, we extensively study the parameter region that allows a bubble nucleation bounded by a thin-shell out of a thermal bath. We show that in general if one fixes the temperature outside the shell, one needs to consider the presence of a conical deficit inside the shell in the Euclidean manifold, due to the lack of solutions with a smooth manifold. We show that for a given set of theoretical parameters, i.e., vacuum and shell energy density, there is a finite range of black hole masses that allow this transition. Most interestingly, one of them describes the complete evaporation of the initial black hole.

Extending the Calibration of C iv-based Single-epoch Black Hole Mass Estimators for Active Galactic Nuclei*

Abstract We provide an updated calibration of C iv λ 1549 broad emission line–based single-epoch (SE) black hole (BH) mass estimators for active galactic nuclei (AGNs) using new data for six reverberation-mapped AGNs at redshift z = 0.005 – 0.028 with BH masses (bolometric luminosities) in the range 10 6.5 – 10 7.5 M ⊙ ( 10 41.7 – 10 43.8 erg s−1). New rest-frame UV-to-optical spectra covering 1150–5700 Å for the six AGNs were obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Multicomponent spectral decompositions of the HST spectra were used to measure SE emission-line widths for the C iv, Mg ii, and Hβ lines, as well as continuum luminosities in the spectral region around each line. We combine the new data with similar measurements for a previous archival sample of 25 AGNs to derive the most consistent and accurate calibrations of the C iv-based SE BH mass estimators against the Hβ reverberation-based masses, using three different measures of broad-line width: full width at half maximum (FWHM), line dispersion ( σ line ), and mean absolute deviation (MAD). The newly expanded sample at redshift z = 0.005 – 0.234 covers a dynamic range in BH mass (bolometric luminosity) of log M BH / M ☉ = 6.5 – 9.1 ( log L bol / erg s−1 = 41.7 – 46.9 ), and we derive the new C iv-based mass estimators using a Bayesian linear regression analysis over this range. We generally recommend the use of σ line or MAD rather than FWHM to obtain a less biased velocity measurement of the C iv emission line, because its narrow-line component contribution is difficult to decompose from the broad-line profile.

VIRIAL BLACK HOLE MASS ESTIMATES FOR 280,000 AGNs FROM THE SDSS BROADBAND PHOTOMETRY AND SINGLE-EPOCH SPECTRA

Abstract We use the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Quasar Data Release 12 (DR12Q), containing nearly 300,000 active galactic nuclei (AGNs), to calculate the monochromatic luminosities at 5100, 3000, and 1350 Å, derived from the broadband extinction-corrected SDSS magnitudes. After matching these sources to their counterparts from the SDSS Quasar Data Release 7 (DR7Q), we find very high correlations between our luminosities and DR7Q spectra-based luminosities with minute mean offsets (∼0.01 dex) and dispersions of differences of 0.11, 0.10, and 0.12 dex, respectively, across a luminosity range of 2.5 dex. We then estimate the black hole (BH) masses of the AGNs using the broad line region radius–disk luminosity relations and the FWHM of the Mg ii and C iv emission lines, to provide a catalog of 283,033 virial BH mass estimates (132,451 for Mg ii, 213,071 for C iv, and 62,489 for both) along with the estimates of the bolometric luminosity and Eddington ratio for 0.1 &lt; z &lt; 5.5 and for roughly a quarter of the sky covered by SDSS. The BH mass estimates from Mg ii turned out to be closely matched to the ones from DR7Q with a dispersion of differences of 0.34 dex across a BH mass range of ∼2 dex. We uncovered a bias in the derived C iv FWHMs from DR12Q as compared to DR7Q, which we correct empirically. The C iv BH mass estimates should be used with caution because the C iv line is known to cause problems in the estimation of BH mass from single-epoch spectra. Finally, after the FWHM correction, the AGN BH mass estimates from C iv closely match the DR7Q ones (with a dispersion of 0.28 dex), and more importantly the Mg ii and C iv BH masses agree internally with a mean offset of 0.07 dex and a dispersion of 0.39 dex.

A BROADBAND X-RAY SPECTRAL STUDY OF THE INTERMEDIATE-MASS BLACK HOLE CANDIDATE M82 X-1 WITH NuSTAR, CHANDRA, AND SWIFT

ABSTRACT M82 X-1 is one of the brightest ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) known, which, assuming Eddington-limited accretion and other considerations, makes it one of the best intermediate-mass black-hole (IMBH) candidates. However, the ULX may still be explained by super-Eddington accretion onto a stellar remnant black hole. We present simultaneous NuSTAR, Chandra, and Swift/XRT observations during the peak of a flaring episode with the aim of modeling the emission of M82 X-1 and yielding insights into its nature. We find that thin accretion disk models all require accretion rates at or above the Eddington limit in order to reproduce the spectral shape, given a range of black-hole masses and spins. Since at these high Eddington ratios the thin-disk model breaks down due to radial advection in the disk, we discard the results of the thin-disk models as unphysical. We find that the temperature profile as a function of disk radius ( ) is significantly flatter ( ) than expected for a standard thin disk (p = 0.75). A flatter profile is instead characteristic of a slim disk, which is highly suggestive of super-Eddington accretion. Furthermore, radiation hydrodynamical simulations of super-Eddington accretion have shown that the predicted spectra of these systems are very similar to what we observe for M82 X-1. We therefore conclude that M82 X-1 is a super-Eddington accretor. Our mass estimates inferred from the inner disk radius imply a stellar remnant black hole ( = M ⊙) when assuming zero spin and face-on inclination, or an IMBH for maximal spin and a highly inclined disk.

Active galactic nuclei atz ∼ 1.5 – III. Accretion discs and black hole spin

This is the third paper in a series describing the spectroscopic properties of a sample of 39 AGN at $z \sim 1.5$, selected to cover a large range in black hole mass ($M_{BH}$) and Eddington ratio ($L/L_{Edd}$). In this paper, we continue the analysis of the VLT/X-shooter observations of our sample with the addition of 9 new sources. We use an improved Bayesian procedure, which takes into account intrinsic reddening, and improved $M_{BH}$ estimates, to fit thin accretion disc (AD) models to the observed spectra and constrain the spin parameter ($a_*$) of the central black holes. We can fit 37 out of 39 AGN with the thin AD model, and for those with satisfactory fits, we obtain constraints on the spin parameter of the BHs, with the constraints becoming generally less well defined with decreasing BH mass. Our spin parameter estimates range from $\sim$$-$0.6 to maximum spin for our sample, and our results are consistent with the "spin-up" scenario of BH spin evolution. We also discuss how the results of our analysis vary with the inclusion of non-simultaneous GALEX photometry in our thin AD fitting. Simultaneous spectra covering the rest-frame optical through far-UV are necessary to definitively test the thin AD theory and obtain the best constraints on the spin parameter.