Relation Of Active Galactic Nuclei Research Articles

Merger-driven Growth of Intermediate-mass Black Holes: Constraints from Hubble Space Telescope Imaging of Hyper-luminous X-Ray Sources

Hyper-luminous X-ray sources (HLXs) are extragalactic off-nuclear X-ray sources with luminosities exceeding the theoretical limit for accretion onto stellar-mass compact objects. Many HLXs may represent intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) deposited in galaxy halos through mergers, and the properties of the stellar cores surrounding HLXs provide powerful constraints on this scenario. Therefore, we have systematically built the largest sample of HLX candidates with archival Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging (24) for the first uniform population study of HLX stellar cores down to low masses. Based on their host galaxy redshifts, at least 21 (88%) have stellar core masses ≥ 107 M ⊙ and hence are consistent with accretion onto massive black holes from external galaxies. In 50% of the sample, the HST imaging reveals features connecting the HLXs with their host galaxies, strongly suggesting against the background/foreground contaminant possibility in these cases. Assuming a mass scaling relation for active galactic nuclei and accounting for an estimated contamination fraction of 29%, up to ∼60% of our sample may be associated with IMBHs. Similar to previously known HLXs, the X-ray luminosities are systematically elevated relative to their stellar core masses, possibly from merger-driven accretion rate enhancements. The least massive stellar cores are preferentially found at larger nuclear offsets and are more likely to remain wandering in their host galaxy halos. The HLX galaxy occupation fraction is ∼ 10−2 and has a strong inverse mass dependence. Up to three of the HLX candidates (12%) are potentially consistent with formation within globular clusters or with exceptionally luminous X-ray binaries.

Effect of Extinction on Quasar Luminosity Distances Determined from UV and X-Ray Flux Measurements

In Khadka et al., a sample of X-ray-detected reverberation-mapped quasars was presented and applied for the comparison of cosmological constraints inferred using two well-established relations in active galactic nuclei—the X-ray/UV luminosity (L X –L UV) relation and the broad-line region radius–luminosity (R–L) relation. L X –L UV and R–L luminosity distances to the same quasars exhibit a distribution of their differences that is generally asymmetric and positively shifted for the six cosmological models we consider. We demonstrate that this behavior can be interpreted qualitatively as arising as a result of the dust extinction of UV/X-ray quasar emission. We show that the extinction always contributes to the nonzero difference between L X –L UV-based and R–L-based luminosity distances and we derive a linear relationship between the X-ray/UV color index E X−UV and the luminosity-distance difference, which also depends on the value of the L X –L UV relation slope. Taking into account the median and the peak values of the luminosity-distance difference distributions, the average X-ray/UV color index falls in the range of E¯X−UV=0.03–0.28 mag for the current sample of 58 sources. This amount of extinction is typical for the majority of quasars and can be attributed to the circumnuclear and interstellar media of host galaxies. After applying the standard hard X-ray and far-UV extinction cuts, heavily extincted sources are removed but overall the shift toward positive values persists. The effect of extinction on luminosity distances is more pronounced for the L X –L UV relation since the extinction of UV and X-ray emissions both contribute.

X-ray illuminated accretion discs and quasar microlensing disc sizes

Aims. We study the half-light radius versus black hole mass as well as the luminosity versus black hole mass relations in active galactic nuclei (AGN) when the disc is illuminated by the X-ray corona. Methods. We used KYNSED, a recently developed spectral model for studying broadband spectral energy distribution in AGN. We considered non-illuminated Novikov-Thorne discs and X-ray illuminated discs based on a Novikov-Thorne temperature radial profile. We also considered the case where the temperature profile is modified by a colour-correction factor. In the case of X-ray illumination, we assumed that the X-ray luminosity is equal to the accretion power that is dissipated to the disc below a transition radius and we computed the half-light radius and the disc luminosity for many black hole masses, as well as a wide range of accretion rates, black hole spins, X-ray luminosities and heights of the corona. Results. The half-light radius of X-ray illuminated radii can be up to ∼3.5 times greater than the radius of a standard disc, even for a non-spinning black hole, based on a wide range of model parameters – as long as the transition radius is larger than three times the radius of the innermost stable circular orbit and the coronal height is greater than ∼40 Rg. This result is due to the fact that the absorbed X-rays act as a secondary source of energy, increasing the disc temperature, and mainly at large radii. Non-illuminated discs are consistent with observations, but only at the 2.5σ level. On the other hand, X-ray illuminated discs can explain both the half-light radius-black hole mass as well as the luminosity-black hole mass relation in AGN, for a wide range of physical parameters. The range of the parameter space is broader in the case where we consider the colour-correction factor. X-ray illuminated discs can explain the data when we observe gravitationally lensed quasars mainly face-on, but also if the mean inclination angle is 60°. In addition, we show that the observed X-ray luminosity of the gravitationally lensed quasars is fully consistent with the X-ray luminosity that is necessary for heating the disc. Conclusions. X-ray disc illumination was proposed many years ago to explain various features that are commonly observed in the X-ray spectra of AGN. Recently, we showed that X-ray illumination of the accretion disc can also explain the observed UV/optical time-lags in AGN, while in this work, we show that the same model can also account for the quasar micro-lensing disc size problem. These results support the hypothesis of the disc X-ray illumination in AGN.

Chemical abundances of Seyfert 2 AGNs – I. Comparing oxygen abundances from distinct methods using SDSS

ABSTRACT We compare the oxygen abundance (O/H) of the narrow-line regions (NLRs) of Seyfert 2 AGNs obtained through strong-line methods and from direct measurements of the electron temperature (Te-method). The aim of this study is to explore the effects of the use of distinct methods on the range of metallicity and on the mass–metallicity relation of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) at low redshifts (z ≲ 0.4). We used the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED) to selected optical (3000 < λ(Å) < 7000) emission line intensities of 463 confirmed Seyfert 2 AGNs. The oxygen abundances of the NLRs were estimated using the theoretical Storchi-Bergmann et al. calibrations, the semi-empirical N2O2 calibration, the Bayesian H ii-Chi-mistry code and the Te-method. We found that the oxygen abundance estimations via the strong-line methods differ from each other up to ∼0.8 dex, with the largest discrepancies in the low-metallicity regime ($\rm 12+\log (O/H) \: \lesssim \: 8.5$). We confirmed that the Te-method underestimates the oxygen abundance in NLRs, producing unreal subsolar values. We did not find any correlation between the stellar mass of the host galaxies and the metallicity of their AGNs. This result is independent of the method used to estimate Z.

Does the mid-infrared–hard X-ray luminosity relation for active galactic nuclei depend on Eddington ratio?

We revisit the correlation between the mid-infrared (6 $\mu$m) and hard X-ray (2--10 keV) luminosities of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) to understand the physics behind it. We construct an X-ray flux-limited sample of 571 type 1 AGNs with $f_{0.5-2.0 \,{\rm keV}} > 2.4 \times 10^{-12}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$, drawn from the ROSAT Bright Survey catalog. Cross-matching the sample with infrared data taken from Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, we investigate the relation between the rest-frame 6 $\mu$m luminosity ($L_{\rm 6}$) and the rest-frame 2--10 keV luminosity ($L_{\rm X}$), where $L_{\rm 6}$ is corrected for the contamination of host galaxies by using the spectral energy distribution fitting technique. We confirm that $L_{\rm 6}$ and $L_{\rm X}$ are correlated over four orders of magnitude, in the range of $L_{\rm X} = 10^{42-46}$ erg s$^{-1}$. We investigate what kinds of physical parameters regulate this correlation. We find that $L_{\rm X}$/$L_{\rm 6}$ clearly depends on the Eddington ratio ($\lambda_{\rm Edd}$) as $\log \lambda_{\rm Edd} = -(0.56 \pm 0.10) \log \, (L_{\rm X}/L_{\rm 6}) - (1.07 \pm 0.05)$, even taking into account quasars that are undetected by ROSAT as well as those detected by XMM-Newton in the literature. We also add hyper-luminous quasars with $L_{\rm 6}$ $>$ 10$^{46}$ erg s$^{-1}$ in the literature and perform a correlation analysis. The resultant correlation coefficient is $-0.41 \pm 0.07$, indicating a moderately tight correlation between $L_{\rm X}$/$L_{\rm 6}$ and $\lambda_{\rm Edd}$. This means that AGNs with high Eddington ratios tend to have lower X-ray luminosities with respect to the mid-infrared luminosities. This dependence can be interpreted as a change in the structure of the accretion flow.

Update on the X-Ray Variability Plane for Active Galactic Nuclei: The Role of the Obscuration

Abstract Scaling relations are the most powerful astrophysical tools to set constraints on the physical mechanisms of astronomical sources and to infer properties that cannot be accessed directly. We reinvestigate here one of these scaling relations in active galactic nuclei (AGNs); the so-called X-ray variability plane (or mass–luminosity timescale relation). This relation links the power-spectral density (PSD) break frequency with the super-massive black hole (SMBH) mass and the bolometric luminosity. We used the available XMM-Newton observations of a sample of 22 AGNs to study the PSD and spectra in short segments within each observation. This allows us to report for the first time that the PSD break frequency varies for each object, showing variations in 19 out of the 22 AGNs analyzed. Our analysis of the variability plane confirms the relation between the break frequency and the SMBH mass and finds that the obscuration along the line of sight N H (or the variations on the obscuration using its standard deviation, ΔN H) is also a required parameter, at least for the range of frequencies analyzed here ( ). We constrain a new variability plane of the following form: (or ). The X-ray variability plane found by McHardy et al. is roughly recovered when we use unobscured segments. We speculate that this behavior is well explained if most of the reported frequencies are related to inner clouds (within 1 pc), following Kepler orbits under the gravitational field of the SMBH.

A multi-epoch spectroscopic study of the BAL quasar APM 08279+5255

The study of high-redshift bright quasars is crucial to gather information about the history of galaxy assembly and evolution. Variability analyses can provide useful data on the physics of the quasar processes and their relation with the host galaxy. In this study, we aim at measuring the black hole mass of the bright lensed BAL QSO APM 08279+5255 at $z=3.911$ through reverberation mapping, and at updating and extending the monitoring of its C IV absorption line variability. Thanks to 138 R-band photometric data and 30 spectra available over 16 years of observations, we perform the first reverberation mapping of the Si IV and C IV emission lines for a high-luminosity quasar at high redshift. We also cross-correlate the C IV absorption equivalent width variations with the continuum light curve, in order to estimate the recombination time lags of the various absorbers and infer the physical conditions of the ionised gas. We find a reverberation-mapping time lag of $\sim 900$ rest-frame days for both Si IV and C IV emission lines. This is consistent with an extension of the BLR size-to-luminosity relation for active galactic nuclei up to a luminosity of $\sim 10^{48}$ erg/s, and implies a black hole mass of $10^{10}$ $M_\odot$. Additionally, we measure a recombination time lag of $\sim 160$ days in the rest frame for the C IV narrow absorption system, which implies an electron density of the absorbing gas of $\sim 2.5 \cdot 10^4$ cm$^{-3}$. The measured black hole mass of APM 08279+5255 indicates that the quasar resides in an under-massive host-galaxy bulge with $M_{bulge} \sim 7.5 M_{BH}$, and that the lens magnification is lower than $\sim 8$. Finally, the inferred electron density of the narrow-line absorber implies a distance of the order of 10 kpc of the absorbing gas from the quasar, placing it within the host galaxy.

THE RELATION BETWEEN LUMINOUS AGNs AND STAR FORMATION IN THEIR HOST GALAXIES

We study the relation of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) to star formation in their host galaxies. Our sample includes 205 Type-1 and 85 Type-2 AGNs, 162 detected with Herschel, from fields surrounding 30 galaxy clusters in the Local Cluster Substructure Survey (LoCuSS). The sample is identified by optical line widths and ratios after selection to be brighter than 1 mJy at 24 microns. We show that Type-2 AGN [OIII]5007 line fluxes at high z can be contaminated by their host galaxies with typical spectrograph entrance apertures (but our sample is not compromised in this way). We use spectral energy distribution (SED) templates to decompose the galaxy SEDs and estimate star formation rates, AGN luminosities, and host galaxy stellar masses (described in an accompanying paper). The AGNs arise from massive black holes (~ 3 X 10^8 Msun) accreting at ~ 10% of the Eddington rate and residing in galaxies with stellar mass > 3 X 10^{10} Msun; those detected with Herschel have IR luminosity from star formation in the range of 10^{10} -- 10^{12} Lsun. We find that: 1.) the specific star formation rates in the host galaxies are generally consistent with those of normal star-forming (main sequence) galaxies; 2.) there is a strong correlation between the luminosities from star formation and the AGN; and 3.) however, the correlation may not result from a causal connection, but could arise because the black hole mass (and hence AGN Eddington luminosity) and star formation are both correlated with the galaxy mass.

THE EXTENDED NARROW-LINE REGION OF TWO TYPE-I QUASI-STELLAR OBJECTS

We investigate the narrow-line region (NLR) of two radio-quiet QSOs, PG1012+008 and PG1307+085, using high signal-to-noise spatially resolved long-slit spectra obtained with FORS1 at the Very Large Telescope. Although the emission is dominated by the point-spread function of the nuclear source, we are able to detect extended NLR emission out to several kpc scales in both QSOs by subtracting the scaled central spectrum from outer spectra. In contrast to the nuclear spectrum, which shows a prominent blue wing and a broad line profile of the [O III] line, the extended emission reveals no clear signs of large scale outflows. Exploiting the wide wavelength range, we determine the radial change of the gas properties in the NLR, i.e., gas temperature, density, and ionization parameter, and compare them with those of Seyfert galaxies and type-II QSOs. The QSOs have higher nuclear temperature and lower electron density than Seyferts, but show no significant difference compared to type-II QSOs, while the ionization parameter decreases with radial distance, similar to the case of Seyfert galaxies. For PG1012+008, we determine the stellar velocity dispersion of the host galaxy. Combined with the black hole mass, we find that the luminous radio-quiet QSO follows the local M_BH-sigma* relation of active galactic nuclei.

The black hole-bulge relations in active galactic nuclei

We show that Massive Black Holes of AGNs follow the same approximately linear relation with the luminosity of the host spheroid (bulge) found in normal (quiescent) galaxies, with the black hole mass being 0.002 that of the bulge. We also demonstrate that Narrow line AGNs seem to have a significantly lower Mbh/Lbulge ratio, which implies a new strong correlation between Mbh/Lbulge and the width of the broad emission lines of AGNs (Wandel 2002). Combining existing data, new observations and extrapolation schemes based on the Faber-Jackson relation, the relation between the BH mass and the stellar velocity dispersion in the host bulge of AGNs is constructed. It too agrees with the relation found in quiescent galaxies.To search for other articles by the author(s) go to: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abstract_service.html

Reverberation Measurements for 17 Quasars and the Size‐Mass‐Luminosity Relations in Active Galactic Nuclei

(abridged) We have spectrophotometrically monitored a well-defined sample of 28 Palomar-Green quasars in order to obtain measurements of their BLRs and to investigate the relationships between quasar luminosity, central black hole mass, and broad emission line region (BLR) size in active galactic nuclei (AGN). Spectrophotometry was obtained every 1-4 months for 7.5 years, yielding 20-70 observing epochs per object. Both the continuum and emission line fluxes of all of the quasars were observed to change during the duration of the observing program. Seventeen of the 28 objects were observed with adequate sampling to search for correlated variations between the Balmer emission lines and the continuum flux. For each of these 17 objects, a significant correlation was observed, with the Balmer line variations lagging those of the continuum by \~100 days (rest frame). Our work increases the available luminosity range for studying the size-mass-luminosity relations in AGN by two orders of magnitude and doubles the number of objects suitable for such studies. Combining our results with comparable published data available for Seyfert 1 galaxies, we find the BLR size scales with the rest-frame 5100 A luminosity as L^{0.70+-0.03}. This determination of the scaling of the size of the BLR as a function of luminosity is significantly different from those previously published, and suggests that the effective ionization parameter in AGN may be a decreasing function of luminosity. We are also able to constrain, subject to our assumption that gravity dominates the motions of the BLR gas, the scaling relationship between the mass of the central black holes and the luminosity in AGN: M \propto L^{0.5+-0.1}. This is inconsistent with all AGN having optical luminosity that is a constant fraction of the Eddington luminosity.

Mass-luminosity relation for active galactic nuclei

The catalog of parameters of active nuclei of galaxies made by E.A. Dibai has been used to consider the luminosity of active nuclei in different spectral ranges as a function of the mass of the nuclei. It is shown that for the nuclei of type 1 Seyfert galaxies and close quasars the dependence of the bolometric luminosity on the mass (L/sub bol//approximately/ m/sup 4/3/) satisfies Hills's model.