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arXiv · 2308.11310

The disk reverberation mapping of X-ray weak quasars: a case study of SDSS J153913.47+395423.4

Marcin Marculewicz·Mouyuan Sun·Jianfeng Wu·Zhixiang Zhang
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Abstract

The widely adopted ``lamppost'' thermal reprocessing model, in which the variable UV/optical emission is a result of the accretion disk reprocessing of the highly fluctuating X-ray emission, can be tested by measuring inter-band time lags in quasars spanning a range of X-ray power. This work reports the inter-band time lag in an apparently X-ray weak quasar, SDSS J153913.47+395423.4. A significant cross-correlation with a time delay of $\sim 33$ days (observed-frame) is detected in the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) $g$ and $r$ light curves of SDSS J153913.47+395423.4. The observed X-ray power seems to be too weak to account for the observed inter-band cross-correlation with time delay. Hence the X-ray weak quasar SDSS J153913.47+395423.4 is either intrinsically X-ray normal (but observationally X-ray weak), or the X-ray emission is not the only mechanism to drive UV/optical variability. In the former case, the required X-ray power is at least 19 times stronger than observed, which requires either an exceptionally anisotropic corona or Compton-thick obscuration. Alternatively, the Corona-heated Accretion disk Reprocessing (CHAR) or the EUV torus models may account for the observed time lags.

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Marcin Marculewicz, Mouyuan Sun, Jianfeng Wu, Zhixiang Zhang. 2023-08-22. The disk reverberation mapping of X-ray weak quasars: a case study of SDSS J153913.47+395423.4. https://arxiv.org/abs/2308.11310

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