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arXiv · 2610.23028

Gamma-ray calorimetry of Seyfert winds

Alberto Domínguez
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Abstract

Two stacking analyses with the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) detected GeV emission from radio-quiet Seyferts, one selected by an X-ray ultra-fast outflow (UFO) and one hard-X-ray-bright, with similar luminosities attributed to different mechanisms: wind shocks and the accretion-disk corona. We investigate how efficiently Seyfert outflows convert mechanical power into GeV photons, whether the two detections require distinct mechanisms, and how Seyferts compare with low-ionization nuclear emission-line regions (LINERs). Without new Fermi-LAT data reduction, we homogenize published measurements to 0.1-100 GeV, place local mechanical accelerators on one L_gamma-Edot diagram, and express eta = L_gamma/Edot as a fraction rho of the complete-calorimetry efficiency eta_max ~ 2.5%, inverting rho for the ambient density required by pp losses. Winds from Seyfert active galactic nuclei (AGN) have rho = 0.020 (+0.018/-0.011) for acceleration efficiency 0.1, a factor of ~13.5 below starburst superwinds (rho = 0.26 (+0.37/-0.16)). The difference exceeds a factor of three with probability 0.95 and is independent of acceleration parameters common to both classes; it is conditional on the wind kinetic powers, collapsing only if every wind sits at its minimum launch radius. The implied densities, ~10 and ~100 cm^-3, are consistency values: density, shock radius and speed are degenerate. The two stacking detections agree within a factor of 1.75 in gamma-ray output per unit Eddington luminosity, but the 95% interval, 0.26-24, is too wide to distinguish them. A third stack, of 186 low-luminosity AGN, extends the comparison 1.5 dex lower, ordered by AGN power. GeV detectability of non-jetted AGN is set by the product of mechanical power and calorimetric fraction. LINER outflows fail on power; for the adopted wind energetics, Seyfert UFO winds fail on calorimetry; starburst superwinds succeed on both.

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Alberto Domínguez. 2026-10-16. Gamma-ray calorimetry of Seyfert winds. https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.23028

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