An Expanded RXTE Survey of X-ray Variability in Seyfert 1 Galaxies

Abstract

The first seven years of RXTE monitoring of Seyfert 1 active galactic nuclei have been systematically analyzed to yield five homogeneous samples of 2-12 keV light curves, probing hard X-ray variability on successively longer durations from ~1 day to ~3.5 years. 2-10 keV variability on time scales of ~1 day, as probed by ASCA, are included. All sources exhibit stronger X-ray variability towards longer time scales, but the increase is greater for relatively higher luminosity sources. Variability amplitudes are anti-correlated with X-ray luminosity and black hole mass, but amplitudes saturate and become independent of luminosity or black hole mass towards the longest time scales. The data are consistent with the models of power spectral density (PSD) movement described in Markowitz et al. (2003a) and McHardy et al. (2004), whereby Seyfert 1 galaxies' variability can be described by a single, universal PSD shape whose break frequency scales with black hole mass. The best-fitting scaling relations between variability time scale, black hole mass and X-ray luminosity imply an average accretion rate of ~5% of the Eddington limit for the sample. Nearly all sources exhibit stronger variability in the relatively soft 2-4 keV band compared to the 7-12 keV band on all time scales. There are indications that relatively less luminous or less massive sources exhibit a greater degree of spectral variability for a given increase in overall flux.