arXiv subjects

C. Martin Gaskell

Publications and source records attributed to C. Martin Gaskell.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2012

The Baldwin effect in the narrow emission lines of AGNs

The anti-correlations between the equivalent widths of emission lines and the continuum luminosity in AGNs, known as the Baldwin effect are well established for broad lines, but are less well studied for narrow lines. In this paper we explore the Baldwin effect of narrow emission lines over a wide range of ionization levels and critical densities using a large sample of broad-line, radio-quiet AGNs taken from Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 4. These type1 AGNs span three orders of magnitude in continuum luminosity. We show that most narrow lines show a similar Baldwin effect slope of about -0.2 while the significant deviations of the slopes for [NII] 6583, [OII] 3727, [NeV] 3425, and the narrow component of Ha can be explained by the influence of metallicity, star-formation contamination and possibly by difference in the shape of the UV-optical continuum. The slopes do not show any correlation with either the ionization potential or the critical density. We show that a combination of 50% variations in continuum near 5100A and a log-normal distribution of observed luminosity can naturally reproduce a constant Baldwin effect slope of -0.2 for all narrow lines. The variations of the continuum could be due to variability, intrinsic anisotropic emission, or an inclination effect.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2012

Discovery of Polarization Reverberation in NGC 4151

Observations of the optical polarization of NGC 4151 in 1997-2003 show variations of an order of magnitude in the polarized flux while the polarization position angle remains constant. The amplitude of variability of the polarized flux is comparable to the amplitude of variability of the total U-band flux, except that the polarized flux follows the total flux with a lag of 8 +/- 3 days. The time lag and the constancy of the position angle strongly favor a scattering origin for the variable polarization rather than a non-thermal synchrotron origin. The orientation of the position angle of the polarized flux (parallel to the radio axis) and the size of the lag imply that the polarization arises from electron scattering in a flattened region within the low-ionization component of the broad-line-region. Polarization from dust scattering in the equatorial torus is ruled out as the source of the lag in polarized flux because it would produce a larger lag and, unless the half-opening angle of the torus is more than 53 degrees, the polarization would be perpendicular to the radio axis. We note a long-term change in the percentage of polarization at similar total flux levels and this could be due either to changing non-axisymmetry in the optical continuum emission, or a change in the number of scatterers on a timescale of years.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2011

Accurate Black Hole Mass Measurements for Thermal AGNs and the Origin of the Correlations Between Black Hole Mass and Bulge Properties

A simple refinement is proposed to the Dibai method for determining black hole masses in type-1 thermal AGNs. Comparisons with reverberation mapping black hole masses and host galaxy bulge properties suggest that the method is accurate to +/- 0.15 dex. Contrary to what was thought when the black hole mass - stellar velocity dispersion ("M - sigma") relationship was first discovered, it does not have a lower dispersion than the black hole mass - bulge luminosity ("M - L") relationship. The dispersion in the M - L relationship for AGNs decreases strongly with increasing black hole mass or bulge luminosity. This is naturally explained as a consequence of the black hole - bulge relationships being the result of averaging due to mergers. Simulations show that the decrease in dispersion in the M - L relationship with increasing mass is in qualitative agreement with being driven by mergers. The large scatter in AGN black hole masses at lower masses rules out significant AGN feedback. A non-causal origin of the correlations between black holes and bulges explains the frequent lack of supermassive black holes in late-type galaxies, and the lack of correlation of black hole mass with pseudo-bulges.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2011

Off-Axis Energy Variability of AGNs: a New Paradigm for Broad-Line- and Continuum-Emitting Regions

The general picture of how thermal AGNs work has become clearer in recent years but major observational puzzles threaten to undermine this picture. These puzzles include AGNs with extremely asymmetric emission line profiles, inconsistent multi-wavelength variability, rapid apparent changes in the sizes of emitting regions and in the direction of gas flow, a curious insensitivity of gas in some narrow velocity ranges to changes in the ionizing continuum, and differing dependencies of polarization on gas velocity. It is proposed that all these puzzles can readily be explained by off-axis variability, and that there is no need to invoke exotic explanations such as binary supermassive black holes or recoiling black holes.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2011

Interplay between Stellar Spirals and the ISM in Galactic Disks

We propose a new dynamical picture of galactic stellar and gas spirals, based on hydrodynamic simulations in a `live' stellar disk. We focus especially on spiral structures excited in a isolated galactic disk without a stellar bar. Using high-resolution, 3-dimensional N-body/SPH simulations, we found that the spiral features of the gas in galactic disks are formed by essentially different mechanisms from the galactic shock in stellar density waves. The stellar spiral arms and the interstellar matter on average corotate in a galactic potential at any radii. Unlike the stream motions in the galactic shock, the interstellar matter flows into the local potential minima with irregular motions. The flows converge to form dense gas clouds/filaments near the bottom of the stellar spirals, whose global structures resemble dust-lanes seen in late-type spiral galaxies. The stellar arms are non-steady; they are wound and stretched by the galactic shear, and thus local densities of the arm change on a time scale of ~ 100 Myrs, due to bifurcating or merging with other arms. This makes the gas spirals associated with the stellar arms non-steady. The association of dense gas clouds are eventually dissolved into inter-arm regions with non-cirucular motions. Star clusters are formed from the cold, dense gases, whose ages are less than ~30 Myrs, and they are roughly associated with the background stellar arms without a clear spatial offset between gas spiral arms and distribution of young stars.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2010

Off-Axis Energy Generation in Active Galactic Nuclei: Explaining Broad-Line Profiles, Spectropolarimetric Observations, and Velocity-Resolved Reverberation Mapping

It is shown that broad-line region (BLR) line profiles ranging from the classic "logarithmic" profile to double-peaked, disk-like profiles are readily explained by the distribution of BLR gas proposed by Gaskell, Klimek, & Nazarova (2007; GKN) without any need to invoke fundamental differences in the AGNs other than differing viewing angles. It is argued that the highly-variable thermal energy generation in AGNs originates off axis in regions that cannot be axially symmetric. This off-axis model readily explains the varying degrees of temporal correlation found in multi-wavelength variability studies, the strong, variable asymmetry of BLR line profiles, the varying time delays in the response of the BLR to different continuum events, how narrow velocity ranges of line profiles will often appear to respond differently or not at all to continuum variability, complex changes in the Balmer decrement with velocity, inconsistent and variable inflow/outflow signatures found in velocity-resolved reverberation mapping, the diversity of velocity-dependent polarizations observed, and polarization variability. The fundamentally non-axisymmetric nature of AGN continuum variability severely limits what can be learned from reverberation mapping. In particular, high-fidelity reverberation mapping is not possible. There will be systematic orientation-dependent errors in black hole mass determinations. The effects of off-axis emission will mask subtle signatures of possible close supermassive black hole binaries. Some tests of the off-axis-variability model are proposed.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

The origin of the relationship between black hole mass and host galaxy bulge luminosity

There is a strong decrease in scatter in the black hole mass versus bulge luminosity relationship with increasing luminosity and very little scatter for the most luminous galaxies. It is shown that this is a natural consequence of the substantial initial dispersion in the ratio of black hole mass to total stellar mass and of subsequent galaxy growth through hierarchical mergers. "Fine-tuning" through feedback between black hole growth and bulge growth is neither necessary nor desirable.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

Accurate AGN black hole masses and the scatter in the M_{bh} - L_{bulge} relationship

A new empirical formulae is given for estimating the masses of black holes in AGNs from the H beta velocity dispersion and the continuum luminosity at 5100 Angstroms. It is calibrated to reverberation-mapping and stellar-dynamical estimates of black hole masses. The resulting mass estimates are as accurate as reverberation-mapping and stellar-dynamical estimates. The new mass estimates show that there is very little scatter in the M_{bh} - L_{bulge} relationship for high-luminosity galaxies, and that the scatter increases substantially in lower-mass galaxies.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Inflow of the Broad-Line Region and the Fundamental Limitations of Reverberation Mapping

The evidence from velocity-resolved reverberation mapping showing a net infall of the broad-line region (BLR) of AGNs is reviewed. Different lines in many objects at different epochs give a consistent picture of BLR motions. The motions are dominated by virialized motion (rotation plus turbulence) with significant net inflow. The BLR mass influx is sufficient to power the AGN. The increasing blueshifting of lines with increasing ionization potential is a consequence of scattering off infalling material. The high blueshiftings of the UV lines in Narrow-Line Seyfert 1s are due to enhanced BLR inflow rates rather than strong winds. Seemingly conflicting cases of apparent outflow reverberation mapping signatures are a result of the breakdown of the axial-symmetry assumption in reverberation mapping. There are several plausible causes of this breakdown: high-energy variability tends to be intrinsically anisotropic, regions of variability are necessarily located off-axis, and X-ray observations reveal major changes in line-of-sight column densities close to the black hole. Results from reverberation mapping campaigns dominated by a single event need to be treated with caution.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

What broad emission lines tell us about how active galactic nuclei work

I review progress made in understanding the nature of the broad-line region (BLR) of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and the role BLRs play in the AGN phenomenon. The high equivalent widths of the lines imply a high BLR covering factor, and the absence of clear evidence for absorption by the BLR means that the BLR has a flattened distribution and that we always view it near pole-on. The BLR gas is strongly self-shielding near the equatorial plane. Velocity-resolved reverberation mapping has long strongly excluded significant outflow of the BLR and shows instead that the predominant motions are Keplerian with large turbulence and a significant net inflow. The rotation and turbulence are consistent with the inferred geometry. The blueshifting of high-ionization lines is a consequence of scattering off inflowing material rather than the result of an outflowing wind. The rate of inflow of the BLR is sufficient to provide the accretion rate needed to power the AGN. Because the motions of the BLR are gravitationally dominated, and the BLR structure is very similar in most AGNs, consistent black hole masses can be determined. The good correlation between these estimates and masses predicted from the bulge luminosities of host galaxies provides strong support for the similarity of AGN continuum shapes and the correctness of the BLR picture presented. It is concluded that although many mysteries remain about the details of how AGNs work, a general overall picture of the torus and BLR is becoming clear.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Close supermassive binary black holes

It has been proposed that when the peaks of the broad emission lines in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are significantly blueshifted or redshifted from the systemic velocity of the host galaxy, this could be a consequence of orbital motion of a supermassive blackhole binary (SMB) (Gaskell 1983). The AGN J1536+0441 (=SDSS J153636.22+044127.0) has recently been proposed as an example of this phenomenon (Boroson & Lauer 2009). It is proposed here instead that 1536+044 is an example of line emission from a disc. If this is correct, the lack of clear optical spectral evidence for close SMBs is significant and argues either that the merging of close SMBs is much faster than has generally been hitherto thought, or if the approach is slow, that when the separation of the binary is comparable to the size of the torus and broad-line region, the feeding of the black holes is disrupted.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Disk-Jet Connection in the Radio Galaxy 3C 120

We present the results of extensive multi-frequency monitoring of the radio galaxy 3C 120 between 2002 and 2007 at X-ray, optical, and radio wave bands, as well as imaging with the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA). Over the 5 yr of observation, significant dips in the X-ray light curve are followed by ejections of bright superluminal knots in the VLBA images. Consistent with this, the X-ray flux and 37 GHz flux are anti-correlated with X-ray leading the radio variations. This implies that, in this radio galaxy, the radiative state of accretion disk plus corona system, where the X-rays are produced, has a direct effect on the events in the jet, where the radio emission originates. The X-ray power spectral density of 3C 120 shows a break, with steeper slope at shorter timescale and the break timescale is commensurate with the mass of the central black hole based on observations of Seyfert galaxies and black hole X-ray binaries. These findings provide support for the paradigm that black hole X-ray binaries and active galactic nuclei are fundamentally similar systems, with characteristic time and size scales linearly proportional to the mass of the central black hole. The X-ray and optical variations are strongly correlated in 3C 120, which implies that the optical emission in this object arises from the same general region as the X-rays, i.e., in the accretion disk-corona system. We numerically model multi-wavelength light curves of 3C 120 from such a system with the optical-UV emission produced in the disk and the X-rays generated by scattering of thermal photons by hot electrons in the corona. From the comparison of the temporal properties of the model light curves to that of the observed variability, we constrain the physical size of the corona and the distances of the emitting regions from the central BH.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2009

An Improved [O III] Line Width to Stellar Velocity Dispersion Calibration: Curvature, Scatter, and Lack of Evolution in the Black-Hole Mass Versus Stellar Velocity Dispersion Relationship

An improved transformation of the full width at half maxima (FWHM) of the [O III] 5007 line in AGNs to the stellar velocity dispersion, sigma, of the host galaxy is given. This significantly reduces the systematic errors in using the [O III] FWHM as a proxy for sigma. AGN black hole masses, M, estimated using the Dibai single epoch spectrum method, are combined with the new estimates of sigma to give a revised AGN M-sigma relationship extending up to high masses. This shows that the masses of the most massive black holes are systematically higher than predicted by extrapolation of M \propto sigma^4 to high masses. This supports recent suggestions that stellar dynamical masses of the most massive black holes have been systematically underestimated. The steepening of the M-sigma relationship is consistent with the absence of very high sigma galaxies in the local universe and with the curvature of the Faber-Jackson relationship. There appears to be significantly less intrinsic scatter in the M-sigma relationship for galaxies with black hole masses > 10^9 solar masses. It is speculated that this is connected with the core elliptical versus extra-light elliptical dichotomy. The low scatter in the high end of the M-sigma relationship implies that the transformation proposed here and the Dibai method are good indicators of stellar velocity dispersion and mass respectively. There is no evidence for evolution of the M-sigma relationship over time.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

An Improved Black Hole Mass - Bulge Luminosity Relationship for AGNs

Two effects have substantially increased the scatter in the AGN black hole mass - host galaxy bulge luminosity relationship derived from SDSS spectra. The first is that at a fixed black hole mass, the SDSS spectrum depends strongly on redshift because an SDSS fiber sees a larger fraction of the total light of more distant galaxies. The second is that at a given redshift, the fraction of host-galaxy light in the fiber increases with decreasing galaxy luminosity. We illustrate the latter effect using the Kormendy et al. (2009) light profiles of Virgo ellipticals. With allowance for the two effects, we obtain a black hole mass - bulge luminosity relationship for AGNs which has a scatter of only +/- 0.23 dex in mass. This is less than the scatter found for inactive galaxies, and is consistent with the measuring errors. We show that there is a correspondingly tight linear relationship between the fraction of host galaxy light in AGN spectra and the Eddington ratio. This linearity implies that at a given black hole mass, the host luminosities of high-accretion-rate AGNs (NLS1s) and low-accretion-rate AGNs are similar. The relationship between the fraction of host galaxy light and the Eddington ratio provides a simple means of estimating the fraction of host galaxy light in AGN spectra. This means that the real amplitude of variability of low-accretion-rate AGNs is increased relative to NLS1s.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2009

Variability of Active Galactic Nuclei from the Optical to X-ray Regions

Some progress in understanding AGN variability is reviewed. Reprocessing of X-ray radiation to produce significant amounts of longer-wavelength continua seems to be ruled out. In some objects where there has been correlated X-ray and optical variability, the amplitude of the optical variability has exceeded the amplitude of X-ray variability. We suggest that accelerated particles striking material could be linking X-ray and optical variability (as in activity in the solar chromosphere). Beaming effects could be significant in all types of AGN. The diversity in optical/X-ray relationships at different times in the same object, and between different objects, might be explained by changes in geometry and directions of motion relative to our line of sight. Linear shot-noise models of the variability are ruled out; instead there must be large-scale organization of variability. Variability occurs on light-crossing timescales rather than viscous timescales and this probably rules out the standard Shakura-Sunyaev accretion disk. Radio-loud and radio-quiet AGNs have similar continuum shapes and similar variability properties. This suggests similar continuum origins and variability mechanisms. Despite their extreme X-ray variability, narrow-line Seyfert 1s (NLS1s) do not show extreme optical variability.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

The Accuracy of Supermassive Black Hole Masses Determined by the Single-Epoch-Spectrum (Dibai) Method

The first set of supermassive black hole mass estimates, published from 1980 to 1984 by E. A. Dibai, are shown to be in excellent agreement with recent reverberation-mapping estimates. Comparison of the masses of 17 AGNs covering a mass range from about 10^6 to 10^9 solar masses shows that the Dibai mass estimates agree with reverberation-mapping mass estimates to significantly better than 0.3 dex and were, on average, only 0.14 dex (~ 40%) systematically lower than masses obtained from reverberation mapping. This surprising agreement with the results of over a quarter of a century ago has important implication for the structure and kinematics of AGNs and implies that AGNs are very similar. Our results give strong support to the use of the single-epoch-spectrum (Dibai) method for investigating the co-evolution of supermassive black holes and their host galaxies.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

Structure and Kinematics of the Broad-Line Region and Torus of Active Galactic Nuclei

Energetics considerations imply that the broad-line region (BLR) has a high covering factor. The absence of absorption from the BLR means that the BLR has to have a flattened distribution and be seen through a polar hole. The BLR is the inward extension of the torus and they have similar geometries and covering factors. Reconciling velocity-resolved reverberation mapping, spectropolarimetry, and the increasing blueshifting of BLR lines with decreasing distance from the centre, implies that the BLR has a significant inflow component. This inflow provides the mass inflow rate needed to power the AGN. We suggest that the mechanism producing the outward transport of angular momentum necessary for the net inflow of the BLR is the magneto-rotational instability, and that the BLR and outer accretion disc are one and the same.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2007

Accretion Disks and the Nature and Origin of AGN Continuum Variability

Theory and observations of the dominant thermal continuum emission in AGNs are examined. After correction for reddening, the steady state AGN optical--UV spectral energy distributions (SEDs) are very similar. The SEDs are dominated energetically by the big blue bump (BBB), but this bump never shows the nu^{+1/3} spectrum predicted for a standard thin accretion disk with a r^{-0.75} radial temperature gradient. Instead, the observed optical-UV SED implies a temperature gradient of r^{-0.57} independent of the thickness of the disk. This means that there is some flow of heat outwards in the disk. The disk is large and the region emitting the optical continuum is as large as the inner broad-line region (BLR). Because optical variability is seen in all AGNs on the light-crossing time of the BLR, variations must propagate at close to the speed of light, rather than on dynamical timescales. This argues that the energy-generation mechanism is electromagnetic rather that hydrodynamic. Since the velocities are near the speed of light, there can be significant local anisotropy in the emission. The large rapid variations of the BBB imply that the magnetohydrodynamic energy generation is fundamentally unstable. Because of the inevitable radial temperature gradient in the accreting material, different spectral regions come predominantly from different radii, and variations in different spectral regions correspond to variability at different radii. This explains the frequently observed independence of X-ray and optical variations, cases of variability at lower energies leading variability at higher energies, and rapid changes in emission-line reverberation lags. Some observational tests of the local variability hypothesis are proposed.

astro-ph↗