arXiv subjects

Edi Bon

Publications and source records attributed to Edi Bon.

13 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Feeding frenzy in the mighty black holes: what we could learn from them?

Eddington ratio is a paramount parameter governing the accretion history and life cycles of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs). This short review presents a multi-faceted view of the importance of the Eddington ratio spanning varied AGN studies. We find that the Eddington ratio is crucial for standardizing the Radius-Luminosity (R-L) relation - a necessary step for employing quasars (QSOs) as standardizable cosmological probes to help clarify the standing of the Hubble tension. In this data-driven era, we consolidated disparate aspects by developing novel relations borne out of large datasets, such as the robust, nearly universal anti-correlation between fractional variability and Eddington ratio derived from Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) data, which is vital for interpreting forthcoming high-cadence surveys like Rubin Observatory's LSST. Addressing the conundrum where JWST results suggest an overabundance of massive high-redshift black holes, we demonstrate that local AGNs offer clarification: Changing-Look AGNs (CLAGNs), driven by rapid Eddington ratio shifts, cluster in the low-accretion regime, a rate independently confirmed by our integral field spectroscopy and photoionization modeling of a well-known Seyfert 2 galaxy, rich in high-ionization, forbidden, coronal lines. Conversely, for the high-redshift, high-luminosity population where traditional reverberation mapping (RM) is highly impractical, photometric reverberation mapping (PRM) offers a rapid alternative to constrain accretion disk sizes, enabling efficient estimates of black hole masses and Eddington ratios. Finally, we developed tailored semi-empirical spectral energy distributions (SEDs) for extremely high-accretion quasars, successfully validating their characteristic extreme physical conditions.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

Where to search for supermassive binary black holes

Supermassive binary black holes (SMBBHs) are the anticipated byproducts of galaxy mergers and play a pivotal role in shaping galaxy evolution, gravitational wave emissions, and accretion physics. Despite their theoretical prevalence, direct observational evidence for SMBBHs remains elusive, with only a handful of candidates identified to date. This paper explores optimal strategies and key environments for locating SMBBHs, focusing on observational signatures in the broad Balmer lines. We present a preliminary analysis on a flux-limited sample of sources belonging to an evolved spectral type along the quasar main sequence, and we discuss the spectroscopic clues indicative of binary activity and highlight the critical role of time-domain spectroscopic surveys in uncovering periodic variability linked to binary systems.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

From sub-solar to super-solar chemical abundances along the quasar main sequence

The 4D Eigenvector 1 sequence has proven to be a highly effective tool for organizing observational and physical properties of type 1 active galactic nuclei (AGN). In this paper, we present multiple measurements of metallicity for the broad line region gas, from new or previously published data. We demonstrate a consistent trend along the optical plane of the E1 (also known as the quasar main sequence), defined by the line width of H$\beta$ and by a parameter measuring the prominence of singly-ionized iron emission. The trend involves an increase from sub-solar metallicity in correspondence with extreme Population B (weak FeII emission, large H$\beta$ FWHM) to metallicity several tens the solar value in correspondence with extreme Population A (very strong FeII optical emission, narrower H$\beta$ profiles). The data establish the metallicity as a correlate of the 4D E1/main sequence. If the very high metallicity gas ($Z \gtrsim 10 Z_\odot$) is expelled from the sphere of influence of the central black hole, as indicated by the widespread evidence of nuclear outflows and disk wind in the case of sources radiating at high Eddington ratio, then it is possible that the outflows from quasars played a role in chemically enriching the host galaxy.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2023

Saturation of the curve -- diagnostics of the continuum and H$\beta$ emission in Population B active galaxy NGC 5548

NGC 5548 has been hailed as an archetypical type-1 active galactic nuclei (AGN) and serves as a valuable laboratory to study the long-term variation of its broad-line region (BLR). In this work, we re-affirm our finding on the connection between the continuum variability in the optical regime and the corresponding H$\beta$ response to it, in order to realize the increase, albeit with a gradual saturation, in the H$\beta$ emitting luminosity with increasing AGN continuum. This effect is also known as the Pronik-Chuvaev effect after the authors who first demonstrated this effect using long-term monitoring of another well-studied Type-1 AGN - Mrk 6. We employ a homogeneous, multi-component spectral fitting procedure over a broad range of spectral epochs that is then used to create the continuum and H$\beta$ light curves. We focus on the epoch range 48636-49686 MJD, different from our previous analysis. We again notice a clear signature of shallowing in the trend between the H$\beta$ and the continuum luminosities. We attempt to recover this H$\beta$ emission trend as a response to a significant continuum flux increase using CLOUDY photoionization simulations and employ a suitable broad-band spectral energy distribution for this source. We explore the wide range in the physical parameters space for modelling the H$\beta$ emission from the BLR appropriate for this source. We employ a constant density, single cloud model approach in this study and successfully recover the observed shallowing of the H$\beta$ emission with respect to the rising AGN continuum and provide constraints on the local BLR densities and the location of the H$\beta$ emitting BLR which agrees with the H$\beta$ time-lags reported from the long-term reverberation mapping monitoring. On the contrary, we do not find a significant breathing effect in the location of the H$\beta$ line-emitting BLR for this epoch in NGC 5548.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2023

Broad-line region in NGC 4151 monitored by two decades of reverberation mapping campaigns. I. Evolution of structure and kinematics

We report the results of long-term reverberation mapping (RM) campaigns of the nearby active galactic nuclei (AGN) NGC 4151, spanning from 1994 to 2022, based on archived observations of the FAST Spectrograph Publicly Archived Programs and our new observations with the 2.3m telescope at the Wyoming Infrared Observatory. We reduce and calibrate all the spectra in a consistent way, and derive light curves of the broad H$\beta$ line and 5100\,{\AA} continuum. Continuum light curves are also constructed using public archival photometric data to increase sampling cadences. We subtract the host galaxy contamination using {\it HST} imaging to correct fluxes of the calibrated light curves. Utilizing the long-term archival photometric data, we complete the absolute flux-calibration of the AGN continuum. We find that the H$\beta$ time delays are correlated with the 5100\,{\AA} luminosities as $\tau_{\rm H\beta}\propto L_{5100}^{0.46\pm0.16}$. This is remarkably consistent with Bentz et al. (2013)'s global size-luminosity relationship of AGNs. Moreover, the data sets for five of the seasons allow us to obtain the velocity-resolved delays of the H$\beta$ line, showing diverse structures (outflows, inflows and disks). Combining our results with previous independent measurements, we find the measured dynamics of the H$\beta$ broad-line region (BLR) are possibly related to the long-term trend of the luminosity. There is also a possible additional $\sim$1.86 years time lag between the variation in BLR radius and luminosity. These results suggest that dynamical changes in the BLR may be driven by the effects of radiation pressure.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2021

Optical singly-ionized iron emission in radio-quiet and relativistically jetted active galactic nuclei

The issue of the difference between optical and UV properties of radio-quiet and radio-loud (relativistically "jetted") active galactic nuclei (AGN) is a long standing one, related to the fundamental question of why a minority of powerful AGN possess strong radio emission due to relativistic ejections. This paper examines a particular aspect: the singly-ionized iron emission in the spectral range 4400 -- 5600 A, where the prominent HI H$\beta$ and [OIII] 4959, 5007 lines are also observed. We present a detailed comparison of the relative intensity of Fe II multiplets in the spectral types of the quasar main sequence where most jetted sources are found, and afterwards discuss radio-loud narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLSy1) nuclei with $\gamma$-ray detection and with prominent Fe II emission. An Fe II template based on I Zw 1 provides an accurate representation of the optical Fe II emission for RQ and, with some caveats, also for RL sources. CLOUDY photoionization simulations indicate that the observed spectral energy distribution can account for the modest Fe II emission observed in composite radio-loud spectra. However, spectral energy differences alone cannot account for the stronger Fe II emission observed in radio-quiet sources, for similar physical parameters. As for RL NLSy1s, they do not seem to behave like other RL sources, likely because of their different physical properties that could be ultimately associated with a higher Eddington ratio.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2021

Taming the derivative: diagnostics of the continuum and H$\beta$ emission in a prototypical Population B active galaxy

We report preliminary results on the analysis of the continuum and H$\beta$ light curves of the type-1 active galactic nucleus (AGN) NGC 5548. We notice a clear signature of shallowing in the trend between the H$\beta$ and the continuum luminosities. We attempt the recovery of this observed H$\beta$ emission trend as a response to large continuum flux increase using CLOUDY photoionization simulations. We explore a wide range in the physical parameters space for modelling the H$\beta$ emission from the broad-line region (BLR) appropriate for this source. We employ a constant density, single cloud model approach in this study and successfully recover the observed shallowing of the H$\beta$ emission with respect to the rising AGN continuum. With our modelling, we are able to provide constraints on the local BLR cloud density and recover the BLR distances (from the continuum source) consistent with the H$\beta$ reverberation mapping estimates. We further discuss the implications of the BLR covering factor and their sizes on recovering the observed trend.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2020

Changing-look active galactic nuclei: close binaries of supermassive black holes in action

Changing-look active galactic nuclei (CL-AGNs) as a new subpopulation challenge some fundamental physics of AGNs because the timescales of the phenomenon can hardly be reconciled with accretion disk models. In this Letter{\textit{}}, we demonstrate the extreme case: close binaries of supermassive black holes (CB-SMBHs) with high eccentricities are able to trigger the CL transition through one orbit. In this scenario, binary black holes build up their own mini-disks by peeling gas off the inner edges of the circumbinary disk during the apastron phase, after which they tidally interact with the disks during the periastron phase to efficiently exchange angular momentum within one orbital period. For mini-disks rotating retrograde to the orbit, the tidal torque rapidly squeezes the tidal parts of the mini-disks into a much smaller radius, which rapidly results in higher accretion and short flares before the disks decline into type-2 AGNs. Prograde-rotation mini-disks gain angular momentum from the binary and rotate outward, which causes a rapid turn-off from type-1 to type-2. Turn-on occurs around the apastron phase. CB-SMBHs control cycle transitions between type-1 and type-2 with orbital periods but allow diverse properties in CL-AGN light curves.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2018

Black holes, gravitational waves and fundamental physics: a roadmap

The grand challenges of contemporary fundamental physics---dark matter, dark energy, vacuum energy, inflation and early universe cosmology, singularities and the hierarchy problem---all involve gravity as a key component. And of all gravitational phenomena, black holes stand out in their elegant simplicity, while harbouring some of the most remarkable predictions of General Relativity: event horizons, singularities and ergoregions. The hitherto invisible landscape of the gravitational Universe is being unveiled before our eyes: the historical direct detection of gravitational waves by the LIGO-Virgo collaboration marks the dawn of a new era of scientific exploration. Gravitational-wave astronomy will allow us to test models of black hole formation, growth and evolution, as well as models of gravitational-wave generation and propagation. It will provide evidence for event horizons and ergoregions, test the theory of General Relativity itself, and may reveal the existence of new fundamental fields. The synthesis of these results has the potential to radically reshape our understanding of the cosmos and of the laws of Nature. The purpose of this work is to present a concise, yet comprehensive overview of the state of the art in the relevant fields of research, summarize important open problems, and lay out a roadmap for future progress.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2018

AGN Broad Line Region variability in the context of Eigenvector 1: case of NGC 5548

Many active galactic nuclei (AGN) show strong variability of the optical continuum. Since the line flux, profile shapes and intensity ratios are changing, we analyze the variability patterns and possible periodicity of Type 1 AGN NGC 5548, using the Eigenvector 1 (EV1) diagram in different variability states, taking advantage of very long term monitoring campaign data. The preliminary results suggest that NGC 5548 - a highly variable object that over several decades has shown large amplitude continuum fluctuations and flaring behavior - remains Pop B. This means that the range in Eddington ratio, even when the source is in a bright state, remains consistent with the value of the low accreting Pop B. We inspected EV 1 parameters of a single object though long term monitoring, assuming an inclination and black hole mass to be constant during the observational time. Our results imply that the main driver for the variations along the EV 1 diagram could be dimensionless accretion rate. If so, then it appears that the source never crossed the boundary for structural changes, indicatively placed at $L/L_{Edd} \sim$ 0.2.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2017

A Possible ~20 yr Periodicity in Long-term Optical Photometric and Spectral Variations of the Nearby Radio-Quiet Active Galactic Nucleus Ark 120

We study the long-term variability in the optical monitoring database of Ark~120, a nearby radio-quiet active galactic nucleus (AGN) at a distance of 143 Mpc (z=0.03271). We compiled the historical archival photometric and spectroscopic data since 1974 and conducted a new two-year monitoring campaign in 2015-2017, resulting in a total temporal baseline over four decades. The long-term variations in the optical continuum exhibit a wave-like pattern and the Hbeta integrated flux series varies with a similar behavior. The broad Hbeta profiles have asymmetric double peaks, which change strongly with time and tend to merge into a single peak during some epochs. The period in the optical continuum determined from various period-search methods is about 20 yr and the estimated false alarm probability with null hypothesis simulations is about 1*10^-3. The overall variations of the broad Hbeta profiles also follow the same period. However, the present database only covers two cycles of the suggested period, which strongly encourages continued monitoring to track more cycles and confirm the periodicity. Nevertheless, in light of the possible periodicity and the complicated Hbeta profile, Ark~120 is one candidate of the nearest radio-quiet AGNs with possible periodic variability, and it is thereby a potential candidate host for a sub-parsec supermassive black hole binary.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2016

Line Shapes Emitted from Spiral Structures around Symmetric Orbits of Supermassive Binary Black Holes

Variability of active galactic nuclei is not well understood. One possible explanation is existence of supermassive binary black holes (SMBBH) in their centres. It is expected that major mergers are common in the Universe. It is expected that each supermassive black hole of every galaxy eventually finish as a SMBBH system in the core of newly formed galaxy. Here we model the emission line profiles of active galactic nuclei (AGN) assuming that the flux and emission line shapes variation are induced by supermassive binary black hole systems (SMBBH). We assume that accreting gas inside of circumbinary (CB) disk is photo ionized by mini accretion disk emission around each SMBBH. We calculate variations of emission line flux, shifts and shapes for different parameters of SMBBH orbits. We consider cases with different masses and inclinations for circular orbits and measure the effect to the shape of emission line profiles and flux variability.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2016

Gravitational Redshift of Emission Lines in the AGN Spectra

The detection of gravitationally redshifted optical emission lines has been reported just for a few active galaxies. In this paper we give a short overview of studies that analyzed or exploited the detection of the gravitational redshift in optical AGN spectra. In addition, we tested the consistency of gravitational redshift as the physical origin of the redward shifts observed in their spectra using a sample of $\approx$ 50 Hamburg-ESO intermediate to high redshift quasars that are among the most luminous quasars known ($10^{47} \lesssim L \lesssim 10^{48}$ erg/s), and are expected to host very massive black holes. To this aim we modeled the line profile with accretion disk models around a black hole.

astro-ph.GA↗