arXiv subjects

Fabio Rigamonti

Publications and source records attributed to Fabio Rigamonti.

15 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Identification of periodicities with arbitrary shapes in AGN light curves

Massive black hole binaries are expected to be observable as periodic AGN in time-domain photometric surveys. Periodicities may originate from different physical processes, including the intermittent gas feeding of the black holes caused by the time-varying non-axisymmetric binary potential, the Doppler boosting of the flux emitted by individual accretion discs bound to the orbiting BHs, and the gravitational lensing of the accretion disc of one black hole due to the presence of the other. Only the Doppler boost scenario applied to circular binaries with non-modulated accretion predicts a sinusoidal light curve, while in the general case, binary signals are expected to show more complex periodic patterns. Current searches for massive black hole binaries rely on techniques tailored to quasi-sinusoidal light curves, but fail to identify the more complex periodicities predicted. We present an alternative method that leverages Gaussian processes, making use of a generic periodic kernel flexible enough for the identification of arbitrary periodicities in unevenly sampled light curves with realistic quasar noise. We demonstrate that it outperforms previously proposed strategies in identifying general periodicities by analysing mock light curves with different baselines. Specifically, we find that our analysis can detect non-sinusoidal periodicities (e.g., sawtooth-shaped) and retrieves a higher fraction of true periodicities when compared to periodogram analysis or Gaussian processes analysis with less flexible periodic kernels. Furthermore, by comparing the retrieved fraction of periodicities between mock PTF light curves and mock LSST light curves, we find that our analysis is most sensitive to the number of observed cycles. The application of this analysis has the potential to greatly increase the scientific return of current and upcoming large time-domain photometric surveys.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2026

Enhanced activity in close dual-AGN systems in the local Universe

We present the study of an X-ray selected sample of active galactic nuclei (AGN) in pairs at projected spatial separations 1 <$ r_p$/kpc < 100 at z < 0.1, using XMM-Newton and Chandra data. The pair sample is derived from an initial pool of approximately 2,000 X-ray-selected AGN, and is composed of both AGN-AGN pairs (so called dual AGN) and AGN-galaxy pairs. From this selection, we find that approximately 10% of AGN reside in pairs, and about 4% are paired with another AGN. We performed a detailed X-ray and SDSS optical spectral analysis for AGN in duals and X-ray analysis for AGN in AGN-galaxy pairs, to characterise their absorption properties and investigate the possible triggering mechanisms. We then investigated how obscuration, luminosity, and Eddington ratio depend on projected separation $r_p$. Amongst all AGN in pairs, we found that ~55% are obscured (with hydrogen column density $N_H$ > $10^{22}$ cm$^{-2}$), amongst which ~6% are Compton-thick ($N_H$ > $10^{24}$ cm$^{-2}$). The fraction of absorbed AGN is significantly higher in late-stage mergers ($r_p$ < 30 kpc) compared to early-stage mergers ($r_p$ > 60 kpc). Amongst the AGN in pairs, we also observed an average excess of AGN pairs with respect to a control sample of inactive galaxies in pairs, and that such excess significantly increases with decreasing $r_p$ only for obscured AGN. Finally, in dual-AGN systems, both the bolometric luminosity and the Eddington ratio of the less massive black hole in the pair increase as the separation decreases. These findings suggest that mergers may have an important role in triggering AGN accretion and activity.

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arXiv2026

Searching for unresolved massive black hole pairs through AGN photometric variability

Since their discovery, AGN light curves are known to be intrinsically variable. In the optical/UV band, this variability is consistent with correlated or red noise and is particularly well described by the damped random walk (DRW) model. In this work, we evaluate the feasibility of a new method for identifying spatially unresolved couples of AGN through a fully Bayesian time-domain analysis of the observed light curves (LCs). More specifically, we check whether observed LCs are better described by a single DRW, which we interpret as emitted by a single massive black hole (MBH), or a pair of independent DRWs, generated by a pair of MBHs. We test the method on mock LCs associated with a single MBH and pairs generated with different cadences and lengths of observational campaigns. We constrained the occurrence of false positives, that is, the percentage of single MBH LCs that show substantial evidence in favour of the unresolved MBH pair scenario, finding a fraction of 0.2% and 0.59% in the even and uneven sampling scenarios. We discuss how well the method recovers the model parameters, showing that about 51% and 7% of the simulated LCs have all the recovered parameters within 20% of their true values in our best scenario of evenly sampled LCs for the single MBH and MBH pair scenarios, respectively. We finally study the region of the parameter space in which the detection of an MBH pair is possible, finding that such objects can be correctly identified if the timescales of the process describing the noise are very different, with a ratio smaller than ~0.2, and the variability amplitudes are similar, with their ratio bigger than ~0.2. When limiting to such a region of the parameter space, the fraction of pairs with all the recovered parameters within 20% of the injected values increases up to about 14% and 8% for evenly and unevenly sampled LCs, respectively.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

Black hole merger rates for LISA and LGWA from semi-analytical modelling of light seeds

With the upcoming space- and Moon-based gravitational-wave detectors, LISA and LGWA respectively, a new era of GW astronomy will begin with the possibility of detections of the mergers of intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) and supermassive black holes (SMBHs). We generate populations of synthetic black hole (BH) binaries with masses ranging from the intermediate ($10^3-10^5 M_\odot$) to the supermassive regime ($>10^5 M_\odot$), formed from the dynamical processes of merging halos and their residing galaxies, assuming that each galaxy is initially seeded with a single black hole at its centre. The aim is to estimate the rate of these BH mergers which could be detected by LISA and LGWA. Using PINOCCHIO cosmological simulation and a semi-analytical model based on GAEA, we construct a population of merging BHs by implementing a "light" seeding scheme and calculating the merging timescales using the Chandrasekhar prescription. We provide upper and lower limits of dynamical friction timescale by varying the mass of the infalling object to create "pessimistic" and "optimistic" merger rates respectively. We find that for our synthetic population of MBHs, both LGWA and LISA are able to detect more than $15$ binary IMBH mergers per year in the optimistic case, while in the pessimistic case less than $\sim5$ detections would be possible considering the entire lifetime of the detectors. For SMBHs, the rates are slightly lower in both cases. Most mergers below $z\approx4$ are detected in the optimistic case, although mergers beyond $z=8$ are also detectable at a lower rate. We find that LGWA is better suited for high-SNR IMBH detections at higher redshift, while LISA is more sensitive to massive SMBHs. Joint observations will probe the full BH mass spectrum and constrain BH formation and seeding models.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2025

Testing compact massive black hole binary candidates through multi-epoch spectroscopy

Emission from two massive black holes (MBHs) bound in a close binary is expected to be modulated by different processes, such as the Doppler boost due to the orbital motion, accretion rate variability generated by the interaction with a circumbinary disc, and binary gravitational self-lensing. When the binary is compact enough, the two black holes are thought to be surrounded by a common broad-line region that reprocesses the impinging periodically varying ionising flux, creating broad emission lines with variable line shapes. Therefore, the study of broad emission line variability through multi-epoch spectroscopic campaigns is of paramount importance for the unambiguous identification of a binary. In this work, we study the response of a disc-like broad-line region to the Doppler-boosted ionising flux emitted by sub-milliparsec MBH binaries on a circular orbit and compare it with the response of a broad-line region illuminated by a single MBH with a periodically but isotropically varying intrinsic luminosity. We show that in the binary case, the time lags of the blue and red wings of the broad emission lines, arising from diametrically opposite sides of the circumbinary disc, are out of phase by half of the binary's orbital period, as they each respond to the periodic "lighthouse" modulation from the binary's continuum emission. This asymmetric time lag represents a new binary signature that cannot be mimicked by a single MBH.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

Variability in the supermassive black hole binary candidate SDSS J2320+0024: No evidence of periodic modulation

Supermassive black hole binaries (SBHBs) are a natural outcome of galaxy mergers, and they are expected to be among the loudest gravitational-wave sources at low frequencies. The source SDSS J2320+0024 was recently proposed as a promising SBHB candidate due to a possible periodicity in its light curve and variability in the MgII emission line. In this work, we reanalysed the optical (g, r, and i bands) light curves of J2320+0024 within the framework of Bayesian model selection. When periodicity was searched for together with red noise, analysis of the g-band light curve reveals a peak in the posterior of the period at ~290 days. The posterior profile is too broad to yield a preference for periodic models over models that include only red noise. Furthermore, the same peak is not present in the analysis of the r-band and i-band light curve. A periodic model without red noise identified a different (~1100 days) periodicity, but this model is statistically significantly disfavoured relative to the other models tested. In summary, we find no significant evidence in favour of a true periodic signal over red-noise variability. Our analysis questions the robustness of the previously proposed periodicity and emphasises the importance of rigorous statistical treatment. While our findings challenge the binary interpretation for J2320+0024, they do not rule it out. A statistically robust joint analysis of the photometric light curves and evolving broad-line profiles would shed further light on the true nature of this object.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

ESPRESSO reveals a single but perturbed broad-line region in the supermassive black hole binary candidate PG 1302-102

We present a new, Bayesian analysis of the highest-resolution optical spectrum of the supermassive black hole (SMBH) binary candidate PG 1302-102, obtained with ESPRESSO@VLT (R \simeq 138, 000). Our methodology, based on robust Bayesian model selection, reveals the presence of multiple narrow emission lines at the expected redshift of the source and confirms (for H\{beta}) and detects (for Hγ) the presence of redshifted broad components. Additionally, we have discovered a very broad and, if it is associated with the H\{beta}, very redshifted component at λ \simeq 5000Å. We evaluate two scenarios for explaining the observed broad emission line (BEL) in PG 1302-102. In the case in which the redshifted BEL asymmetry arises from the orbital motion of a putative binary, our measurements coupled with simple estimates of the broad-line region (BLR) sizes suggest that the individual black hole BLRs are either settled in a single BLR or in the process of merging and, therefore truncated and highly disturbed. Alternatively, in the scenario of a single SMBH, we explain the distorted emission of the BELs with a nonsymmetric distribution of the BLR clouds; namely, a thin disk with a spiral perturbation. This BLR configuration is statistically preferred over any empirical multi-Gaussian fit and simultaneously explains the asymmetric emission of the Hβ and Hγ close to the bulk of the line and any additional excess (or the lack of it, in the case of the Hγ) at much longer wavelengths. The physical origins of the perturbation are unclear, and a connection with the possible presence of a black hole binary cannot be ruled out. Given the growing evidence from theoretical and observational works demonstrating the common presence of disturbed BLRs in active galactic nuclei, we argue that an origin related to self-gravitating instabilities may be more plausible.

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arXiv2025

Can a time evolving, asymmetric broad line region mimic a massive black hole binary?

Gas within the influence sphere of accreting massive black holes is responsible for the emission of the broad lines observed in optical-UV spectra of unobscured active galactic nuclei. Since the region contributing the most to the broad emission lines (i.e. the broad line region) depends on the active galactic nucleus luminosity, the study of broad line reverberation to a varying continuum can map the morphology and kinematics of gas at sub-pc scales. In this study, we modify a preexisting model for disc-like broad line regions, including non-axisymmetric structures, by adopting an emissivity profile that mimics the observed luminosity-radius relation. This makes our implementation particularly well suited for the analysis of multi-epoch spectroscopic campaigns. After validating the model, we use it to check if strongly non-axisymmetric, single broad line regions could mimic the short time-scale evolution expected from massive black hole binaries. We explore different orientations and anisotropy degrees of the broad line region, as well as different light curve patterns of the continuum to which the broad line region responds. Our analysis confirms that recently proposed algorithms designed to search for massive black hole binaries in large multi-epoch spectroscopic data are not contaminated by false positives ascribed to anisotropic broad line regions around single MBHs.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

Comprehensive view on a $z\sim6.5$ radio-loud QSO: from the radio to the optical/NIR to the X-ray band

We present a multi-wavelength analysis, from the radio to the X-ray band, of the redshift $z=6.44$ VIK J2318$-$31 radio-loud (RL) quasi stellar object (QSO), one of the most distant currently known in this class. The work is based on newly obtained (uGMRT, ATCA, Chandra) as well as archival (GNIRS and X-Shooter) dedicated observations that have not been published yet. Based on the observed X-ray and radio emission, its relativistic jets are likely young and misaligned from our line of sight. Moreover, we can confirm, with simultaneous observations, the presence of a turnover in the radio spectrum at $ν_{\rm peak} \sim 650$ MHz which is unlikely to be associated with self-synchrotron absorption. From the NIR spectrum we derived the mass of the central black hole, M$_{\rm BH}=8.1^{+6.8}_{-5.6} \times 10^8 {\rm M_{\odot}}$, and the Eddington ratio, $λ_{\rm EDD} = 0.8^{+0.8}_{-0.6}$, using broad emission lines as well as an accretion disc model fit to the continuum emission. Given the high accretion rate, the presence of a $\sim$8$\times$10$^8$ M$_\odot$ black hole at $z=6.44$ can be explained by a seed black hole ($\sim$10$^{4}$ M$_\odot$) that formed at $z\sim25$, assuming a radiative efficiency $η_{\rm d}\sim0.1$. However, by assuming $η_{\rm d}\sim0.3$, as expected for jetted systems, the mass observed would challenge current theoretical models of black hole formation.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

BANG-MaNGA: A census of kinematic discs and bulges across mass and star formation in the local Universe

We investigate the relevance of kinematically identified bulges, discs and their role relative to galaxy quenching. We utilize an analysis of the SDSS-MaNGA survey conducted with the GPU-based code BANG which simultaneously models galaxy photometry and kinematics to decompose galaxies into their structural components. Below M~1011 Msun, galaxies exhibit a wide range of dynamical properties, determined by the relative prominence of a dispersion-supported inner region and a rotationally-supported disc. Our analysis reveals a natural separation between these classes, with only a minor fraction of stellar mass retained by structures exhibiting intermediate dynamical support. When examining galaxies in terms of their star formation activity, an apparent decrease in rotational support is observed as they move below the star-forming main sequence. This behaviour is evident with luminosity-weighted tracers of kinematics, while it almost vanishes with mass-weighted tracers. Luminosity-weighted quantities not only capture differences in kinematics but also in the stellar population, potentially leading to biased interpretations of galaxy dynamical properties and quenching. Our findings suggest that quenching does not imply almost any structural transformation in galaxies below M~10^11 Msun. Processes as disc fading more likely account for observed differences in mass-weighted and luminosity-weighted galaxy properties; when the galactic disc ceases star formation, its mass-to-light ratio grows without any significant morphological transformation. The picture is remarkably different above M~10^11 Msun. Regardless of the tracer used, a substantial increase in galaxy dispersion support is observed along with a significant structural change. A different quenching mechanism, most likely associated with mergers, dominates. Notably, this mechanism is confined to a very limited range of high masses.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

A fast test for the identification and confirmation of massive black hole binaries

We present a new observational test to identify massive black hole binaries in large multi-epoch spectroscopical catalogues and to probe the real nature of already proposed binary candidates. The test is tailored for binaries with separations large enough to allow each black hole to retain its own broad line region. In this limit the fast AGN variability typically observed over months cannot be associated to the much longer binary period, and it is assumed (as for the case of single black holes) to be the consequence of the evolution of the innermost regions of the two accretion discs. A simple analysis of the cross-correlation between different parts of individual broad emission lines can therefore identify the presence of two massive black holes whose continua vary independently of each other. Our analysis indicates that to be less affected by the noise in the spectra the broad lines should be divided in two close-to-equal-flux parts. This ensures that in the single massive black hole scenario the cross-correlation will always be high. With monitoring campaigns similar to those performed for reverberation mapping studies, on the other way, a binary can show any value of the cross-correlation and can therefore be distinguished from a standard AGN. The new test can be performed over timescales orders of magnitude shorter than the alternative tests already discussed in literature, and can be a powerful complement to the massive black hole binary search strategies already in place.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

Decomposing galaxies with BANG: an automated morpho-kinematical decomposition of the SDSS-DR17 MaNGA survey

From a purely photometric perspective galaxies are generally decomposed into a bulge+disc system, with bulges being dispersion-dominated and discs rotationally-supported. However, recent observations have demonstrated that such a framework oversimplifies complexity, especially if one considers galaxy kinematics. To address this issue we introduced with the GPU-based code \textsc{bang} a novel approach that employs analytical potential-density pairs as galactic components, allowing for a computationally fast, still reliable fit of the morphological and kinematic properties of galaxies. Here we apply \textsc{bang} to the SDSS-MaNGA survey, estimating key parameters such as mass, radial extensions, and dynamics, for both bulges and discs of +10,000 objects. We test our methodology against a smaller subsample of galaxies independently analysed with an orbit-based algorithm, finding agreement in the recovered total stellar mass. We also manage to reproduce well-established scaling relations, demonstrating how proper dynamical modelling can result in tighter correlations and provide corrections to standard approaches. Finally, we propose a more general way of decomposing galaxies into "hot" and "cold" components, showing a correlation with orbit-based approaches and visually determined morphological type. Unexpected tails in the "hot-to-total" mass-ratio distribution are present for galaxies of all morphologies, possibly due to visual morphology misclassifications.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2022

Optical follow-up of the tick-tock massive black hole binary candidate

The observation of a population of massive black hole binaries (MBHBs) is key for our complete understanding of galaxy mergers and for the characterization of the expected gravitational waves (GWs) signal. However, MBHBs still remain elusive with only a few candidates proposed to date. Among these, SDSSJ143016.05+230344.4 ('tick-tock' hereafter) is the only candidate with a remarkably well sampled light curve showing a clear reduction of the modulation period and amplitude over three years of observations. This particular feature has been recently claimed to be the signature of a MBHB that is about to merge. In this paper, we provide an optical follow-up of the tick-tock source using the Rapid Eye Mount (REM) telescope. The decreasing luminosity observed in our follow up is hardly explained within the binary scenario. We speculate about an alternative scenario that might explain the observed light curve through relativistic Lense-Thirring precession of an accretion disc around a single massive black hole.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2022

Maximally informed Bayesian modelling of disc galaxies

Dissecting the underlying structure of galaxies is of main importance in the framework of galaxy formation and evolution theories. While a classical bulge+disc decomposition of disc galaxies is usually taken as granted, this is only rarely solidly founded upon the full exploitation of the richness of data arising from spectroscopic studies with integral field units. In this work we describe a fully Bayesian estimation method of the global structure of disc galaxies which makes use of the wealth of photometric, kinematic, and mass-to-light ratio data, and that can be seen as a first step towards a machine-learning approach, certainly needed when dealing with larger samples of galaxies. Ours is a novel, hybrid line of action in tackling the problem of galactic parameter estimation, neither purely photometric nor orbit-based. Being rooted on a nested sampler, our code, which is available publicly as an online repository, allows for a statistical assessment of the need for multiple components in the dissecting process. As a first case-study the GPU-optimized code is applied to the S0 galaxy NGC-7683, finding that in this galaxy a pseudo-bulge, possibly the remnant of a bar-like structure, does exist in the center of the system. These results are then tested against the publicly available, orbit-based code DYNAMITE, finding substantial agreement.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2022

On the robustness of triaxial Schwarzschild modelling: The effects of correcting the orbit mirroring

In the past 15 years, the triaxial Schwarzschild orbit-superposition code by van den Bosch et al. (2008) has been widely applied to study the dynamics of galaxies. Recently, Quenneville et al. (2022) reported a bug in the orbit calculation of this code, specifically in the mirroring procedure that is used to speed up the computation. We have fixed the incorrect mirroring in DYNAMITE, which is the publicly-released successor of the triaxial Schwarzschild code by van den Bosch et al. (2008). In this study, we provide a thorough quantification of how this bug has affected the results of dynamical analyses performed with this code. We compare results obtained with the original and corrected versions of DYNAMITE, and discuss the differences in the phase-space distribution of a single orbit and in the global stellar orbit distribution, in the mass estimate of the central black hole in the highly triaxial galaxy PGC 46832, and in the measurement of intrinsic shape and enclosed mass for more than 50 galaxies. Focusing on the typical scientific applications of a Schwarzschild triaxial code, in all our tests we find that differences are negligible with respect to the statistical and systematic uncertainties. We conclude that previous results with the van den Bosch et al. (2008) triaxial Schwarzschild code are not significantly affected by the incorrect mirroring.

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