arXiv subjects

Hojin Cho

Publications and source records attributed to Hojin Cho.

18 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

New black hole mass calibrations and the fundamental plane of the broad-line region size, luminosity, and velocity

We present a new calibration of the broad-line region (BLR) size-luminosity-velocity relation using a sample of 157 AGNs with reliable Hbeta time-delay (\lag) measurements from Wang & Woo 2024. By incorporating the Eddington ratio as a third parameter, we effectively correct the systematic offset of high-Eddington AGNs in the traditional BLR size-luminosity relation. The resulting three-parameter fit defines a fundamental plane in the 3-D space of the \lag, optical luminosity, and Hbeta velocity, with an intrinsic scatter of 0.21 dex. This tight correlation reflects the coupled effects of gas kinematics, photoionization, and BLR geometry. In turn, we develop a new method to infer \lag\ from the combination of optical luminosity and Hbeta velocity, and derive single-epoch black hole mass estimators by adopting either the full-width-at-half-maximum (FWHM) or line dispersion ($\sigma$) of the Hbeta line profile as the velocity indicator. The derived \lag shows a ~0.1 dex scatter, depending on the choice of calibrations. We show that the previous mass estimates based on the two-parameter size-luminosity relation with a 0.5 slope can be overestimated by up to 0.5 dex, demonstrating that the new mass estimator substantially changes the cosmic black hole mass density and the growth of black hole seeds in the early universe.

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arXiv2025

Monitoring of 3C 286 with ALMA, IRAM, and SMA from 2006 to 2025: Stability, Synchrotron Ages, and Frequency-Dependent Polarization Attributed to Core-Shift

We present the results of multi-frequency monitoring of the radio quasar 3C 286, conducted using three instruments: ALMA at 91.5, 103.5, 233.0, and 343.4 GHz, the IRAM 30-m Telescope at 86 and 229 GHz, and SMA at 225 GHz. The IRAM measurements from 2006 to 2024 show that the total flux of 3C 286 is stable within measurement uncertainties, indicating long-term stability up to 229 GHz, when applying a fixed Kelvin-to-Jansky conversion factor throughout its dataset. ALMA data from 2018 to 2024 exhibit a decrease in flux, which up to 4% could be attributed to an apparent increase in the absolute brightness of Uranus, the primary flux calibrator for ALMA with the ESA4 model. Taken together, these results suggest that the intrinsic total flux of 3C 286 has remained stable up to 229 GHz over the monitoring period. The polarization properties of 3C 286 are stable across all observing frequencies. The electric vector position angle (EVPA) gradually rotates as a function of wavelength squared, which is well described by a single power-law over the full frequency range. We therefore propose using the theoretical EVPA values from this model curve for absolute EVPA calibration between 5 and 343.4 GHz. The Faraday rotation measure increases as a function of frequency up to (3.2+/-1.5)x10^4 rad m^-2, following RM proportional to nu^alpha with alpha = 2.05+/-0.06. This trend is consistent with the core-shift effect expected in a conical jet.

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arXiv2025

Seoul National University AGN Monitoring Project. V. Velocity-resolved H-beta Reverberation Mapping and Evidence of Kinematics Evolution

We present velocity-resolved reverberation lags of H-beta for 20 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) from the Seoul National University AGN Monitoring Project. We detect unambiguous velocity-resolved structures in 12 AGNs, among which eight objects exhibit symmetric structures, two objects show inflow-like characteristics, and two objects display outflow-like signatures. For two AGNs, we successfully measure the velocity-resolved lags in different years, revealing evidence of evolving broad-line region (BLR) kinematics. By combining our sample with the literature velocity-resolved lags, we find that the symmetric velocity-resolved lags are the most common (40%) type among this sample. The frequency of inflow kinematics is also notable (20%), while outflow kinematics are less common (11%). Our sample significantly expands the previous velocity-resolved reverberation mapping sample in the high-luminosity regime, enabling us to constrain BLR kinematics across a large dynamic range of luminosity.

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arXiv2024

Spectrophotometric reverberation mapping of Intermediate-mass black hole NGC 4395

Understanding the origins of massive black hole seeds and their co-evolution with their host galaxy requires studying intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) and estimating their mass. However, measuring the mass of these IMBHs is challenging due to the high spatial resolution requirement. A spectrophotometric reverberation monitoring is performed for a low-luminosity Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 4395 to measure the size of the broad line region (BLR) and black hole mass. The data were collected using the 1.3-m Devasthal fast optical telescope (DFOT) and 3.6-m Devasthal optical telescope (DOT) at ARIES, Nainital, over two consecutive days in March 2022. The analysis revealed strong emission lines in the spectra and light curves of merged 5100Å spectroscopic continuum flux ($f_{\mathrm{5100}}$) with photometric continuum V-band and H$α$, with fractional variabilities of 6.38\% and 6.31\% respectively. In comparison to several previous studies with lag estimation $<$ 90 minutes, our calculated H$α$ lag supersedes by $125.0^{+6.2}_{-6.1}$ minutes using ICCF and {\small JAVELIN} methods. The velocity dispersion ($σ_{\mathrm{line}}$) of the broad line clouds is measured to be $544.7^{+22.4}_{-25.1}$ km s$^{-1}$, yielding a black hole mass of $\sim$ $2.2^{+0.2}_{-0.2}\times 10^{4}M_{\mathrm{\odot}}$ and an Eddington ratio of 0.06.

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arXiv2024

Constraining the Low-Mass End of the Black Hole Mass Function and the Active Fraction of the Intermediate-mass Black Holes

We investigate the black hole mass function (BHMF) and the Eddington ratio distribution function (ERDF), focusing on the intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) with masses down to $M_{\bullet}\sim10^4 M_\odot$. Based on the active galactic nuclei (AGNs) with a detected broad H$α$ emission line, we construct a sample of 14,242 AGNs at redshift $z<0.35$, including 243 IMBHs with $M_{\bullet}<10^6 M_\odot$. By jointly modeling the BHMF and ERDF via the maximum posterior estimation, we find that the BHMF peaks at $\sim$$10^{6} M_\odot$ and exhibits a relatively constant value of $10^{-4}\,\mathrm{Mpc^{-3}\,dex^{-1}}$ at the low-mass end. By comparing the derived BHMF of type 1 AGNs with the galaxy mass function based on the updated black hole mass--host galaxy stellar mass relation, we derive the active fraction. We also determine the active fraction for all AGNs using the upper and lower limit of the type 1 fraction. The active fraction decreases from 15%--40% for massive galaxies ($M_\star>10^{10} M_\odot$) to lower than $\sim$2% for dwarf galaxies with $M_\star\sim10^8 M_\odot$. These results suggest that the black hole occupation fraction is expected to be $\sim$50% for low-mass galaxies ($M_\star\sim10^{8.5}$--$10^9 M_\odot$) if the duty cycle is similar IMBHs and supermassive black holes.

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arXiv2024

Revisiting the dust torus size-luminosity relation based on a uniform reverberation mapping analysis

We investigate the torus size -- luminosity relation of Type 1 AGNs based on the reverberation-mapping analysis using the light curves of the optical continuum and the IR continuum obtained with the W1 and W2-bands of the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) survey. The final sample consists of 446 and 416 AGNs, respectively, for W1 and W2-band light curves, covering a large dynamic range of bolometric luminosity from $10^{43.4}$ to $10^{47.6}$ $erg \, s^{-1}$, which show reliable lag measurements based on our quality assessment analysis. After correcting for the accretion disk contamination in the observed IR flux, we constrain the torus size ($R_{dust}$) and AGN bolometric luminosity ($L_{bol}$) relationship with the best-fit slope of 0.39 (0.33) for the W1- (W2-) band, which is shallower than expected from the dust radiation equilibrium model. By combining the previous K-band lag measurements, we find that the measured torus size depends on the observed wavelength of the dust radiation, as $R_{dust,K}:R_{dust,W1}:R_{dust,W2}$ = 1.0:1.5:1.8 ($R_{dust} \, \propto \, λ^{0.80}$) at $L_{bol}$ = $10^{46} \, erg \, s^{-1}$, confirming a stratified structure of the torus, where wavelength-dependent emissions originate from distinct regions of the torus. By investigating the deviation from the best-fit torus size -- luminosity relation, we find a moderate correlation between the offset from the $R_{dust}$--$L_{bol}$ relation and Eddington ratio. This suggests a possible influence of the Eddington ratio on the observed flattening of the $R_{dust}$--$L_{bol}$ relationship.

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arXiv2024

Identifying changing-look AGNs using variability characteristics

Changing-look (CL) Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs), characterized by appearance/disappearance of broad emission lines in the span of a few years, present a challenge for the AGN unified model, whereby the Type 1 vs. Type 2 dichotomy results from orientation effects alone. We present a systematic study of a large sample of spectroscopically classified AGNs, using optical variability data from the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) as well as follow-up spectroscopy data. We demonstrate that Type 1 vs. 2 AGN can be neatly separated on the basis of the variability metric $σ_{\rm QSO}$, which quantifies the resemblance of a light curve to a damp random walk model. For a small sub-sample, however, the ZTF light curves are inconsistent with their previous classification, suggesting the occurrence of a CL event. Specifically, we identify 35 (12) turn-on (turn-off) CL AGN candidates at $z < 0.35$. Based on follow-up spectroscopy, we confirm 17 (4) turn-on (turn-off) CL AGNs out of 21 (5) candidates, presenting a high success rate of our method. Our results suggest that the occurrence rate of CL AGNs is $\sim$0.3% over timescales of 5 to 20 years, and confirm that the CL transition typically occurs at the Eddington ratio of $\leq 0.01$.

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arXiv2023

The Seoul National University AGN Monitoring Project III: H$β$ lag measurements of 32 luminous AGNs and the high-luminosity end of the size--luminosity relation

We present the main results from a long-term reverberation mapping campaign carried out for the Seoul National University Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) Monitoring Project. High-quality data were obtained during 2015-2021 for 32 luminous AGNs (i.e., continuum luminosity in the range of $10^{44-46}$ erg s$^{-1}$) at a regular cadence, of 20-30 days for spectroscopy and 3-5 days for photometry. We obtain time lag measurements between the variability in the H$β$ emission and the continuum for 32 AGNs; twenty-five of those have the best lag measurements based on our quality assessment, examining correlation strength, and the posterior lag distribution. Our study significantly increases the current sample of reverberation-mapped AGNs, particularly at the moderate to high luminosity end. Combining our results with literature measurements, we derive a H$β$ broad line region size--luminosity relation with a shallower slope than reported in the literature. For a given luminosity, most of our measured lags are shorter than the expectation, implying that single-epoch black hole mass estimators based on previous calibrations could suffer large systematic uncertainties.

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arXiv2023

The Seoul National University AGN Monitoring Project IV: H$α$ reverberation mapping of 6 AGNs and the H$α$ Size-Luminosity Relation

The broad line region (BLR) size-luminosity relation has paramount importance for estimating the mass of black holes in active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Traditionally, the size of the H$β$ BLR is often estimated from the optical continuum luminosity at 5100\angstrom{} , while the size of the H$α$ BLR and its correlation with the luminosity is much less constrained. As a part of the Seoul National University AGN Monitoring Project (SAMP) which provides six-year photometric and spectroscopic monitoring data, we present our measurements of the H$α$ lags of 6 high-luminosity AGNs. Combined with the measurements for 42 AGNs from the literature, we derive the size-luminosity relations of H$α$ BLR against broad H$α$ and 5100\angstrom{} continuum luminosities. We find the slope of the relations to be $0.61\pm0.04$ and $0.59\pm0.04$, respectively, which are consistent with the \hb{} size-luminosity relation. Moreover, we find a linear relation between the 5100\angstrom{} continuum luminosity and the broad H$α$ luminosity across 7 orders of magnitude. Using these results, we propose a new virial mass estimator based on the H$α$ broad emission line, finding that the previous mass estimates based on the scaling relations in the literature are overestimated by up to 0.7 dex at masses lower than $10^7$~M$_{\odot}$.

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arXiv2022

Power Efficient Video Super-Resolution on Mobile NPUs with Deep Learning, Mobile AI & AIM 2022 challenge: Report

Video super-resolution is one of the most popular tasks on mobile devices, being widely used for an automatic improvement of low-bitrate and low-resolution video streams. While numerous solutions have been proposed for this problem, they are usually quite computationally demanding, demonstrating low FPS rates and power efficiency on mobile devices. In this Mobile AI challenge, we address this problem and propose the participants to design an end-to-end real-time video super-resolution solution for mobile NPUs optimized for low energy consumption. The participants were provided with the REDS training dataset containing video sequences for a 4X video upscaling task. The runtime and power efficiency of all models was evaluated on the powerful MediaTek Dimensity 9000 platform with a dedicated AI processing unit capable of accelerating floating-point and quantized neural networks. All proposed solutions are fully compatible with the above NPU, demonstrating an up to 500 FPS rate and 0.2 [Watt / 30 FPS] power consumption. A detailed description of all models developed in the challenge is provided in this paper.

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arXiv2022

Efficient and Accurate Quantized Image Super-Resolution on Mobile NPUs, Mobile AI & AIM 2022 challenge: Report

Image super-resolution is a common task on mobile and IoT devices, where one often needs to upscale and enhance low-resolution images and video frames. While numerous solutions have been proposed for this problem in the past, they are usually not compatible with low-power mobile NPUs having many computational and memory constraints. In this Mobile AI challenge, we address this problem and propose the participants to design an efficient quantized image super-resolution solution that can demonstrate a real-time performance on mobile NPUs. The participants were provided with the DIV2K dataset and trained INT8 models to do a high-quality 3X image upscaling. The runtime of all models was evaluated on the Synaptics VS680 Smart Home board with a dedicated edge NPU capable of accelerating quantized neural networks. All proposed solutions are fully compatible with the above NPU, demonstrating an up to 60 FPS rate when reconstructing Full HD resolution images. A detailed description of all models developed in the challenge is provided in this paper.

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arXiv2021

Search of Intermediate Mass Black Holes at Low Redshift with Intra-night Variability

We present a sample of intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) candidates based on the detection of a broad H$α$ emission line and variability, which are selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7. By performing spectral decomposition of emission lines as well as visual inspection, we initially identified 131 targets with a broad H$α$ line among a large sample of emission-line galaxies. We further selected 25 IMBH candidates, whose estimated black hole mass (M$_{\rm BH}$) is less than $10^6 \rm M_{\odot}$. To constrain the nature of these candidates, we analyzed X-ray properties and performed an intra-night variability monitoring with optical telescopes. Based on the optical variability analysis, we report a sample of 11 targets with detected intra-night variability as the best IMBH candidates, which are suitable for follow-up observations for accurate M$_{\rm BH}$ determination such as reverberation mapping campaigns.

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arXiv2021

H$α$ Reverberation Mapping of the Intermediate-Mass Active Galactic Nucleus in NGC 4395

We present the results of a high-cadence spectroscopic and imaging monitoring campaign of the active galactic nucleus (AGN) of NGC 4395. High signal-to-noise-ratio spectra were obtained at the Gemini-N 8 m telescope using the GMOS integral field spectrograph (IFS) on 2019 March 7, and at the Keck-I 10 m telescope using the Low-Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (LRIS) with slitmasks on 2019 March 3 and April 2. Photometric data were obtained with a number of 1 m-class telescopes during the same nights. The narrow-line region (NLR) is spatially resolved; therefore, its variable contributions to the slit spectra make the standard procedure of relative flux calibration impractical. We demonstrate that spatially-resolved data from the IFS can be effectively used to correct the slit-mask spectral light curves. While we obtained no reliable lag owing to the lack of strong variability pattern in the light curves, we constrain the broad line time lag to be less than 3 hr, consistent with the photometric lag of $\sim80$ min reported by Woo et al. (2019). By exploiting the high-quality spectra, we measure the second moment of the broad component of the H$α$ emission line to be $586\pm19$ km s$^{-1}$, superseding the lower value reported by Woo et al. (2019). Combining the revised line dispersion and the photometric time lag, we update the black hole mass as $(1.7\pm 0.3)\times10^4$ M$_{\odot}$.

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arXiv2020

Spatially Resolved Kinematics of gas and stars in hidden type 1 AGNs

We present the spatially resolved gas and stellar kinematics of a sample of ten hidden type 1 AGNs in order to investigate the true nature of the central source and the scaling relation with host galaxy stellar velocity dispersion. The sample is selected from a large number of hidden type 1 AGN, which are identified based on the presence of a broad component in the \ha\ line profile (i.e., full-width-at-half-maximum $>$ $\sim$1000 \kms), while they are often mis-classified as type 2 AGN because AGN continuum and broad emission lines are weak or obscured in the optical spectral range. We used the Blue Channel Spectrograph at the 6.5-m MMT (Multiple Mirror Telescope) to obtain long-slit data. We detected a broad \hb\ for only two targets, however, the presence of a strong broad \ha\ indicates that these AGNs are low-luminosity type 1 AGNs. We measured the velocity, velocity dispersion and flux of stellar continuum and gas emission lines (i.e., \hb\ and \oiii) as a function of distance from the center with a spatial scale of 0.3 arcsec pixel$^{-1}$. Spatially resolved gas kinematics traced by \hb\ or \oiii\ are generally similar to stellar kinematics except for the very center, where signatures of gas outflows are detected. We compare the luminosity-weighted effective stellar velocity dispersion with black hole mass, finding that these hidden type 1 AGN with relatively low back hole mass follow the scaling relation of the reverberation-mapped type 1 AGN and more massive inactive galaxies. }

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arXiv2020

Variability and the size-luminosity relation of the intermediate mass AGN in NGC 4395

We present the variability study of the lowest-luminosity Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 4395 based on the photometric monitoring campaigns in 2017 and 2018. Using 22 ground-based and space telescopes, we monitored NGC 4395 with a $\sim$5 minute cadence during a period of 10 days and obtained light curves in the UV, V, J, H, and K/Ks bands as well as the H$α$ narrow-band. The RMS variability is $\sim$0.13 mag on \emph{Swift}-UVM2 and V filter light curves, decreasing down to $\sim$0.01 mag on K filter. After correcting for continuum contribution to the H$α$ narrow-band, we measured the time lag of the H$α$ emission line with respect to the V-band continuum as ${55}^{+27}_{-31}$ to ${122}^{+33}_{-67}$ min. in 2017 and ${49}^{+15}_{-14}$ to ${83}^{+13}_{-14}$ min. in 2018, depending on the assumption on the continuum variability amplitude in the H$α$ narrow-band. We obtained no reliable measurements for the continuum-to-continuum lag between UV and V bands and among near-IR bands, due to the large flux uncertainty of UV observations and the limited time baseline. We determined the AGN monochromatic luminosity at 5100Å $λL_λ= \left(5.75\pm0.40\right)\times 10^{39}\,\mathrm{erg\,s^{-1}}$, after subtracting the contribution of the nuclear star cluster. While the optical luminosity of NGC 4395 is two orders of magnitude lower than that of other reverberation-mapped AGNs, NGC 4395 follows the size-luminosity relation, albeit with an offset of 0.48 dex ($\geq$2.5$σ$) from the previous best-fit relation of Bentz et al. (2013).

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arXiv2019

The Seoul National University AGN monitoring project. II. BLR size and black hole mass of two AGNs

Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) show a correlation between the size of the broad line region (BLR) and the monochromatic continuum luminosity at 5100 Å, allowing black hole mass estimation based on single-epoch spectra. However, the validity of the correlation is yet to be clearly tested for high-luminosity AGNs. We present the first reverberation-mapping results of the Seoul National University AGN monitoring program (SAMP), which is designed to focus on luminous AGNs for probing the high end of the size-luminosity relation. We report time lag measurements of two AGNs, namely, 2MASS J10261389+5237510 and SDSS J161911.24+501109.2, using the light curves obtained over a $\sim$1000 day period with an average cadence of $\sim$10 and $\sim$20 days, respectively for photometry and spectroscopy monitoring. Based on a cross-correlation analysis and H$β$ line width measurements, we determine the H$β$ lag as $41.8^{+4.9}_{-6.0}$ and $52.6^{+17.6}_{-14.7}$ days in the observed-frame, and black hole mass as $3.65^{+0.49}_{-0.57} \times 10^7 M_{\odot}$ and $23.02^{+7.81}_{-6.56} \times 10^7 M_{\odot}$, respectively for 2MASS J1026 and SDSS J1619.

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arXiv2019

A 10,000-solar-mass black hole in the nucleus of a bulgeless dwarf galaxy

The motions of gas and stars in the nuclei of nearby large galaxies have demonstrated that massive black holes are common and that their masses strongly correlate with the stellar velocity dispersion $σ_{\star}$ of the bulge. This correlation suggests that massive black holes and galaxies influence each other's growth. Dynamical measurements are less reliable when the sphere of influence is unresolved, thus it remains unknown whether this correlation exists in galaxies much smaller than the Milky Way, as well as what fraction of these galaxies have central black holes. Light echoes from photoionized clouds around accreting black holes, in combination with the velocity of these clouds, yield a direct mass measurement that circumvents this difficulty. Here we report an exceptionally low reverberation delay of $83\pm14$ minutes between variability in the accretion disk and high velocity H$α$ emission from the nucleus of the bulgeless dwarf galaxy NGC~4395. Combined with the H$α$ line-of-sight velocity dispersion $σ_{\rm line}=426\pm1$~km~s$^{-1}$, this lag determines a mass of about 10,000~$M_{\odot}$ for the black hole. This mass is among the smallest central black hole masses reported, near the low end of expected masses for heavy "seeds", and the best direct mass measurement for a galaxy of this size. Despite the lack of a bulge, NGC~4395 is consistent with the $M_{\rm BH} - σ_{\star}$ relation when $σ_{\star}$ is measured from the central region. This indicates that the relation need not originate from hierarchical galaxy assembly nor from black hole feedback.

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arXiv2014

A sub-kpc-scale binary AGN with double narrow-line regions

We present the kinematic properties of a type-2 QSO, SDSS J132323.33-015941.9 at z~0.35, based on the analysis of Very Large Telescope integral field spectroscopy and Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging, which suggest that the target is a binary active galactic nucleus (AGN) with double narrow-line regions. The QSO features double-peaked emission lines ([OIII] and Hb) which can be decomposed into two kinematic components. The flux-weighted centroids of the blue and red components are separated by ~0.2" (0.8 kpc in projection) and coincide with the location of the two stellar cores detected in the HST broad-band images, implying that both stellar cores host an active black hole. The line-of-sight velocity of the blue component is comparable to the luminosity-weighted velocity of stars in the host galaxy while the red component is redshifted by ~240 km/s, consistent with typical velocity offsets of two cores in a late stage of a galaxy merger. If confirmed, the target is one of the rare cases of sub-kpc scale binary AGNs, providing a test-bed for understanding the binary AGN population.

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