arXiv subjects

I. E. Papadakis

Publications and source records attributed to I. E. Papadakis.

108 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

arXiv2003

The scaling of the X-ray variability with black hole mass in AGN

The relation between the 2-10 keV, long term, excess variance and AGN black hole mass is considered in this work. A significant anti-correlation is found between these two quantities in the sense that the excess variance decreases with increasing black hole mass. This anti-correlation is consistent with the hypothesis that the 2-10 keV power spectrum in AGN follows a power law of slope -2 at high frequencies. It then flattens to a slope of -1 below a break frequency until a second break frequency below which it flattens to a slope of zero. The ratio of the two break frequencies is equal to 10-30, similar to the ratio of the respective frequencies in Cyg X-1. The power spectrum amplitude in the "frequency x power" space does not depend on black hole mass. Instead it is roughly equal to 0.02 in all objects. The high frequency break decreases with increasing black hole mass according to the relation 1.5x(10^-6)/(BHmass/(10^7) solar masses) Hz, in the case of "classical" Seyfert 1 galaxies. The excess variance of NGC4051, a Narrow Line Seyfert 1 object, is larger than what is expected for its black hole mass and X-ray luminosity. This can be explained if its high frequency break is 20 times larger than the value expected in the case of a "classical" Seyfert 1 with the same black hole mass. Finally, the excess variance vs X-ray luminosity correlation is a byproduct of the excess variance vs black hole mass correlation, with AGN accreting at ~ 0.1-0.15 the Eddington limit. These results are consistent with recent results from the power spectral analysis of AGN.

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arXiv2003

Combined Long and Short Timescale X-ray Variability of NGC4051 with RXTE and XMM-Newton

We present a comprehensive examination of the X-ray variability of the narrow line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxy NGC4051. We combine over 6.5 years of frequent monitoring observations by RXTE with a >100ks continuous observation by XMM-Newton and so present a powerspectral density (PSD) covering an unprecedented frequency range of over 6.5 decades from <1e-8 to >1e-2 Hz. The combined RXTE and XMM-Newton PSD is a very good match to the PSD of the galactic black hole binary system (GBH) Cyg X-1 when in a `high', rather than `low', state providing the first definite confirmation of an AGN in a `high' state. We find a break in the PSD at a frequency ν_{B}=8e-4 Hz. If ν_{B} scales linearly with mass then, assuming a black hole (BH) mass of 10 M_solar for Cyg X-1, we imply a BH mass of 3e-5 M_solar in NGC4051, which is consistent with the recently reported reverberation mapped value. Hence NGC4051 is emitting at \sim30% L_{Edd}. We note that the higher energy photons lag the lower energy ones and that the lag is greater for variations of longer Fourier period and increases with the energy separation of the bands. Variations in different wavebands are very coherent at long Fourier periods but the coherence decreases at shorter periods and as the energy separation between bands increases. This behaviour is similar to that of GBHs and suggests a radial distribution of frequencies and photon energies with higher energies and higher frequencies being associated with smaller radii [ABRIDGED].

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arXiv2003

The long time-scale X-ray variability of the radio-quiet quasar PG 0804+761

We present the results from a study of the timing properties and the energy spectrum of the radio-quiet quasar PG0804+761, based on monitoring RXTE PCA observations that lasted for a year. This is a systematic study of the X-ray variations on time scales of weeks/months of the most luminous radio-quiet quasar studied so far. We detect significant variations in the 2-10 keV band of an average amplitude of ~15%. The excess variance of the light curve is smaller than that of Seyfert galaxies, entirely consistent with the relationship between variability amplitude and luminosity defined from the Seyfert data alone. The power spectrum of the source follows a power-like form of slope ~ -1. However, when we extend the power spectrum estimation at higher frequencies using archival ASCA data, we find strong evidence for an intrinsic steepening to a slope of ~ -2 at around ~ 1x10^(-6) Hz. This "break frequency" corresponds to a time scale of ~ 10 days. The time-average energy spectrum is well fitted by a power law model with Gamma ~ 2. We also find evidence for an iron line at \~ 6.4 keV (rest frame) with EW 110 eV, similar to what is observed in Seyfert galaxies. The flux variations are not associated with any spectral variation. This is the only major difference that we find when we compare the variability properties of the source with those of Seyfert galaxies. Our results support the hypothesis that the same X-ray emission and variability mechanism operates in both Seyfert galaxies and quasars.

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arXiv2003

Optical and radio behaviour of the BL Lacertae object 0716+714

Eight optical and four radio observatories have been intensively monitoring the BL Lac object 0716+714 in the last years: 4854 data points have been collected in the UBVRI bands since 1994, while radio light curves extend back to 1978. Many of these data are presented here for the first time. The long-term trend shown by the optical light curves seems to vary with a characteristic time scale of about 3.3 years, while a longer period of 5.5-6 years seems to characterize the radio long-term variations. In general, optical colour indices are only weakly correlated with brightness. The radio flux behaviour at different frequencies is similar, but the flux variation amplitude decreases with increasing wavelength. The radio spectral index varies with brightness (harder when brighter), but the radio fluxes seem to be the sum of two different-spectrum contributions: a steady base level and a harder-spectrum variable component. Once the base level is removed, the radio variations appear as essentially achromatic, similarly to the optical behaviour. Flux variations at the higher radio frequencies lead the lower-frequency ones with week-month time scales. The behaviour of the optical and radio light curves is quite different, the broad radio outbursts not corresponding in time to the faster optical ones and the cross-correlation analysis indicating only weak correlation with long time lags. However, minor radio flux enhancements simultaneous with the major optical flares can be recognized, which may imply that the mechanism producing the strong flux increases in the optical band also marginally affects the radio one.

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arXiv2002

Multi-band optical micro-variability observations of BL Lacertae

We have observed BL Lacertae in the B, R and I bands for 2 nights in July, 1999, and 3 nights in July, 2001. The observations resulted in almost evenly sampled light curves, with an average sampling interval of ~5 min. The source is significantly variable in all bands. On average, the variability amplitude increases from ~5% in the I band, to ~5.5% in the R and ~6.5% in the B band light curves. The rising and decaying time scales are comparable within each band, but they increase from the B, to R and I band light curves. The optical power spectrum shows a red noise component with a slope of ~ -2. Cross-correlation analysis shows that in most cases the delay between the variations in the B and I band light curves is less than ~ 0.4 hrs. The cross-correlation functions are asymmetric, implying complex delays of the I band variations with respect to the B band variations. Furthermore, in one case we find that the I band variations are significantly delayed (by ~0.2 hrs) with respect to the B band variations. We also detect significant spectral variations: the spectrum becomes steeper as the flux increases, and the flattest spectral index corresponds to the maximum B band flux. Our results imply that the fast, intra-night variations of the source correspond to perturbations of different regions in the jet which cause localized injections of relativistic particles on time scales much sorter that the average sampling interval of the light curves. The variations are controlled by the cooling and light crossing time scales, which are probably comparable.

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arXiv2002

1ES 1927+654: Persistent and rapid X-ray variability in an AGN with low intrinsic neutral X-ray absorption and narrow optical emission lines

We present X-ray and optical observations of the X-ray bright AGN 1ES 1927+654. The X-ray observations obtained with ROSAT and Chandra reveal persistent, rapid and large scale variations, as well as steep 0.1-2.4 keV (Gamma = 2.6 +/- 0.3) and 0.3-7.0 keV (Gamma = 2.7 +/- 0.2) spectra. The measured intrinsic neutral X-ray column density is approximately 7e20cm^-2. The X-ray timing properties indicate that the strong variations originate from a region, a few hundred light seconds from the central black hole, typical for type 1 AGN. High quality optical spectroscopy reveals a typical Seyfert 2 spectrum with some host galaxy contamination and no evidence of Fe II multiplets or broad hydrogen Balmer wings. The intrinsic optical extinction derived from the BLR and NLR are A_V >= 3.7 and A_V=1.7, respectively. The X-ray observations give an A_V value of less than 0.58, in contrast to the optical extinction values. We discuss several ideas to explain this apparent difference in classification including partial covering, an underluminous BLR or a high dust to gas ratio.

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arXiv2002

On the Nature of X-ray Variability in Ark 564

We use data from a recent long ASCA observation of the Narrow Line Seyfert 1 Ark 564 to investigate in detail its timing properties. We show that a thorough analysis of the time series, employing techniques not generally applied to AGN light curves, can provide useful information to characterize the engines of these powerful sources.We searched for signs of non-stationarity in the data, but did not find strong evidences for it. We find that the process causing the variability is very likely nonlinear, suggesting that variability models based on many active regions, as the shot noise model, may not be applicable to Ark 564. The complex light curve can be viewed, for a limited range of time scales, as a fractal object with non-trivial fractal dimension and statistical self-similarity. Finally, using a nonlinear statistic based on the scaling index as a tool to discriminate time series, we demonstrate that the high and low count rate states, which are indistinguishable on the basis of their autocorrelation, structure and probability density functions, are intrinsically different, with the high state characterized by higher complexity.

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arXiv2002

A morphological comparison between the central region in AGN and normal galaxies using HST data

We study the morphology of the central region of a sample of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and a ``control'' sample of normal galaxies using archival observations of the WFPC2 instrument onboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). We use the ellipse fitting technique in order to get a good description of the inner ``smooth'' light distribution of the galaxy. We then divide the observed galaxy image by the artificial image from the fitted ellipses in order to detect morphological signatures in the central region around the nucleus of the galaxy. We perform quantitative comparisons of different subgroups of our sample of galaxies (according to the Hubble type and the nuclear activity of the galaxies) by calculating the average amplitude of the structures that are revealed with the ellipse fitting technique. Our main conclusions are as follows: 1) All AGNs show significant structure in their inner 100 pc and 1 kpc regions whose amplitude is similar in all of them, independent of the Hubble type of the host galaxy. 2) When considering early-type galaxies, non-AGN galaxies show no structure at all, contrary to what we find for AGN. 3) When considering late-type galaxies, both AGN and non-AGN galaxies show significant structure in their central region. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that all early-type galaxies host a supermassive black hole, but only those that have enough material in the central regions to fuel it show an active nucleus. The situation is more complicated in late-type galaxies. Either not all of them host a central black hole, or, in some of them, the material inside the innermost 100 pc region is not transported to the scales of the central engine for some reason, or the large amount of gas and dust hides the active nucleus from our sight.

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arXiv2002

Long Term Spectral Variability of Seyfert Galaxies from RXTE Color-Flux Diagrams

We present results from RXTE data obtained during a systematic monitoring program of four Seyfert galaxies (NGC5548, NGC5506, MCG-6-30-15 and NGC4051). We studied the variability of three hardness ratios derived from the light curves in four energy bands. All the objects show similar spectral variations in all ratios. In order to interpret the results we computed the hardness ratios corresponding to a simple spectral model of a power law plus iron line plus reflection component, considering two possibilities: a)variations with constant line equivalent width and reflection parameter R and b) variations with constant line and reflection flux. The overall, mean observed trends can be explained by spectral slope variations and a constant flux Fe line and reflection component, although the existence of a line component which is variable on short time scales cannot be excluded. Finally, we find that the data are not consistent with an increase of R with flux for individual sources, indicating that, as a single source varies, softer spectra do not correspond to larger R values.

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arXiv2002

Measuring the broadband power spectra of active galactic nuclei with RXTE

We have developed a Monte Carlo technique to test models for the true power spectra of intermittently sampled lightcurves against the noisy, observed power spectra, and produce a reliable estimate of the goodness of fit of the given model. We apply this technique to constrain the broadband power spectra of a sample of four Seyfert galaxies monitored by the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) over three years. We show that the power spectra of three of the AGN in our sample (MCG-6-30-15, NGC5506 and NGC3516) flatten significantly towards low frequencies, while the power spectrum of NGC5548 shows no evidence of flattening. We fit two models for the flattening, a `knee' model, analogous to the low-frequency break seen in the power spectra of BHXRBs in the low state (where the power-spectral slope flattens to α=0) and a `high-frequency break' model (where the power-spectral slope flattens to α=1), analogous to the high-frequency break seen in the high and low-state power spectra of the classic BHXRB Cyg X-1. Both models provide good fits to the power spectra of all four AGN. For both models, the characteristic frequency for flattening is significantly higher in MCG-6-30-15 than in NGC 3516 (by factor ~10) although both sources have similar X-ray luminosities, suggesting that MCG-6-30-15 has a lower black hole mass and is accreting at a higher rate than NGC 3516. Assuming linear scaling of characteristic frequencies with black hole mass, the high accretion rate implied for MCG-6-30-15 favours the high-frequency break model for this source and further suggests that MCG-6-30-15 and possibly NGC 5506, may be analogues of Cyg X-1 in the high state [ABRIDGED].

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arXiv2001

Detection of a high frequency break in the X-ray power spectrum of Ark 564

We present a power spectrum analysis of the long ASCA observation of Ark 564 in June/July 2001. The observed power spectrum covers a frequency range of ~ 3.5 decades. We detect a high frequency break at ~ 0.002 Hz. The power spectrum has an rms of ~30% and a slope of ~ -1 and ~ -2 below and above the break frequency. When combined with the results from a long RXTE observation (Pounds et al. 2001), the observed power spectra of Ark 564 and Cyg X-1 (in the low/hard state) are almost identical, showing a similar shape and rms amplitude. However, the ratio of the high frequency breaks is very small (~ 10e{3-4}), implying that these characteristic frequencies are not indicative of the black hole mass. This result supports the idea of a small black hole mass/high accretion rate in Ark 564.

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arXiv2001

Monitoring RXTE Observations of Markarian 348: the origin of the column density variations

We analyze 37 RXTE observations of the type 2 Seyfert galaxy Mrk348 obtained during a period of 14 months. We confirm the spectral variability previous reported by Smith et al., in the sense that thecolumn density decreases by a factor of ~3 as the count rate increases. Column density variations could possibly originate either due to the random drift of clouds within the absorption screen, or due to photoionization processes. Our modeling of the observed variations implies that the first scenario is more likely. These clouds should lie in a distance of >2 light years from the source, having a diameter of a few light days and a density of >10^7 cm^(-3), hence probably residing outside the Broad Line Region.

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arXiv2001

Frequency-dependent time lags in the X-ray emission of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 7469

We report the discovery of time lags in the cross-spectra of the X-ray light curves of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 7469. This behavior is common in Galactic black hole and neutron star binaries, and is in the sense that harder X-rays are delayed with respect to the soft with a time lag approximately proportional to the Fourier period. At the longest period probed by our observation we find a time lag of approximately 3.5 hours between the 2-4 and 4-10 keV X-rays. A similar lag and period dependence is found comparing the 2-4 and 10-15 keV light curves, albeit with less significance. We find the coherence function of the light curves to be close to 1. The implications of these results for the X-ray production mechanism in active galactic nuclei (AGN) is discussed.

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arXiv2001

Temporal characteristics of the X-ray emission of NGC 7469

We present a study of the time variability of NGC 7469, based on a ~30 d RXTE/PCA observation. Variability is seen across the X-ray band, and spectral changes are observed. The softness ratio is correlated with the ultraviolet flux, but appears to show more rapid variability. The RMS variability parameter calculated on ~1d time scales is significantly variable, and sharp increases are seen close to the periods where the spectrum is hardest. Cross correlation of 2-4 keV, 4-10 keV and 10-15 keV light curves show a peak at zero delay, but the CCFs are skewed towards positive lags (i.e. the soft leading the hard) with an apparent time lag of about 0.5d. The power spectral density (PSD) function in the 2-10 keV band shows no clear features - for example periodicities or breaks - but a power law is a rather poor fit, particularly to the high frequency spectrum. The normalized PSD in the soft X-ray band shows a larger amplitude of variability on long time scales but the hard X-ray PSD is flatter, and shows more power on time scales less than about 1d. Our data broadly support the idea that the X-rays are produced by Compton upscattering of lower-energy seed photons, as had been previously concluded. They are difficult to reconcile with models in which the sole source of variability is the seed photons, and more likely suggest a variability process intrinsic to the X-ray corona. Our interpretation for these results is that the low-frequency variability in NGC 7469 does arise via variations in the Compton seed photons, but that the high frequency variability arises from the coronal heating mechanism (truncated)

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arXiv2000

Optical and X-ray monitoring of the NLS1 galaxy Ark 564

The Narrow-line Seyfert galaxy Ark 564 was monitored between June 04, 2000 and June 24, 2000 from Skinakas Observatory. The B,V,R and I band light curves show night to night variations of 0.1 mag. Comparison with X-ray data from a simultaneous ASCA observation shows that the X-ray variations are more pronounced than in the optical band. Cross correlation analysis yields a time lag of ~ 0.8 days in the sense that the X-rays are leading the optical but with low statistical significance. We discuss possible implications of our results to current physical models of AGN.

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arXiv1999

Simultaneous EUV and X-ray variability of NGC 4051

We present a flux variability study of simultaneous RXTE and EUVE observations of the highly variable Seyfert galaxy NGC4051. We find a strong correlation between variability in the EUV and medium energy X-ray bands,indicating that both are sampling the same power-law continuum. The lag between the two bands is less than 20 ks and, depending on model assumptions, may be <1 ks. We examine the consequences of such a small lag in the context of simple Comptonisation models for the production of the power-law continuum. A lag of <1 ks implies that the size of the Comptonising region is less than 20 Schwarzschild radii for a black hole of mass >1E6 solar masses.

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arXiv1999

The swansong in context: long-timescale X-ray variability of NGC 4051

On 9-11 May 1998, the highly-variable, low luminosity Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC4051 was observed in an unusual low flux state by BeppoSAX (Guainazzi et al. 1998) RXTE and EUVE. We present fits of the 4-15 keV RXTE spectrum and BeppoSAX MECS spectrum obtained during this observation, which are consistent with the interpretation that the source had switched off, leaving only the spectrum of pure reflection from distant cold matter. We place this result in context by showing the X-ray lightcurve of NGC4051 obtained by our RXTE monitoring campaign over the past two and a half years, which shows that the low state lasted for ~150 days before the May observations (implying that the reflecting material is > 10^17 cm from the continuum source) and forms part of a lightcurve showing distinct variations in long-term average flux over timescales > months. We show that the long-timescale component to X-ray variability is intrinsic to the primary continuum and is probably distinct from the variability at shorter timescales, possibly associated with variations in the accretion flow of matter onto the central black hole. As the source approaches the low state, the variability process becomes non-linear. NGC4051 may represent a microcosm of all X-ray variability in radio quiet active galactic nuclei (AGNs), displaying in a few years a variety of flux states and variability properties which more luminous AGNs may pass through on timescales of decades to thousands of years.

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arXiv1998

EUVE-RXTE simultaneous observations of NGC 4051: variability and spectrum

We present timing and spectral analysis of the data collected by the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer Satellite (EUVE) for the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 4051 during 1996. NGC 4051 was observed twice in May 1996 and again in December 1996 for a total of more than 200 ks. The observations were always simultaneous with hard X-ray observations conducted with the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE). The EUVE light curves are extremely variable during each observation, with the maximum variability of more than a factor of 15 from peak to minimum. We detected signal in the EUVE spectrograph in the 75-100 A range which is well fitted by absorbed power law models. We illustrate the results of our spectral and detailed power spectrum analysis performed on EUVE data and the comparison with RXTE lightcurves and discuss the constraint we can place on the mass of the central object and on the size of the emitting region.

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