arXiv subjects

Minfeng Gu

Publications and source records attributed to Minfeng Gu.

126 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

arXiv2011

The spectral variability of FSRQs

The optical variability of 29 flat spectrum radio quasars in SDSS Stripe 82 region are investigated by using DR7 released multi-epoch data. All FSRQs show variations with overall amplitude ranging from 0.24 mag to 3.46 mag in different sources. About half of FSRQs show a bluer-when-brighter trend, which is commonly observed for blazars. However, only one source shows a redder-when-brighter trend, which implies it is rare in FSRQs. In this source, the thermal emission may likely be responsible for the spectral behavior.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

The orientation of the nuclear obscurer of the AGNs

We examine the distribution of axis ratios of a large sample of disk galaxies hosting type 2 AGNs selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and compare it with a well-defined control sample of non-active galaxies. We find them significantly different, where the type 2 AGNs show both an excess of edge-on objects and deficit of round objects. This systematical bias can not be explained by a nuclear obscurer oriented randomly with respect to the stellar disk. However, a nuclear obscurer coplanar with the stellar disk also does not fit the data very well. By assuming that the nuclear obscurer having an opening angle of ~60 degree, we find the observed axis ratio distribution can be nicely reproduced by a mean tilt angle of ~30 degree between the nuclear obscurer and the stellar disk.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

The compact radio structure of radio-loud narrow line Seyfert 1 galaxies

We present the compact radio structure of three radio-loud narrow line Seyfert 1 galaxies from VLBA archive data at 2.3, 5 and 8.4 GHz. In RXS J16290+4007, the radio structure is mostly unresolved. The combination of compact radio structure, high brightness temperature and inverted spectrum between simultaneous 2.3 and 8.4 GHz, strongly favors jet relativistic beaming. Combining with the VLBI data at 1.6 and 8.4 GHz from literatures, we argued that RXS J16333+4718 may also harbor a relativistic jet, with resolved core-jet structure in 5 GHz. B3 1702+457 is clearly resolved with well defined jet component. The overall radio steep spectrum indicates that B3 1702+457 is likely a source optically defined as NLS1 with radio definition of compact steep spectrum sources. From these three sources, we found that radio loud NLS1s can be either intrinsically radio loud (e.g. B3 1702+457), or apparently radio loud due to jet beaming effect (e.g. RXS J16290+4007 and RXS J16333+4718).

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Accretion/Jet Activity and Narrow [O III] Kinematics in Young Radio Galaxies

We estimate black hole masses and Eddington ratios for a sample of 81 young radio galaxies (42 CSS +39 GPS). We find that the average black hole (BH) mass of these young radio galaxies is ~8.3, which is less than that of radio loud QSOs and low redshift radio galaxies. The CSS/GPS sources have relatively high Eddington ratios, with an average value of =-0.75, which are similar to those of narrow line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLS1s). This suggests that young radio galaxies may not only be in the early stages of their radio activity, but also in the early stage of their accretion activity. We find that the young radio galaxies as a class deviate systematically from M_bh-σrelation defined by nearby inactive galaxies, when using [O III] as a surrogate for stellar velocity dispersion, σ_* . We also find that the deviation of the [O III] line width is correlated with the Eddington ratio and sources with Lbol/LEdd~1 have the largest deviations, which are similar to those of radio quiet QSOs/NLS1s (radio jets is absent or weak). A similar result has been obtained for 9 linear radio Seyfert galaxies. On the basis of these results, we suggest that, in addition to the possible jet-gas interactions, accretion activities may also play an important role in shaping the kinematics of the narrow [O III] line in young radio galaxies and linear radio Seyferts.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

The anti-correlation between the hard X-ray photon index and the Eddington ratio in LLAGNs

We find a significant anti-correlation between the hard X-ray photon index and the Eddington ratio L_Bol/L_Edd for a sample of Low-Ionization Nuclear Emission-line Regions (LINERs) and local Seyfert galaxies, compiled from literatures with Chandra or XMM-Newton observations. This result is in contrast with the positive correlation found in luminous active galactic nuclei (AGNs), while it is similar to that of X-ray binaries (XRBs) in low/hard state. Our result is qualitatively consistent with the spectra produced from advection dominated accretion flows (ADAFs). It implies that the X-ray emission of low-luminosity active galactic nuclei (LLAGNs) may originate from the Comptonization process in ADAF, and the accretion process in LLAGNs may be similar to that of XRBs in the low/hard state, which is different from that in luminous AGNs.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2009

SDSS spectroscopy for blazars in the $Fermi$ LAT bright AGN sample

We have collected all available spectra and photometric data from SDSS catalogue for bright AGNs complied from the first three months of the Fermi large area telescope all-sky survey. Based on the 106 high-confidence and 11 low-confidence association bright AGN list, the photometry data are collected from SDSS DR7 for 28 sources (12 BL Lacs and 16 FSRQs), two of which are low-confidence association bright AGNs. Among these 28 SDSS photometric sources, SDSS spectra are available for 20 sources (6 BL Lacs and 14 FSRQs). The black hole mass M_BH and the broad line region (BLR) luminosity were obtained for 14 FSRQs by measuring the line-width and strength of broad emission lines from SDSS spectra. The broad emission lines measurements of five FSRQs are presented for the first time in this work. The optical continuum emission of these 14 FSRQs is found to be likely dominated by the nonthermal jet emission through comparing the relationship between the broad Mg II line and continuum luminosity to that of radio quiet AGNs. The black hole mass of 14 FSRQs ranges from 10^8.2 to 10^9.9 solar mass, with most of sources larger than 10^9 solar mass. The Eddington ratio L_bol/L_Edd ranges from 10^-1.5 to ~ 1. This implies that the optically thin, geometrically thick accretion disk may exist in these FSRQs.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2009

M_BH - sigma relation in SDSS flat-spectrum radio quasars

The relationship between the black hole mass and velocity dispersion indicated with [O III] line width is investigated for a sample of 87 flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) selected from SDSS DR3 quasar catalogue. We found the M_bh - sigma_[O III] relation is deviated from Tremaine et al. relation for nearby inactive galaxies, with a larger black hole mass at given velocity dispersion. There is no strong evidence of cosmology evolution in M_bh - sigma_[O III] relation up to z~0.8. A significant correlation between the [O III] luminosity and Broad Line Region (BLR) luminosity is found. When transferring the [O III] luminosity to Narrow Line Region (NLR) luminosity, the BLR luminosity is, on average, larger than NLR one by about one order of magnitude. We found a strong correlation between the synchrotron peak luminosity and NLR luminosity, which implies a tight relation between the jet physics and accretion process.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2009

Flat-Spectrum Radio Quasars from SDSS DR3 Quasar Catalogue

We constructed a sample of 185 Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars (FSRQs) by cross-correlating the Shen et al.'s SDSS DR3 X-ray quasar sample with FIRST and GB6 radio catalogues. From the spectrum energy distribution (SED) constructed using multi-band (radio, UV, optical, Infrared and X-ray) data, we derived the synchrotron peak frequency and peak luminosity. The black hole mass and the broad line region (BLR) luminosity (then the bolometric luminosity) were obtained by measuring the line-width and strength of broad emission lines from SDSS spectra. We define a subsample of 118 FSRQs, of which the nonthermal jet emission is thought to be dominated over the thermal emission from accretion disk and host galaxy. For this subsample, we found 25 FSRQs having synchrotron peak frequency > 10^{15} Hz, which is higher than the typical value for FSRQs. While only a weak anti-correlation is found between the synchrotron peak frequency and peak luminosity, it becomes significant when combining with the Wu et al.'s sample of 170 BL Lac objects. At similar peak frequency, the peak luminosity of FSRQs with $\nupeak > 10^{15}$ Hz is systematically higher than that of BL Lac objects, with some FSRQs out of the range covered by BL Lac objects. Although high $\nupeak$ are found in some FSRQs, they do not reach the extreme value of BL Lacs. For the subsample of 118 FSRQs, we found significant correlations between the peak luminosity and black hole mass, the Eddington ratio, and the BLR luminosity, indicating that the jet physics may be tightly related with the accretion process.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2009

Estimating black hole masses in young radio sources using CFHT spectroscopy

The correlation between black hole masses and stellar velocity dispersions provides an efficient method to determine the masses of black holes in active galaxies. We obtained optical spectra of a Compact-Steep-Spectrum (CSS) galaxy 4C +29.70, using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) equipped with OSIS, in August 6, 2003. Several stellar absorption features, such as Mg I (5175Å), Ca E band (5269Å) and Na D (5890Å), were detected in the spectra. The stellar velocity dispersion, $σ$, of the host galaxy, measured from absorption features is $\rm \approx 250 km s^{-1}$. If 4C +29.70 follows the $\rm M_{BH}-σ$ relation established for nearby galaxies, then its central black hole has a mass of $\rm \approx3.3\times10^{8}M_{\odot}$. In combination with the black hole masses of seven GPS galaxies in Snellen et al. (2003), we find that the average black hole mass of these eight young radio sources is smaller than that of the Bettoni et al. (2003) sample of extended radio galaxies. This may indicate that young radio sources are likely at the early evolutionary stage of radio galaxies, at which the central black holes may still undergo rapid growth. However, this needs further investigations.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2009

The bulk kinetic power of radio jets in active galactic nuclei

Based on the Königl's inhomogeneous jet model, we estimate the jet parameters, such as bulk Lorentz factor $Γ$, viewing angle $θ$ and electron number density $n_{\rm e}$ from radio VLBI and X-ray data for a sample of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) assuming that the X-rays are from the jet rather than the intracluster gas. The bulk kinetic power of jets is then calculated using the derived jet parameters. We find a strong correlation between the total luminosity of broad emission lines and the bulk kinetic power of the jets. This result supports the scenario that the accretion process are tightly linked with the radio jets, though how the disk and jet are coupled is not revealed by present correlation analysis. Moreover, we find a significant correlation between the bulk kinetic power and radio extended luminosity. This implies that the emission from the radio lobes are closely related with the energy flux transported through jets from the central part of AGNs.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2008

The Hard X-ray Spectral Evolution in XRBs, AGNs and ULXs

We explore the relationship between the hard X-ray photon index $Γ$ and the Eddington ratio (ξ=L_{X}(0.5-25 keV)/L_{Edd}) in six XRBs. We find that different XRBs follow different anti-correlations between $Γ$ and $ξ$ when $ξ$ is less than a critical value, while they follow the same positive correlation when $ξ$ is larger than the critical value. This anti-correlation and positive correlation are also found in LLAGNs and QSOs respectively, and the anti-correlation and positive correlation of different XRBs roughly converge to the same point ($\log ξ=-2.1, Γ=1.5$), which may correspond to the accretion mode transition, since that the anti-correlation and positive correlation are consistent with the prediction of ADAFs and standard disk/corona system respectively. The traditional low/hard state are divided into two parts by the cross point $\log ξ\sim-2.1$, i.e., faint-hard state in the anti-correlation part and bright-hard state in the positive correlation part. The accretion process in the bright-hard state may be still the standard accretion disk as that in the high/soft state, which is consistent with that both the cold disk component and broad Fe K emission line are observed in some bright-hard state of XRBs. The ADAF is only important in the faint-hard state XRBs. Motivated by the similarities of the state transition and timing properties of the ULXs to that of XRBs, we then constrain the BH masses for seven luminous ULXs assuming that their X-ray spectral evolution is similar to that of XRBs. We find that the BH masses of these seven ULXs are around $10^{4}M_sun$, which are typical intermediate mass BHs (IMBHs). Our results are roughly consistent with the BH masses constrained from the model fitting with a multi-color disk and/or the timing properties(e.g., QPO and break frequency).

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

The debeamed luminosity, sychrotron peak frequency and black hole mass of BL Lac objects

We estimate the intrinsic luminosities and synchrotron peak frequency using the derived Doppler factor for a sample of 170 BL Lac objects, of which the synchrotron peak frequency are derived by fitting the SED constructed with the collected multi-band data from literatures. We find that the debeamed radio and optical core luminosities follow the same correlation found for FR I radio galaxies, which is in support of the unification of the BL Lac objects and the FR I galaxies based on orientation. For the debeamed luminosity at synchrotron peak frequency, we find a significant positive correlation between the luminosity and intrinsic synchrotron peak frequency. This implies that the more powerful sources may have the majority of jet emission at higher frequency. At synchrotron peak frequency, the intrinsic luminosity and black hole mass show strong positive correlation, while mild correlation is found in the case of jet power, indicating that the more powerful sources may have heavier black hole.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

The hard X-ray spectral evolution in X-ray binaries and its application to constrain the black hole mass of ultraluminous X-ray sources

We investigate the relationship between the hard X-ray photon index $Γ$ and the Eddington ratio ($ξ=L_{X}(0.5-25 \rm keV)/L_{Edd}$) in six X-ray binaries (XRBs) with well constrained black hole masses and distances. We find that different XRBs follow different anti-correlations between $Γ$ and $ξ$ when $ξ$ is less than a critical value, while $Γ$ and $ξ$ generally follow the same positive correlation when $ξ$ is larger than the critical value. The anti-correlation and the positive correlation may suggest that they are in different accretion modes (e.g., radiatively inefficient accretion flow (RIAF) and standard disk). We fit both correlations with the linear least-square method for individual sources, from which the crosspoint of two fitted lines is obtained. Although the anti-correlation varies from source to source, the crosspoints of all sources roughly converge to the same point with small scatter($\log ξ=-2.1\pm0.2, Γ=1.5\pm 0.1$), which may correspond to the transition point between RIAF and standard accretion disk. Motivated by the observational evidence for the similarity of the X-ray spectral evolution of ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) to that of XRBs, we then constrain the black hole masses for seven ULXs assuming that their X-ray spectral evolution is similar to that of XRBs. We find that the BH masses of these seven luminous ULXs are around $10^{4}\msun$, which are typical intermediate-mass BHs (IMBHs). Our results are generally consistent with the BH masses constrained from the timing properties (e.g., break frequency) or the model fitting with a multi-color disk.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2007

VLBI observations of seven BL Lac objects from RGB sample

We present EVN observations of seven BL Lac objects selected from the RGB sample. To investigate the intrinsic radiation property of BL Lac objects, we estimated the Doppler factor with the VLA or MERLIN core and the total 408 MHz luminosity for a sample of 170 BL Lac objects. The intrinsic (comoving) synchrotron peak frequency was then calculated by using the estimated Doppler factor. Assuming a Lorentz factor of 5, the viewing angle of jets was constrained. The high-resolution VLBI images of seven sources all show a core-jet structure. We estimated the proper motions of three sources with the VLBI archive data, and find that the apparent speed increases with the distance of components to the core for all of them. In our BL Lacs sample, the Doppler factor of LBLs is systematically larger than that of IBLs and HBLs. We find a significant anti-correlation between the total 408 MHz luminosity and the intrinsic synchrotron peak frequency. However, the scatter is much larger than for the blazar sequence. Moreover, we find a significant positive correlation between the viewing angle and the intrinsic synchrotron peak frequency. The BL Lac objects show a continuous distribution on the viewing angle. While LBLs have a smaller viewing angle than that of IBLs and HBLs, IBLs are comparable to HBLs. We conclude that the intrinsic synchrotron peak frequency is not only related to the intrinsic radio power (though with a large scatter), but also to the viewing angle for the present sample.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2006

A test on external Compton models for $γ$-ray active galactic nuclei

There is clear evidence that the $γ$-ray emission from active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is attributed to the inverse Compton scatterings in the relativistic blobs near the massive black holes. If the soft seed photons are from the regions outside the blobs, a linear relation between $(νF_{ν,γ}/νF_{ν, \rm syn} u^{*})^{1/(1+α)}$ and Doppler factor $δ$ is expected, where $νF_{ν,γ}$ and $νF_{ν, \rm syn}$ are monochromatic $γ$-ray and synchrotron fluxes, respectively, and $u^{*}$ is the energy density of soft seed photons \citep{D97}. We estimate the soft photon energy density in the relativistic blobs contributed by the broad line region (BLRs) in these $γ$-ray AGNs using their broad-line emission data. The Doppler factors $δ$ are derived from their radio core and X-ray emission data, based on the assumption that the X-ray emission is produced through synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) scatterings. We find two nearly linear correlations: $(νF_{ν,γ}/νF_{\rm opt} u^{*})^{1/(1+α)} \propto δ^{1.09}$, and $(νF_{ν,γ}/νF_{\rm IR} u^{*})^{1/(1+α)} \propto δ^{1.20}$, which are roughly consistent with the linear correlation predicted by the theoretical model for external Compton scatterings. Our results imply that the soft seed photons are dominantly from the BLRs in these $γ$-ray AGNs.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2006

Multi-colour optical monitoring of eight red blazars

We present the observational results of multi-colour optical monitoring of eight red blazars from 2003 September to 2004 February. The aim of our monitoring is to investigate the spectral variability as well as the flux variations at short and long time scales. The observations were carried out using the 1.0 m robotic telescope of Mt. Lemmon Optical Astronomy Observatory, in Arizona, USA, the 0.6 m telescope of Sobaeksan Optical Astronomy Observatory and the 1.8 m telescope of Bohyunsan Optical Astronomy Observatory, in the Republic of Korea. During the observations, all sources show strong flux variations with amplitudes of larger than 0.5 mag. Variations with amplitudes of over 1 mag are found in four sources. Intraday variations with amplitudes larger than 0.15 mag, and a rapid brightness increase with a rate of ~0.2 mag per day in four days, are detected in S5 0716+71. We investigate the relationship between the colour index and source brightness for each source. We find that two out of three FSRQs tend to be redder when they are brighter, and, conversely, all BL Lac objects tend to be bluer. In particular, we find a significant anti-correlation between the V-I colour index and R magnitude for 3C 454.3. This implies that the spectrum became steeper when the source was brighter, which is opposite to the common trend for blazars. In contrast, significant positive correlations are found in 3C 66A, S5 0716+71, and BL Lac. However, there are only very weak correlations for PKS 0735+17 and OJ 287. We propose that the different relative contributions of the thermal versus non-thermal radiation to the optical emission may be responsible for the different trends of the colour index with brightness in FSRQs and BL Lac objects.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2001

On the masses of black-holes in radio-loud quasars

The central black-hole masses of a sample of radio-loud quasars are estimated by using the data of $H_β$ line-width and the optical continuum luminosity. The vast majority of the quasars in this sample have black-hole masses larger than $10^{8} M_{\odot}$, while a few quasars may contain relatively smaller black-holes. We found a significant anti-correlation between the radio-loudness and the central black-hole mass. It might imply that the jet formation is governed by the black-hole mass.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2000

Relation between blue/UV continuum shape and the ratio of radio to optical emission for B3-VLA quasars

The low frequency radio luminosity is believed to be an indicator of jet power, while the optical/UV emission is probably from accretion discs in the nuclei of steep-spectrum radio quasars. We present a correlation between the ratio of radio to optical luminosities and the continuum spectral index in blue/UV bands, which might indicate that the continuum shape in blue/UV bands is related to the ratio of jet to accretion power. The results may imply that the spectra and structure of accretion discs are probably affected by the interactions between jets and discs.

astro-ph↗