arXiv subjects

Wen-Juan Liu

Publications and source records attributed to Wen-Juan Liu.

16 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

A New Sample of $\sim$ 100 Intermediate-mass Black Holes Reaching $z \approx 1$

We present a systematic search for intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) active galactic nuclei (AGNs) at $0.5 < z \lesssim 1$ using DESI DR1 spectroscopy.We identify 98 broad-line IMBH AGNs with black hole masses $M_\mathrm{BH}<10^6$ $M_{\odot}$ through quantitative spectral decomposition and broad-H$β$ selection. This sample spans $M_\mathrm{BH}=10^{5.5}-10^{6.0}$ $M_{\odot}$ and Eddington ratios from 1.2 to 9.0 extending systematic IMBH AGN searches to intermediate redshift. Compared with a consistently selected $z<0.6$ IMBH sample, the $0.5<z<1$ sources reach higher broad-H$β$ luminosities and substantially higher Eddington ratios, indicating more extreme accretion states at earlier cosmic times. They also show broader [O III] profiles and stronger blueshifted wing components, with these kinematic differences persisting after matching in black hole mass and Eddington ratio. These results reveal two distinct signatures of evolution among IMBH AGNs at $z<1$: ability of IMBHs to reach increasingly extreme accretion states toward higher redshift, and systematic changes in their ionized-gas kinematics. The former demonstrates that rapid, including super-Eddington, growth of IMBHs can persist to relatively late cosmic times, while the latter may indicate evolution in the ionized-gas environment and associated outflow activity of actively growing IMBHs. Together, these findings provide new constraints on the evolutionary pathways of IMBHs at $z<1$, and show that seed-mass black holes can continue to undergo rapid growth well after the cosmic dawn.

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arXiv2026

A Sample of Active Galactic Nuclei with Intermediate-mass Black Holes Extended to $z \approx$ 0.6

We present a sample of 930 intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) active galactic nuclei (AGNs) with black hole masses of $M_\mathrm{BH} \leqslant 2 \times 10^{6}$ M$_{\odot}$, uniformly selected from the Seventeenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, based on the detection of broad H$α$ or H$β$ emission lines. Taking advantage of the wide wavelength coverage of BOSS/eBOSS spectroscopy, our sample extends the redshift coverage of low-$z$ IMBH AGNs to $z\leqslant0.57$, significantly improving upon previous studies that where generally limited to $z\leqslant0.35$. This sample encompasses black hole masses from $10^{4.0}$ to $10^{6.3}$ M$_{\odot}$, with Eddington ratios ranging from 0.01 to 1.9. Among the $z>0.3$ subset, 24 sources exhibit detectable broad Mg II $λ\lambda2796,2803$ emission lines, including eight confirmed by independent DESI spectra. A preliminary analysis reveals a marked decline in both the maximum accretion rate ($L/L_\mathrm{Edd}$) and broad H$α$ luminosity with decreasing redshift, possibly reflecting a cosmic evolution of accretion activity at the low-mass end, akin to the ``downsizing'' evolutionary trend seen in high-mass AGNs.

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arXiv2024

A Uniformly Selected Sample of Low-mass Black Holes in Seyfert 1 Galaxies. III. Radio sources from the SKA pathfinders and beyond

Occupying the intermediate-mass regime of the accretion--jet parameter space, radio continuum emission from active galactic nuclei with black hole mass M_BH <~ 10^6 Msun (low-mass AGNs) is a valuable probe to the physics of relativistic jets. Yet the number of low-mass AGNs with radio detection is rather limited so far (~ 40 in total). In this work we make two efforts to search for radio counterparts for the largest sample of optically selected low-mass AGNs. First, we collect counterparts from the recent data releases of SKA pathfinders such as LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTSS). Additionally, we deeply mine in Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters (FIRST), fitting the FIRST images of the optical AGNs with an elaborate procedure optimized to detect faint radio sources. We have obtained 151 radio sources (mainly from the SKA pathfinders), including 102 new reliable sources (S/N >= 5) and 23 new candidates (3.5 <= S/N < 5). The majority of these new sources (119 of 125) have flux densities lower than the threshold of the official FIRST catalog. The new sources have rest-frame 20 cm power (P_20cm) from 1.98 x 10^20 to 1.29 x 10^23 W/Hz. For low-z Seyfert galaxies P_20cm correlates with M_BH intrinsically and positively, yet only marginally with Eddington ratio L/L_EDD. In terms of the logN--logS relation for the expanding Universe, the limiting flux density for the completeness of our LoTSS sources turns out to be 0.45 mJy at 1.4 GHz; i.e., complete to such a flux-density level that is four times deeper than the official FIRST catalog.

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arXiv2021

Local Active Galactic Nuclei with Large Broad-Hα Variability Reside in Red Galaxies

Inspired by our serendipitous discovery of six AGNs with varying broad-Halpha fluxes over years out of our searching for intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs), we conduct a systematic investigation of changing-look (CL) and large-variability AGNs. We collect all the CL AGNs at z<0.15 and the reverberation mapped AGNs with strongly variable broad Halpha, and perform careful decomposition fittings to both their images and spectra. We find two observational facts: (1) The host galaxies of local CL and large-variability AGNs, mainly being Seyferts, are in the red (gas-poor) tail of the general Seyfert galaxy population. (2) In contrast, there is a significant trend that their more luminous counterparts namely CL and extremely variable quasars (CLQs and EVQs) are different: CLQs are generally in blue galaxies; in terms of the diagram of SFR and M* local CL Seyfert galaxies are located in the green valley, whereas CLQ hosts are in the star-forming main sequence. We propose explanations for those strongly variable Seyferts and quasars, respectively, under the thought that accretion disks broadly depend on nuclear fueling modes. Local large-variability and CL Seyferts are in nuclear famine mode, where cold-gas clumps can be formed stochastically in the fueling flow, and their episodic infall produces sharp peaks in the accretion-rate curve. CLQs and EVQs are in feast fueling mode, which may account for both their preference to blue galaxies and their variability pattern (high-amplitude tail of the continuous distribution). Lastly, we propose a new thinking: to search for IMBHs by optical variability in red galaxies.

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arXiv2019

A comprehensive and uniform sample of broad-line active galactic nuclei from the SDSS DR7

A new, complete sample of 14,584 broad-line AGNs at $z<0.35$ is presented, which are uncovered homogeneously from the complete database of galaxies and quasars observed spectroscopically in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Seventh Data Release. The stellar continuum is properly removed for each spectrum with significant host absorption line features, and careful analyses of the emission-line spectra, particularly in the H$\rm α$ and H$\rm β$ wavebands, are carried out. The broad Balmer emission line, particularly, H$\rm α$, is used to indicate the presence of an AGN. The broad H$\rm α$ lines have luminosities in a range of $10^{38.5}$-$10^{44.3}$ erg s$^{-1}$, and line widths (FWHMs) of 500-34,000 km s$^{-1}$. The virial black hole masses, estimated from the broad line measurements, span a range of $10^{5.1}$-$10^{10.3}$ $M_\odot$, and the Eddington ratios vary from $-3.3$ to $1.3$ in logarithmic scale. Other quantities such as multi-wavelength photometric properties and flags denoting peculiar line profiles are also included in this catalog. We describe the construction of this catalog and briefly discuss its properties. The catalog is publicly available online. This homogeneously selected AGN catalog, along with the accurately measured spectral parameters, provide the most updated, largest AGN sample data, which will enable further comprehensive investigations of the properties of the AGN population in the low-redshift universe.

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arXiv2019

SDSS J094635.06+101706.1: a redshift one, very radio-loud, γ-ray emitting narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy

As hybrids of narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxies and blazars, γ-ray emitting NLS1s are important probes of jet physics in the high Eddington-ratio regime. Only very few of them are known to date; the majority of them below redshift z = 0.5. Here we present the identification of the γ-ray emitting AGN TXS 0943+105 (SDSS J094635.06+101706.1) as a high-redshift NLS1 galaxy. It turns out to be one of the radio-loudest NLS1s known, highly variable at all wavelengths, and shows widely extended radio emission at a (projected) > 100 kpc scale. It is a known strong γ-ray emitter with a luminous flare reported previously. At redshift z=1.004, this is the most distant γ-NLS1 known to date.

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arXiv2018

Ring Galaxies Through Off-center Minor Collisions by Tuning Bulge-to-disk Mass Ratio of Progenitors

Collisional ring galaxies (CRGs) are formed through off-center collisions between a target galaxy and an intruder dwarf galaxy. We study the mass distribution and kinematics of the CRGs by tuning the bulge-to-disk mass ratio ($B/D$) for the progenitor; i.e., the target galaxy. We find that the lifetime of the ring correlates with the initial impact velocity vertical to the disk plane (i.e., $v_{z0}$). Three orbits for the collisional galaxy pair, on which clear and asymmetric rings form after collisions, are selected to perform the \textit{N}-body simulations at different values of $B/D$ for the progenitor. It is found that the ring structures are the strongest for the CRGs with small values of $B/D$. The Sérsic index, $n$, of the central remnant in the target galaxy becomes larger after collision. Moreover, the Sérsic index of a central remnant strongly correlates with the initial value of $B/D$ for the progenitor. A bulge-less progenitor results in a late-type object in the center of the ring galaxy, whereas a bulge-dominated progenitor leads to an early-type central remnant. Progenitors with $B/D\in [0.1,~0.3]$ (i.e., minor bulges) leave central remnants with $n\approx 4$. These results provide a possible explanation for the formation of a recently observed CRG with an early-type central nucleus, SDSS J1634+2049. In addition, we find that the radial and azimuthal velocity profiles for a ring galaxy are more sensitive to the $B/D$ than the initial relative velocity of the progenitor.

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arXiv2018

A Uniformly Selected Sample of Low-Mass Black Holes in Seyfert 1 Galaxies. II. The SDSS DR7 Sample

A new sample of 204 low-mass black holes (LMBHs) in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is presented with black hole masses in the range of (1-20) * 10^5 M_sun. The AGNs are selected from a systematic search among galaxies in the Seventh Data Release (DR 7) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), and careful analyses of their optical spectra and precise measurement of spectral parameters. Combining them with our previous sample selected from the SDSS DR 4 makes it the largest LMBH sample so far, totaling over 500 objects. Some of the statistical properties of the combined LMBH AGN sample are briefly discussed, in the context of exploring the low-mass end of the AGN population. Their X-ray luminosities follow the extension of the previously known correlation with the [O III] luminosity. The effective optical-to-X-ray spectral indices α_OX, albeit with a large scatter, are broadly consistent with the extension of the relation with the near-UV luminosity L_2500Å. Interestingly, a correlation of α_OX with black hole mass is also found in the sense that α_OX is statistically flatter (stronger X-ray relative to optical) for lower black hole mass. Only 26 objects, mostly radio loud, were detected in radio at 20 cm in the FIRST survey, giving a radio loud fraction of 4%. The host galaxies of LMBHs have stellar masses in the range of 10^8.8-10^12.4 M_sun and optical colors typical of Sbc spirals. They are dominated by young stellar populations that seem to have undergone a continuous star formation history.

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arXiv2017

A Ringed Dwarf LINER 1 Galaxy Hosting an Intermediate-mass Black Hole with Large-scale Rotation-like Hα Emission

We report the discovery of a 20-kpc-sized Hα emission in SDSS J083803.68+540642.0, a ringed dwarf galaxy (M$_V$ = -17.89 mag) hosting an accreting intermediate-mass black hole at z=0.02957. Analysis of the HST images indicates that it is an early-type galaxy with a featureless low-surface brightness disk (μ0 = 20.39 mag arcsec$^{-2}$ in the V band) and a prominent, relatively red bulge (V - I = 2.03, Re = 0.28 kpc or 0."48) that accounts for ~81% of the total light in the I band. A circumgalactic ring of a diameter 16 kpc is also detected, with a disperse shape on its south side. The optical emission lines reveal the nucleus to be a broad-line LINER. Our MMT longslit observation indicates that the kinematics of the extended Hα emission is consistent with a rotational gaseous disk, with a mean blueshifted velocity of 162 km s$^{-1}$ and mean redshifted velocity of 86 km s$^{-1}$ . According to our photoionization calculations, the large-scale Hα emission is unlikely to be powered by the central nucleus or by hot evolved (post-AGB) stars interspersed in the old stellar populations, but by in situ star formation; this is vindicated by the line-ratio diagnostic of the extended emission. We propose that both the ring and large-scale Hα-emitting gas are created by the tidal accretion in a collision-and then merger-with a gas-rich galaxy of a comparable mass.

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arXiv2016

The Redshifted Hydrogen Balmer and Metastable He I Absorption Line System in Mini-FeLoBAL Quasar SDSS J112526.12+002901.3: A Parsec Scale Accretion Inflow?

The accretion of interstellar medium onto the central super massive black holes is widely accepted as the source of the gigantic energy released by the active galactic nuclei. But few pieces of observational evidence have been confirmed directly demonstrating the existence of the inflows. The absorption line system in the spectra of quasar SDSS J112526.12+002901.3 presents an interesting example, in which the rarely detected hydrogen Balmer and metastable He I absorption lines are found redshifted to the quasar's rest frame along with the low-ionization metal absorption lines Mg II, Fe II, etc. The repeated SDSS spectroscopic observations suggest a transverse velocity smaller than the radial velocity. The motion of the absorbing medium is thus dominated by infall. The He I* lines present a powerful probe to the strength of ionizing flux, while the Balmer lines imply a dense environment. With the help of photoionization simulations, we find the absorbing medium is exposed to the radiation with ionization parameter $U\approx 10^{-1.8}$, and the density is $n(\mathrm{H})\approx 10^9\ \mathrm{cm}^{-3}$. Thus the absorbing medium is located $\sim 4\ \mathrm{pc}$ away from the central engine. According to the similarity in the distance and physical conditions between the absorbing medium and the torus, we strongly propose the absorption line system as a candidate for the accretion inflow which originates from the inner surface of the torus.

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arXiv2016

SDSS J163459.82+204936.0: A Ringed Infrared-Luminous Quasar with Outflows in both Absorption and Emission Lines

SDSS J1634+2049 is a local (z = 0.1293) infrared-luminous quasar with LIR= 10^11.91 Lsun. We present a detailed multiwavelength study of both the host galaxy and the nucleus. The host galaxy demonstrates violent, obscured star formation activities with SFR ~ 140 Msun yr^-1, estimated from either the PAH emission or IR luminosity. The optical to NIR spectra exhibit a blueshifted narrow cuspy component in Hb, HeI5876,10830 and other emission lines consistently with an offset velocity of ~900 km/s, as well as additional blueshifting phenomena in high-ionization lines , while there exist blueshifted broad absorption lines (BALs) in NaID and HeI*3889,10830, indicative of the AGN outflows producing BALs and emission lines. Constrained mutually by the several BALs with CLOUDY, the physical properties of the absorption-line outflow are derived as follows: 10^4 < n_H <= 10^5 cm^-3, 10^-1.3 <= U <= 10^-0.7 and 10^22.5<= N_H <= 10^22.9 cm^-2 , similar to those derived for the emission-line outflows. The similarity suggests a common origin. Taking advantages of both the absorption lines and outflowing emission lines, we find that the outflow gas is located at a distance of 48 - 65 pc from the nucleus, and that the kinetic luminosity of the outflow is 10^44-10^46 erg s^-1. J1634+2049 has a off-centered galactic ring on the scale of ~ 30 kpc that is proved to be formed by a recent head-on collision by a nearby galaxy. Thus this quasar is a valuable object in the transitional phase emerging out of dust enshrouding as depicted by the co-evolution scenario.

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arXiv2015

Detection of the Intermediate-width Emission Line Region in Quasar OI 287 with the Broad Emission Line Region Obscured by the Dusty Torus

The existence of intermediate-width emission line regions (IELRs) in active galactic nuclei has been discussed for over two decades. A consensus, however, is yet to be arrived at due to the lack of convincing evidence for their detection. We present a detailed analysis of the broadband spectrophotometry of the partially obscured quasar OI 287. The ultraviolet intermediate-width emission lines (IELs) are very prominent, in high contrast to the corresponding broad emission lines (BELs) which are heavily suppressed by dust reddening. Assuming that the IELR is virialized, we estimated its distance to the central black hole of $\sim 2.9$ pc, similar to the dust sublimation radius of $\sim 1.3$ pc. Photo-ionization calculations suggest that the IELR has a hydrogen density of $\sim 10^{8.8}-10^{9.4} ~ \rm cm^{-3}$, within the range of values quoted for the dusty torus near the sublimation radius. Both its inferred location and physical conditions suggest that the IELR originates from the inner surface of the dusty torus. In the spectrum of this quasar, we identified only one narrow absorption-line system associated with the dusty material. With the aid of photo-ionization model calculations, we found that the obscuring material might originate from an outer region of the dusty torus. We speculate that the dusty torus, which is exposed to the central ionizing source, may produce IELs through photo-ionization processes, while also obscure BELs as a natural "coronagraph". Such a "coronagraph" could be found in a large number of partially obscured quasars and be a useful tool to study IELRs.

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arXiv2015

A Comprehensive Study of Broad Absorption Line Quasars: I. Prevalence of HeI* Absorption Line Multiplets in Low-Ionization Objects

Neutral Helium multiplets, HeI*3189,3889,10830 are very useful diagnostics to the geometry and physical conditions of the absorbing gas in quasars. So far only a handful of HeI* detections have been reported. Using a newly developed method, we detected HeI*3889 absorption line in 101 sources of a well-defined sample of 285 MgII BAL quasars selected from the SDSS DR5. This has increased the number of HeI* BAL quasars by more than one order of magnitude. We further detected HeI*3189 in 50% (52/101) quasars in the sample. The detection fraction of HeI* BALs in MgII BAL quasars is about 35% as a whole, and increases dramatically with increasing spectral signal-to-noise ratios, from 18% at S/N <= 10 to 93% at S/N >= 35. This suggests that HeI* BALs could be detected in most MgII LoBAL quasars, provided spectra S/N is high enough. Such a surprisingly high HeI* BAL fraction is actually predicted from photo-ionization calculations based on a simple BAL model. The result indicates that HeI* absorption lines can be used to search for BAL quasars at low-z, which cannot be identified by ground-based optical spectroscopic survey with commonly seen UV absorption lines. Using HeI*3889, we discovered 19 BAL quasars at z<0.3 from available SDSS spectral database. The fraction of HeI* BAL quasars is similar to that of LoBAL objects.

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arXiv2013

Determining Heating Rates in Reconnection Formed Flare Loops of the M8.0 Flare on 2005 May 13

We analyze and model an M8.0 flare on 2005 May 13 observed by TRACE and RHESSI to determine the energy release rate from magnetic reconnection that forms and heats numerous flare loops. The flare exhibits two ribbons in UV 1600 Å emission. Analysis shows that the UV light curve at each flaring pixel rises impulsively within a few minutes, and decays slowly with a timescale >10 min. Since the lower atmosphere (transition region and chromosphere) responds to energy deposit nearly instantaneously, the rapid UV brightening is thought to reflect the energy release process in the newly formed flare loop rooted at the footpoint. We utilize spatially resolved (down to 1 arcsec) UV light curves and thick-target hard X-ray emission to construct heating functions of a few thousand flare loops anchored at UV foot points, and compute plasma evolution in these loops using the EBTEL model. The modeled coronal temperatures and densities of these flare loops are used to calculate synthetic soft X-ray spectra and light curves, which compare favorably with those observed by RHESSI and GOES/XRS. The time-dependent transition region DEM for each loop during its decay phase is also computed with a simplified model and used to calculate the optically-thin C IV line emission, which dominates the UV 1600 Å bandpass during the flare. The computed C IV line emission decays at the same rate as observed. This study presents a method to constrain heating of reconnection-formed flare loops using all available observables independently, and provides insight into the physics of energy release and plasma heating during the flare. With this method, the lower limit of the total energy used to heat the flare loops in this event is estimated to be 1.22e31 ergs, of which only 1.9e30 ergs is carried by beam-driven upflows during the impulsive phase, suggesting that the coronal plasmas are predominantly heated in situ.

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arXiv2012

Discovery of six high-redshift quasars with the Lijiang 2.4m telescope and the Multiple Mirror Telescope

Quasars with redshifts greater than 4 are rare, and can be used to probe the structure and evolution of the early universe. Here we report the discovery of six new quasars with $i$-band magnitudes brighter than 19.5 and redshifts between 2.4 and 4.6 from the YFOSC spectroscopy of the Lijiang 2.4m telescope in February, 2012. These quasars are in the list of $z>3.6$ quasar candidates selected by using our proposed $J-K/i-Y$ criterion and the photometric redshift estimations from the SDSS optical and UKIDSS near-IR photometric data. Nine candidates were observed by YFOSC, and five among six new quasars were identified as $z>3.6$ quasars. One of the other three objects was identified as a star and the other two were unidentified due to the lower signal-to-noise ratio of their spectra. This is the first time that $z>4$ quasars have been discovered using a telescope in China. Thanks to the Chinese Telescope Access Program (TAP), the redshift of 4.6 for one of these quasars was confirmed by the Multiple Mirror Telescope (MMT) Red Channel spectroscopy. The continuum and emission line properties of these six quasars, as well as their central black hole masses and Eddington ratios, were obtained.

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arXiv2012

Heating of Flare Loops With Observationally Constrained Heating Functions

We analyze high cadence high resolution observations of a C3.2 flare obtained by AIA/SDO on August 1, 2010. The flare is a long duration event with soft X-ray and EUV radiation lasting for over four hours. Analysis suggests that magnetic reconnection and formation of new loops continue for more than two hours. Furthermore, the UV 1600Å observations show that each of the individual pixels at the feet of flare loops is brightened instantaneously with a timescale of a few minutes, and decays over a much longer timescale of more than 30 minutes. We use these spatially resolved UV light curves during the rise phase to construct empirical heating functions for individual flare loops, and model heating of coronal plasmas in these loops. The total coronal radiation of these flare loops are compared with soft X-ray and EUV radiation fluxes measured by GOES and AIA. This study presents a method to observationally infer heating functions in numerous flare loops that are formed and heated sequentially by reconnection throughout the flare, and provides a very useful constraint to coronal heating models.

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