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Modelling the AGN broad line region using single-epoch spectra II. Nearby AGN

Modelling the AGN broad line region using single-epoch spectra II. Nearby AGN
Modelling the AGN broad line region using single-epoch spectra II. Nearby AGN
The structure of the broad line region (BLR) is an essential ingredient in the determination of active galactic nuclei (AGN) virial black hole masses, which in turn are important to study the role of black holes in galaxy evolution. Constraints on the BLR geometry and dynamics can be obtained from velocity-resolved studies using reverberation mapping data (i.e. monitoring data). However, monitoring data are observationally expensive and only available for a limited sample of AGN, mostly confined to the local Universe. Here we explore a new version of a Bayesian inference, physical model of the BLR which uses an individual spectrum and prior information on the BLR size from the radius-luminosity relation, to model the AGN BLR geometry and dynamics. We apply our model to a sample of 11 AGN, which have been previously modelled using monitoring data. Our single-epoch BLR model is able to constrain some of the BLR parameters with inferred parameter values that agree within the uncertainties with those determined from the modelling of monitoring data. We find that our model is able to derive stronger constraints on the BLR for AGN with broad emission lines that qualitatively have more substructure and more asymmetry, presumably as they contain more information to constrain the physical model. The performance of this model makes it a practical and cost-effective tool to determine some of the BLR properties of a large sample of low and high redshift AGN, for which monitoring data are not available.
1365-2966
1227 - 1248
Raimundo, Sandra
e409d9d3-17e8-4049-ad29-43ada60b24e2
Vestergaard, M.
0403f403-5b3b-4cc4-b3f0-87f841afe909
Goad, M.R.
24d2dc27-9bf7-481b-85cf-2d96fd54c17b
Grier, C.J.
187fd48f-657a-4c3e-895b-37f021fab979
Williams, P.R.
437b77e2-ea42-4cc5-ba96-c2613a937678
Peterson, B.M.
f8c9b089-4dd2-4a48-87b2-33e9f4a1bf1e
Treu, T.
7daa520c-9c82-4e17-999f-f4ecde29c32c
Raimundo, Sandra
e409d9d3-17e8-4049-ad29-43ada60b24e2
Vestergaard, M.
0403f403-5b3b-4cc4-b3f0-87f841afe909
Goad, M.R.
24d2dc27-9bf7-481b-85cf-2d96fd54c17b
Grier, C.J.
187fd48f-657a-4c3e-895b-37f021fab979
Williams, P.R.
437b77e2-ea42-4cc5-ba96-c2613a937678
Peterson, B.M.
f8c9b089-4dd2-4a48-87b2-33e9f4a1bf1e
Treu, T.
7daa520c-9c82-4e17-999f-f4ecde29c32c

Raimundo, Sandra, Vestergaard, M., Goad, M.R., Grier, C.J., Williams, P.R., Peterson, B.M. and Treu, T. (2020) Modelling the AGN broad line region using single-epoch spectra II. Nearby AGN. Monthly Notices Of The Royal Astronomical Society, 493 (1), 1227 - 1248. (doi:10.1093/mnras/staa285).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The structure of the broad line region (BLR) is an essential ingredient in the determination of active galactic nuclei (AGN) virial black hole masses, which in turn are important to study the role of black holes in galaxy evolution. Constraints on the BLR geometry and dynamics can be obtained from velocity-resolved studies using reverberation mapping data (i.e. monitoring data). However, monitoring data are observationally expensive and only available for a limited sample of AGN, mostly confined to the local Universe. Here we explore a new version of a Bayesian inference, physical model of the BLR which uses an individual spectrum and prior information on the BLR size from the radius-luminosity relation, to model the AGN BLR geometry and dynamics. We apply our model to a sample of 11 AGN, which have been previously modelled using monitoring data. Our single-epoch BLR model is able to constrain some of the BLR parameters with inferred parameter values that agree within the uncertainties with those determined from the modelling of monitoring data. We find that our model is able to derive stronger constraints on the BLR for AGN with broad emission lines that qualitatively have more substructure and more asymmetry, presumably as they contain more information to constrain the physical model. The performance of this model makes it a practical and cost-effective tool to determine some of the BLR properties of a large sample of low and high redshift AGN, for which monitoring data are not available.

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Accepted/In Press date: 24 January 2020
Published date: 31 January 2020

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 472582
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/472582
ISSN: 1365-2966
PURE UUID: eab41419-0128-4e94-89ce-f245d7a71a44
ORCID for Sandra Raimundo: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-6248-398X

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Date deposited: 08 Dec 2022 17:44
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 04:03

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Contributors

Author: Sandra Raimundo ORCID iD
Author: M. Vestergaard
Author: M.R. Goad
Author: C.J. Grier
Author: P.R. Williams
Author: B.M. Peterson
Author: T. Treu

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