On the Prospect of Constraining Black-Hole Spin Through X-ray Spectroscopy of Hotspots

Abstract

Future X-ray instrumentation is expected to allow us to significantly improve the constraints derivedfrom the Fe K lines in AGN, such as the black-hole angular momentum (spin) and the inclination angle of the putative accretion disk. We consider the possibility that measurements of the persistent, time-averaged Fe K line emission from the disk could be supplemented by the observation of a localized flare, or "hotspot", orbiting close to the black hole. Although observationally challenging, such measurements would recover some of the information loss that is inherent to the radially-integrated line profiles. We present calculations for this scenario to assess the extent to which, in principle, black-hole spin may be measured. We quantify the feasibility of this approach using realistic assumptions about likely measurement uncertainties.

7 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ

References in corpus (11)

• An XMM-Newton survey of broad iron lines in Seyfert galaxies
• Constraining Black Hole Spin Via X-ray Spectroscopy
• Relativistic X-ray Lines from the Inner Accretion Disks Around Black Holes
• The Evolution of Black Hole Mass and Spin in Active Galactic Nuclei
• Broad iron K-alpha emission lines as a diagnostic of black hole spin
• Initial Measurements of Black Hole Spin in GX 339-4 from Suzaku Spectroscopy
• Where is the Radiation Edge in Magnetized Black Hole Accretion discs?
• Monitoring the Violent Activity from the Inner Accretion Disk of the Seyfert 1.9 Galaxy NGC 2992 with RXTE
• Iron lines from transient and persisting hot spots on AGN accretion disks
• Variation in the primary and reprocessed radiation from an orbiting spot around a black hole
• Magnetic flares in Active Galactic Nuclei: Modeling the iron Kalpha-line

Cited by in corpus (12)

• The Co-Evolution of Galaxies and Supermassive Black Holes: Insights from Surveys of the Contemporary Universe
• Appearance of Keplerian discs orbiting Kerr superspinars
• Multi-resonance orbital model of high-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations: possible high-precision determination of black hole and neutron star spin
• Transition from Regular to Chaotic Circulation in Magnetized Coronae near Compact Objects
• The black hole at the Galactic Center: observations and models
• The search for spinning black hole binaries in mock LISA data using a genetic algorithm
• The model constraints from the observed trends for the quasi-periodic oscillation in RE J1034+396
• Magnetic fields of active galactic nuclei and quasars with polarized broad H-alpha lines
• Extremal energy shifts of radiation from a ring near a rotating black hole
• Strong field effects on emission line profiles: Kerr black holes and warped accretion disks
• Light rays and wave fronts in strong gravity
• Dependence of linear polarization of radiation in accretion disks on the spin of central black hole