Modeling High-Velocity QSO Absorbers with Photoionized MHD Disk-Winds

Abstract

We extend our modeling of the ionization structure of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) accretion-disk winds, previously applied to Seyfert galaxies, to a population of quasi-stellar-objects (QSOs) of much lower X-ray-to-UV flux ratios, i.e. smaller $\hat{I}{\pm }_{\mathrm{ox}}$ index, motivated by UV/X-ray ionized absorbers with extremely high outflow velocities in UV-luminous QSOs. We demonstrate that magnetically-driven winds ionized by a spectrum with $\hat{I}{\pm }_{\mathrm{ox}}\simeq -2$ can produce the charge states responsible for \civ ~and \fexxv/\fexxvi ~absorption in wind regions with corresponding maximum velocities of $v$(\civ) $\lsim 0.1c$ and $v({\rm \fexxv}) \lsim 0.6 c$ (where $c$ is the speed of light) and column densities $N_H\sim 10^{23}-10^{24}$ cm${}^{-2}$, in general agreement with observations. In contrast to the conventional radiation-driven wind models, {\it high-velocity flows are always present in our MHD-driven winds} but manifest in the absorption spectra only for $α_{\rm ox} \lsim -2$, as larger $\hat{I}{\pm }_{\mathrm{ox}}$ values ionize the wind completely out to radii too large to demonstrate the presence of these high velocities. We thus predict increasing velocities of these ionized absorbers with decreasing (steeper) $\hat{I}{\pm }_{\mathrm{ox}}$, a quantity that emerges as the defining parameter in the kinematics of the AGN UV/X-ray absorbers.

11 pages, Figs.1-3 (color), accepted to ApJL