CAIXA: a catalogue of AGN in the XMM-Newton archive III. Excess Variance Analysis

Abstract

We report on the results of the first XMM systematic "excess variance" study of all the radio quiet, X-ray un-obscured AGN. The entire sample consist of 161 sources observed by XMM for more than 10 ks in pointed observations which is the largest sample used so far to study AGN X-ray variability on time scales less than a day. We compute the excess variance for all AGN, on different time-scales (10, 20, 40 and 80 ks) and in different energy bands (0.3-0.7, 0.7-2 and 2-10 keV). We observe a highly significant and tight (~0.7 dex) correlation between excess variance and MBH. The subsample of reverberation mapped AGN shows an even smaller scatter (~0.45 dex) comparable to the one induced by the MBH uncertainties. This implies that X-ray variability can be used as an accurate tool to measure MBH and this method is more accurate than the ones based on single epoch optical spectra. The excess variance vs. accretion rate dependence is weaker than expected based on the PSD break frequency scaling, suggesting that both the PSD high frequency break and the normalisation depend on accretion rate in such a way that they almost completely counterbalance each other. A highly significant correlation between excess variance and 2-10 keV spectral index is observed. Both the variability vs. LBol and FWHM_Hbeta correlations are consistent with being just by-products of the correlation with MBH. The soft and medium variability is very well correlated with the hard variability, suggesting that the additional soft components (i.e. soft excess, warm absorber) add a minor contribution to the total variability. Once the variability is rescaled for MBH and mdot, no significant difference between narrow-line and broad-line Seyfert 1 is observed. The results are in agreement with a picture where, to first approximation, all local AGN have the same variability properties once rescaled for MBH and accretion rate.

arXiv comment24 pages, 17 figures; accepted for publication in A&A

References in corpus (75)

• Reverberation Measurements for 17 Quasars and the Size-Mass-Luminosity Relations in Active Galactic Nuclei
• Central Masses and Broad-Line Region Sizes of Active Galactic Nuclei. II. A Homogeneous Analysis of a Large Reverberation-Mapping Database
• Local Supermassive Black Holes, Relics of Active Galactic Nuclei and the X-ray Background
• The M-sigma and M-L Relations in Galactic Bulges and Determinations of their Intrinsic Scatter
• AGN Black Hole Masses and Bolometric Luminosities
• Active Galactic Nuclei as scaled-up Galactic black holes
• Piecing Together the X-ray Background: Bolometric Corrections for Active Galactic Nuclei
• The XMM-Newton view of PG quasars I. X-ray continuum and absorption
• Measuring the broadband power spectra of active galactic nuclei with RXTE
• The Lick AGN Monitoring Project: Broad-Line Region Radii and Black Hole Masses from Reverberation Mapping of Hbeta
• Ubiquitous equatorial accretion disc winds in black hole soft states
• Reverberation Mapping Measurements of Black Hole Masses in Six Local Seyfert Galaxies
• A Low-Mass Central Black Hole in the Bulgeless Seyfert 1 Galaxy NGC 4395
• A Model for the X-Ray and UV Emission from Seyfert Galaxies and Galactic Black Holes
• Multiwavelength Monitoring of the Dwarf Seyfert 1 Galaxy NGC 4395. I. A Reverberation-Based Measurement of the Black Hole Mass
• A Comprehensive Spectral and Variability Study of Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 Galaxies Observed by ASCA: I. Observations and Time Series Analysis
• XMM-Newton EPIC observations of 21 low-redshift PG quasars
• CAIXA: a Catalogue of AGN In the XMM-Newton Archive I. Spectral analysis
• Broad iron L-line and X-ray reverberation in 1H0707-495
• The Hard X-ray Spectral Slope as an Accretion-Rate Indicator in Radio-Quiet Active Galactic Nuclei
• The Compact, Conical, Accretion-Disk Warm Absorber of the Seyfert 1 Galaxy NGC 4051 and its Implications for IGM-Galaxy Feedback Processes
• The M-sigma Relation in Local Active Galaxies
• X-ray Observations of Optically-Selected, Radio-Quiet Quasars I: The ASCA results
• X-ray continuum variability of MCG-6-30-15
• A Cutoff in the X-ray Fluctuation Power Density Spectrum of the Seyfert 1 Galaxy NGC 3516
• Black Holes in Pseudobulges and Spheroidals: A Change in the Black Hole-Bulge Scaling Relations at Low Mass
• On X-ray Variability in Seyfert Galaxies
• The long term X-ray spectral variability of AGN
• X-ray absorption by Broad Line Region Clouds in Mrk 766
• Discovery of multiple Lorentzian components in the X-ray timing properties of the Narrow Line Seyfert 1 Ark 564
• XMM-Newton study of the complex and variable spectrum of NGC 4051
• The scaling of the X-ray variability with black hole mass in AGN
• The hard X-ray spectral evolution in X-ray binaries and its application to constrain the black hole mass of ultraluminous X-ray sources
• X-ray variability and correlations in the two phase disk-corona model for Seyfert galaxies
• The relationship between X-ray variability amplitude and black hole mass in active galactic nuclei
• Prevalence of X-ray variability in the Chandra Deep Field South
• The variability plane of accreting compact objects
• Calibrating the correlation between black hole mass and X-ray variability amplitude: X-ray only black hole mass estimates for active galactic nuclei and ultra-luminous X-ray sources
• The XMM-Newton view of AGN with intermediate mass black holes
• On X-ray variability in narrow line and broad line AGNs
• Black hole masses from power density spectra: determinations and consequences
• Mapping the inner regions of MCG-6-30-15 with XMM-Newton
• Relativistic disc reflection in the extreme NLS1 IRAS13224-3809
• On the observed distributions of black hole masses and Eddington ratios from radiation pressure corrected virial indicators
• An RXTE Survey of Long-Term X-ray Variability in Seyfert 1 Galaxies
• Long-term spectral changes in the partial-covering candidate NLS1 1H 0707-495
• Scaling variability from stellar to supermassive black holes
• The rapid X-ray variability of NGC 4051
• Evolution of the 0.01 - 25 Hz power spectral components in Cygnus X-1
• X-ray variability in a deep, flux limited sample of QSOs
• Black hole mass estimation from X-ray variability measurements in AGN
• Energy-dependent variability and the origin of the soft X-ray excess in AGN
• The relationship between the X-ray variability and the central black hole mass
• New constraints on the X-ray spectral properties of type 1 AGN
• Opacity Variations in the Ionized Absorption in NGC 3783: A Compact Absorber
• CAIXA: a Catalogue of AGN In the XMM-Newton Archive II. Multiwavelength correlations
• High-frequency X-ray variability as a mass estimator of stellar and supermassive black holes
• Ensemble X-ray variability of Active Galactic Nuclei from serendipitous source catalogues
• NLS1 galaxies and estimation of their central black hole masses from the X-ray excess variance method
• Confirmation of a correlation between the X-ray luminosity and spectral slope of AGNs in the Chandra Deep Fields
• Weighing the black holes in ultraluminous X-ray sources through timing
• Virial Masses of Black Holes from Single Epoch Spectra of AGN
• The long-term X-ray variability properties of AGN in the Lockman Hole region
• Suzaku observations of Markarian 335: evidence for a distributed reflector
• The X-ray variability of high redshift QSOs
• Consistency of the black hole mass determination in AGN from the reverberation and the X-ray excess variance method
• Unveiling the broad band X-ray continuum and iron line complex in Mkr 841
• The X-ray Power Spectral Density Function and Black Hole Mass Estimate for the Seyfert AGN IC 4329a
• The scaling of X-ray variability with luminosity in Ultra-luminous X-ray sources
• A longer XMM-Newton look at I Zwicky 1: Variability of the X-ray continuum, absorption, and iron Kalpha line
• The structure and X-ray radiation spectra of illuminated accretion disks in AGN. III. Modeling fractional variability
• A correlation between the spectral and timing properties of AGN
• The optical emission line spectrum of Mark 110
• X-ray properties of the quasar HE0450-2958
• Is the anti-correlation between the X-ray variability amplitude and black hole mass of AGNs intrinsic?

Cited by in corpus (174)

• Active Galactic Nuclei: what's in a name?
• X-ray reverberation around accreting black holes
• Discovery of a relation between black hole mass and soft X-ray time lags in active galactic nuclei
• A global look at X-ray time lags in Seyfert Galaxies
• X-ray variability of 104 active galactic nuclei. XMM-Newton power-spectrum density profiles
• A statistical relation between the X-ray spectral index and Eddington ratio of active galactic nuclei in deep surveys
• Testing warm Comptonization models for the origin of the soft X-ray excess in AGN
• X-ray Reflection Spectroscopy of the Black Hole GX 339-4: Exploring the Hard State with Unprecedented Sensitivity
• Anatomy of the AGN in NGC 5548: I. A global model for the broadband spectral energy distribution
• Towards precision measurements of accreting black holes using X-ray reflection spectroscopy
• The response of relativistic outflowing gas to the inner accretion disk of a black hole
• A powerful flare from Sgr A* confirms the synchrotron nature of the X-ray emission
• Long-term variability of AGN at hard X-rays
• Pan-STARRS1 variability of XMM-COSMOS AGN. II. Physical correlations and power spectrum analysis
• The broad band spectral variability of MCG-6-30-15 observed by NuSTAR and XMM-Newton
• Comparative performance of selected variability detection techniques in photometric time series
• Towards modelling X-ray reverberation in AGN: Piecing together the extended corona
• Simultaneous NuSTAR and XMM-Newton 0.5-80 keV spectroscopy of the Narrow Line Seyfert 1 galaxy SWIFT J2127.4+5654
• Fifteen years of XMM-Newton and Chandra monitoring of Sgr A*: Evidence for a recent increase in the bright flaring rate
• XMMSL1 J074008.2-853927: a tidal disruption event with thermal and non-thermal components
• Detection of Time Lags Between Quasar Continuum Emission Bands based on Pan-STARRS Light-curves
• Comparison of the X-ray emission from Tidal Disruption Events with those of Active Galactic Nuclei
• Traces of past activity in the Galactic Centre
• A new way to measure supermassive black hole spin in accretion disc dominated Active Galaxies
• Long-Term X-ray Variability of Typical Active Galactic Nuclei in the Distant Universe
• Quasar Black Hole Mass Estimates in the Era of Time Domain Astronomy
• Deciphering the extreme X-ray variability of the nuclear transient eRASSt J045650.3-203750: A likely repeating partial tidal disruption event
• A high Eddington-ratio, true Seyfert 2 galaxy candidate: implications for broad-line-region models
• AGN X-ray variability in the XMM-COSMOS survey
• Tracing the accretion history of supermassive Black Holes through X-ray variability: results from the Chandra Deep Field-South
• The Mass and Spin of The Extreme Narrow Line Seyfert 1 Galaxy 1H 0707-495 and Its Implications for The Trigger for Relativistic Jets
• The host-galaxy of the gamma-ray Narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy 1H~0323+342
• A new cosmological distance measure using AGN X-ray variability
• Evolution of the reverberation lag in GX 339-4 at the end of an outburst
• Ensemble X-ray variability of Active Galactic Nuclei. II. Excess Variance and updated Structure Function
• X-ray properties of TDEs
• Observations of MCG-5-23-16 with Suzaku, XMM-Newton and NuSTAR: Disk tomography and Compton hump reverberation
• Anatomy of the AGN in NGC 5548 VIII. XMM-Newton's EPIC detailed view of an unexpected variable multilayer absorber
• Measuring X-ray variability in faint/sparsely-sampled AGN
• RX J1301.9+2747: A Highly Variable Seyfert Galaxy with Extremely Soft X-ray Emission
• A long term study of AGN X-ray variability. Structure function analysis on a ROSAT-XMM quasar sample
• The curious time lags of PG 1244+026: Discovery of the iron K reverberation lag
• Towards equation of state of dark energy from quasar monitoring: Reverberation strategy
• On the Fe K absorption - accretion state connection in the Galactic center neutron star X-ray binary AX J1745.6-2901
• NuSTAR/XMM-Newton monitoring of the Seyfert 1 galaxy HE 1143-1810. Testing the two-corona scenario
• Super-Eddington QSO RX J0439.6-5311. II. Multi-wavelength Constraints on the Global Structure of the Accretion Flow
• Insights on the X-ray weak quasar phenomenon from XMM-Newton monitoring of PHL 1092
• A Long XMM-Newton Observation of An Extreme Narrow Line Seyfert 1: PG 1244+026
• Anatomy of the AGN in NGC 5548: III. The high-energy view with NuSTAR and INTEGRAL
• A Long Look At MCG-5-23-16 With NuSTAR: I- Relativistic Reflection And Coronal Properties
• The variable and non-variable X-ray absorbers in Compton-thin type-II Active Galactic Nuclei
• Lyman continuum leaking AGN in the SSA22 field
• Investigating the X-ray time-lags in PG 1244+026 using an extended corona model
• On the black hole mass of the gamma-ray emitting narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy 1H 0323+342
• A Uniformly Selected Sample of Low-Mass Black Holes in Seyfert 1 Galaxies. II. The SDSS DR7 Sample
• A Suzaku sample of unabsorbed narrow-line and broad-line Seyfert 1 galaxies: I. X-ray spectral properties
• Prospects for differentiating extended coronal geometries in AGNs with the IXPE mission
• The frequency of extreme X-ray variability of radio-quiet quasars
• X-ray flux variability of active galactic nuclei observed using NuSTAR
• Multi-wavelength campaign on NGC 7469 IV. The broad-band X-ray spectrum
• High-energy monitoring of NGC 4593 II. Broadband spectral analysis: testing the two-corona model
• The soft excess of the NLS1 galaxy Mrk 359 studied with an XMM-Newton-NuSTAR monitoring campaign
• Exploratory X-ray Monitoring of Luminous Radio-Quiet Quasars at High Redshift: Initial Results
• AGN Coronae Through A Jet Perspective
• The Best Constraints on A Super-Eddington Accretion Flow: XMM-Newton Observations of An Intermediate-mass Black Hole
• Deepest view of AGN X-ray variability with the 7 Ms Chandra Deep Field-South survey
• AGN spectral states from simultaneous UV and X-ray observations by XMM-Newton
• Rimmed and Rippled Accretion Disc Models to Explain AGN Continuum Lags
• The rhythm of Fairall 9 -- I: Observing the spectral variability with XMM-Newton and NuSTAR
• An Extreme X-ray Variability Event of a Weak-Line Quasar
• Short Timescale AGN X-ray Variability with EXOSAT: Black hole mass and Normalised Variability Amplitude
• The Eddington ratio-dependent changing look events in NGC 2992
• Is there a UV/X-ray connection in IRAS 13224-3809?
• Extending Virial Black Hole Mass Estimates to Low-Luminosity or Obscured AGN: the cases of NGC 4395 and MCG -01-24-012
• X-ray Spectral and Variability Properties of Low-Mass AGN
• XMMSL2 J144605.0+685735 : a slow tidal disruption event
• The first hard X-ray spectral catalogue of Blazars observed by NuSTAR
• Pan-STARRS1 variability of XMM-COSMOS AGN. I. Impact on photometric redshifts
• X-ray reflection from the inner disk of the AGN Ton S180
• Reverberation Mapping of IC4329A
• Multi-wavelength campaign on NGC7469 I. The rich 640 ks RGS spectrum
• The first simultaneous X-ray broad-band view of Mrk 110 with XMM-Newton and NuSTAR
• The evolution of the disc variability along the hard state of the black hole transient GX 339-4
• VLBI Observations of a sample of Palomar-Green quasars I: parsec-scale morphology
• Incoherent fast variability of X-ray obscurers. The case of NGC 3783
• Estimating the size of X-ray lamppost coronae in active galactic nuclei
• Location and energetics of the ultra-fast outflow in PG 1448+273
• Highly variable AGN from the XMM-Newton Slew Survey
• Inferring black hole spins and probing accretion/ejection flows in AGNs with the Athena X-ray Integral Field Unit
• Quasar spectral variability from the XMM-Newton serendipitous source catalogue
• TPHO: a time-dependent photoionisation model for AGN outflows
• X-ray reverberation lags of the Fe-K line due to AGN disc winds
• Direct probe of the inner accretion flow around the supermassive black hole in NGC 2617
• Chasing Super-Massive Black Hole merging events with $Athena$ and LISA
• Radio/X-ray monitoring of the broad-line radio galaxy 3C 382. High-energy view with XMM-Newton and NuSTAR
• The lively accretion disk in NGC 2992. I. Transient iron K emission lines in the high flux state
• Nuclear absorption and emission in the AGN merger NGC 6240: the hard X-ray view
• Detection of a variable ultra-fast outflow in the Narrow Line Seyfert 1 galaxy PG 1448+273
• Black hole mass estimation using X-ray variability measurements in Seyfert galaxies
• MUSE reveals extended circumnuclear outflows in the Seyfert 1 NGC 7469
• The Extreme Super-Eddington NLS1 RX J0134.2-4258 -- II. A Weak-Line Seyfert Linking to the Weak-Line Quasar
• Spatially Resolved Ionized Outflows Extending to $\sim$2 kpc in Seyfert 1 Galaxy NGC 7469 Revealed by VLT/MUSE
• Extreme Relativistic Reflection in the Active Galaxy ESO 033-G002
• The nature of the soft-excess and spectral variability in the Seyfert 1 galaxy Zw 229.015
• The X-ray variability of Seyfert 1.8/1.9 galaxies
• Kepler light curve analysis of the blazar W2R 1926+42
• Ejection-accretion connection in NLS1 AGN 1H 1934-063
• Variability-selected low-luminosity active galactic nuclei candidates in the 7 Ms Chandra Deep Field-South
• The universal shape of the X-ray variability power spectrum of AGN up to $z\sim 3$
• The X-ray spectral and variability properties of typical radio-loud quasars
• Independent Black Hole Mass Estimation for the γ-ray Detected Archetypal Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 Galaxy 1H 0323+342 from X-ray Variability
• Investigating the interplay between the coronal properties and the hard X-ray variability of active galactic nuclei with NuSTAR
• A Hard Look At Relativistic Reverberation in MCG-5-23-16 & SWIFT J2127.4+5654: Testing the Lamp-Post Model
• The SRG/eROSITA All-Sky Survey: X-ray beacons at late cosmic dawn
• Continuum optical-UV and X-ray variability of AGN: current results and future challenges
• Detection of a possible multiphase ultra-fast outflow in IRAS 13349+2438 with NuSTAR and XMM-Newton
• BASS-XL: X-ray variability properties of unobscured Active Galactic Nuclei
• Contrasting X-ray/UV time-lags in Seyfert 1 galaxies NGC 4593 and NGC 7469 using AstroSat observations
• Energy-dependent variability of the bare Seyfert 1 galaxy Ark 120
• Discovery of a 23.8h QPO in the SWIFT light curve of XMMU J134736.6+173403
• Spectral-timing of AGN ionized outflows with Athena
• X-ray timing and spectral analysis of reverberating active galactic nuclei
• Exploring black-hole scaling relations via the ensemble variability of Active Galactic Nuclei
• Using Leaked Power to Measure Intrinsic AGN Power Spectra of Red-Noise Time Series
• Exploratory X-ray Monitoring of Luminous Radio-Quiet Quasars at High Redshift: No Evidence for Evolution in X-ray Variability
• An X-ray spectral study of the origin of reflection features in bare Seyfert 1 galaxy ESO 511--G030
• The lively accretion disk in NGC 2992. II. The 2019/2021 X-ray monitoring campaigns
• X-ray Reverberation Mapping and Dramatic Variability of Seyfert 1 Galaxy 1H 1934-063
• The coronal parameters of local Seyfert galaxies
• A systematic study of the ultra-fast outflow responses to luminosity variations in active galactic nuclei
• Predicting the black hole mass and correlations in X-ray reverberating AGN using neural networks
• Searching for Quasi-periodic Oscillations in Active Galactic Nuclei of the Chandra Deep Field South
• X-ray time lags in PG 1211+143
• Multi-wavelength Campaign on the Super-Eddington NLS1 RX J0134.2-4258 -- I. Peculiar X-ray Spectra and Variability
• X-ray reverberation lags from the 1.5 Seyfert galaxy NGC 5273
• The very faint hard state of the persistent neutron star X-ray binary SLX 1737-282 near the Galactic centre
• The X-ray variability of AGN: power-spectrum and variance analysis of the Swift/BAT light curves
• Stellar transits in active galactic nuclei
• Uncovering the primary X-ray emission and possible starburst component in the polarized NLS1 Mrk 1239
• Estimating black hole masses in obscured AGN using X-rays
• X-raying winds in distant quasars: the first high-redshift wind duty cycle
• The XMM deep survey in the CDF-S VIII. X-ray properties of the two brightest sources
• Exploring the Link between the X-ray Power Spectra and Energy Spectra of Active Galactic Nuclei
• The long-term broad-line responsivity in MKN 110
• Highly ionized disc and transient outflows in the Seyfert galaxy IRAS 18325-5926
• The non-linear X-ray/UV relation in active galactic nuclei: contribution of instrumental effects on the X-ray variability
• Quasars as Standard Candles V. Evaluation of a $\le$ 0.06 dex intrinsic dispersion in the LX-LUV relation
• Observations of X-ray reverberation around black holes
• The X-ray emission of the Seyfert 2 galaxy MCG-01-24-12
• Long-term hard X-ray variability properties of Swift-BAT blazars
• Characterising X-ray variability in light curves with complex sampling patterns: application to the eROSITA south ecliptic pole survey
• Dynamical Measurement of Supermassive Black Hole Masses: QPE Timing Method
• X-ray spectral and temporal analysis of Narrow Line Seyfert 1 galaxy Was 61
• XMM-Newton --NuSTAR monitoring campaign of the Seyfert 1 galaxy IC 4329A
• X-ray Eclipses of Active Galactic Nuclei
• Reverberation lags viewed in hard X-rays from an accreting stellar-mass black hole
• Characterisation of the X-ray point source variability in the eROSITA south ecliptic pole field
• The Low Temperature Corona in ESO 511$-$G030 Revealed by NuSTAR and XMM-Newton
• The NuSTAR view of the Seyfert Galaxy HE 0436-4717
• Effects of ultra-fast outflows on X-ray time lags in AGN
• A Systematic Study of the Short-Term X-ray Variability of Seyfert Galaxies I. Diversity of the X-ray Rms Spectra
• Revisiting the X-ray-to-UV relation of Quasars in the era of all-sky surveys
• The eROSITA DR1 variability catalogue
• Long-term Evolution of the Short-term X-ray Variability of the Jetted TDE Swift J1644+57
• On the Black Hole Masses In Ultra-luminous X-ray Sources
• Rapid onset of a Comptonisation zone in the repeating tidal disruption event XMMSL2 J140446.9-251135
• Spectro-polarimetric study to constrain accretion-ejection properties of MCG-5-23-16 using IXPE and NuSTAR observations
• Suzaku Confirms NGC~3660 is an Unabsorbed Seyfert 2
• Intensive X-ray/UVOIR continuum reverberation mapping of the Seyfert AGN MCG+08-11-11
• Probing the nature of AX J0043-737: Not an 87 ms pulsar in the SMC
• Untangling the Complex Nature of AGN Variability with Fairall 9
• The extreme properties of the nearby hyper-Eddington accreting Active Galactic Nucleus in IRAS 04416+1215
• Measuring monster MBHs: maybe mighty, maybe merely massive
• A new approach to the variability characterization of active galactic nuclei