Quasar Cartography: from Black Hole to Broad Line Region Scales

Abstract

A generalized approach to reverberation mapping (RM) is presented, which is applicable to broad- and narrow-band photometric data, as well as to spectroscopic observations. It is based on multivariate correlation analysis techniques and, in its present implementation, is able to identify reverberating signals across the accretion disk and the broad line region (BLR) of active galactic nuclei (AGN). Statistical tests are defined to assess the significance of time-delay measurements using this approach, and the limitations of the adopted formalism are discussed. It is shown how additional constraints on some of the parameters of the problem may be incorporated into the analysis thereby leading to improved results. When applied to a sample of 14 Seyfert 1 galaxies having good-quality high-cadence photometric data, accretion disk scales and BLR sizes are simultaneously determined, on a case-by-case basis, in most objects. The BLR scales deduced here are in good agreement with the findings of independent spectroscopic RM campaigns. Implications for the photometric RM of AGN interiors in the era of large surveys are discussed.

12 pages, 12 figures

References in corpus (5)

• The Radius-Luminosity Relationship for Active Galactic Nuclei: The Effect of Host-Galaxy Starlight on Luminosity Measurements
• Testing thermal reprocessing in AGN accretion discs
• Photometric reverberation mapping of 3C120
• Size and disk-like shape of the broad-line region of ESO399-IG20
• Quasar optical variability: searching for interband time delays

Cited by in corpus (23)

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• Astronomical Distance Determination in the Space Age. Secondary distance indicators
• Cosmology with AGN dust time lags -- Simulating the new VEILS survey
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• MHD Disc Winds and Linewidth Distributions
• Methods of Reverberation Mapping. I. Time-lag Determination by Measures of Randomness
• Dust reverberation mapping in the era of big optical surveys and its cosmological application
• The Case for Standard Irradiated Accretion Disks in Active Galactic Nuclei
• Modelling photometric reverberation data -- a disk-like broad-line region and a potentially larger black hole mass for 3C120
• Imprints of the quasar structure in time-delay light curves: Microlensing-aided reverberation mapping
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• On the Performance of Quasar Reverberation Mapping in the Era of Time-Domain Photometric Surveys
• Estimating Black Hole Masses in Hundreds of Quasars
• Magnetohydrodynamic DiscWinds and LineWidth Distributions.II
• Continuum reverberation mapping of MCG 08-11-011
• Broadband Photometric Reverberation Mapping Analysis on SDSS-RM and Stripe 82 Quasars
• X-ray Eclipses of Active Galactic Nuclei
• The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Reverberation Mapping Project: UV-Optical Accretion Disk Measurements with Hubble Space Telescope
• Emission-Line and Continuum Reverberation Mapping of the NLS1 Galaxy WPVS 48