A new cosmological distance measure using AGN X-ray variability

Abstract

We report the discovery of a luminosity distance estimator using Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). We combine the correlation between the X-ray variability amplitude and the Black Hole (BH) mass with the single epoch spectra BH mass estimates which depend on the AGN luminosity and the line width emitted by the broad line region. We demonstrate that significant correlations do exist which allows one to predict the AGN (optical or X-ray) luminosity as a function of the AGN X-ray variability and either the HBeta or the PaBeta line widths. In the best case, when the PaBeta is used, the relationship has an intrinsic dispersion of ~0.6 dex. Although intrinsically more disperse than Supernovae Ia, this relation constitutes an alternative distance indicator potentially able to probe, in an independent way, the expansion history of the Universe. With this respect, we show that the new mission concept Athena should be able to measure the X-ray variability of hundreds of AGN and then constrain the distance modulus with uncertainties of 0.1 mag up to z~0.6. We also discuss how, using a new dedicated wide field X-ray telescope able to measure the variability of thousands of AGNs, our estimator has the prospect to become a cosmological probe even more sensitive than current Supernovae Ia samples.

6 pages, 2 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters

References in corpus (6)

• The synthesis of the cosmic X-ray background in the Chandra and XMM-Newton era
• The Hubble Diagram to Redshift >6 from 69 Gamma-Ray Bursts
• A Comprehensive Study of 2 000 Narrow Line Seyfert 1 Galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: I. The Sample
• The Near-Infrared Broad Emission Line Region of Active Galactic Nuclei -- I. The Observations
• High-frequency X-ray variability as a mass estimator of stellar and supermassive black holes
• Precision Measurement of The Most Distant Spectroscopically Confirmed Supernova Ia with the Hubble Space Telescope

Cited by in corpus (19)

• Supermassive Black Holes with High Accretion Rates in Active Galactic Nuclei. IV. H$\beta$ Time Lags and Implications for Super-Eddington Accretion
• Supermassive black holes with high accretion rates in active galactic nuclei: II. the most luminous standard candles in the Universe
• Highly Accreting Quasars: Sample Definition and Possible Cosmological Implications
• Tracing the accretion history of supermassive Black Holes through X-ray variability: results from the Chandra Deep Field-South
• The most luminous blue quasars at $3.0<z<3.3$. I. A tale of two X-ray populations
• Ensemble X-ray variability of Active Galactic Nuclei. II. Excess Variance and updated Structure Function
• Cosmology Intertwined: A Review of the Particle Physics, Astrophysics, and Cosmology Associated with the Cosmological Tensions and Anomalies
• Extending Virial Black Hole Mass Estimates to Low-Luminosity or Obscured AGN: the cases of NGC 4395 and MCG -01-24-012
• Multiple measurements of quasars acting as standard probes: model independent calibration and exploring the Dark Energy Equation of States
• Extreme quasars as distance indicators in cosmology
• Spectroastrometry and Reverberation Mapping: the Mass and Geometric Distance of the Supermassive Black Hole in the Quasar 3C 273
• Redshift Evolution and Non-Universal Dispersion of Quasar Luminosity Correlation
• SALT long-slit spectroscopy of CTS C30.10: two-component Mg II line
• The universal shape of the X-ray variability power spectrum of AGN up to $z\sim 3$
• Redshift-evolutionary X-ray and UV luminosity relation of quasars from Gaussian copula
• Fifty Years of Quasars: Physical Insights and Potential for Cosmology
• Exploratory X-ray Monitoring of Luminous Radio-Quiet Quasars at High Redshift: No Evidence for Evolution in X-ray Variability
• Constraining Coupling Constants' Variation with Supernovae, Quasars, and GRBs
• Viewing angle effects in quasar application to cosmology