On the Performance of Quasar Reverberation Mapping in the Era of Time-Domain Photometric Surveys

Abstract

We quantitatively assess, by means of comprehensive numerical simulations, the ability of broad-band photometric surveys to recover the broad emission line region (BLR) size in quasars under various observing conditions and for a wide range of object properties. Focusing on the general characteristics of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), we find that the slope of the size-luminosity relation for the BLR in quasars can be determined with unprecedented accuracy, of order a few percent, over a broad luminosity range and out to $z\sim 3$. In particular, major emission lines for which the BLR size can be reliably measured with LSST include H$\alpha$, MgII $\lambda 2799$, CIII] $\lambda 1909$, CIV $\lambda 1549$, and Ly$\alpha$, amounting to a total of $\gtrsim 10^5$ time-delay measurements for all transitions. Combined with an estimate for the emission line velocity dispersion, upcoming photometric surveys will facilitate the estimation of black hole masses in AGN over a broad range of luminosities and redshifts, allow for refined calibrations of BLR size-luminosity-redshift relations in different transitions, as well as lead to more reliable cross-calibration with other black hole mass estimation techniques.

15 pages, 14 figures, ApJ published

References in corpus (6)

• A Catalog of Quasar Properties from SDSS DR7
• Testing thermal reprocessing in AGN accretion discs
• Photometric reverberation mapping of 3C120
• MgII Line Variability of High Luminosity Quasars
• Size and disk-like shape of the broad-line region of ESO399-IG20
• A Tentative Size-Luminosity Relation for the Iron Emission-Line Region in Quasars

Cited by in corpus (8)

• The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Reverberation Mapping Project: Technical Overview
• Examining AGN UV/optical Variability Beyond the Simple Damped Random Walk
• The dust origin of the Broad Line Region and the model consequences for AGN unification scheme
• Constraints on the temperature inhomogeneity in quasar accretion discs from the ultraviolet-optical spectral variability
• Estimating Black Hole Masses in Hundreds of Quasars
• The Performance of Photometric Reverberation Mapping at High Redshift and the Reliability of Damped Random Walk Models
• A Geometric Probe of Cosmology: I. Gravitational Lensing Time Delays and Quasar Reverberation Mapping
• Emission-Line and Continuum Reverberation Mapping of the NLS1 Galaxy WPVS 48