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.

arXiv comment15 pages, 14 figures, ApJ published

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Cited by in corpus (9)

• 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
• Reverberation Mapping with Intermediate-Band Photometry: Detection of Broad-Line H$\alpha$ Time Lags for Quasars at $0.2<z<0.4$
• Estimating Black Hole Masses in Hundreds of Quasars
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• Emission-Line and Continuum Reverberation Mapping of the NLS1 Galaxy WPVS 48