A Hard Look At Relativistic Reverberation in MCG-5-23-16 & SWIFT J2127.4+5654: Testing the Lamp-Post Model

Abstract

X-ray reverberation mapping has emerged as a new tool to probe accretion in AGN, providing a potentially powerful probe of accretion at the black hole scale. The lags, along with relativistic spectral signatures are often interpreted in light of the lamp-post model. Focusing specifically on testing the prediction of the relativistic reverberation model, we have targeted several of the brightest Seyfert Galaxies in X-rays with different observing programs. Here, we report the results from two large campaigns with NuSATR targeting MCG-5-23-16 and SWIFT J2127.4+5654 to test the model predictions in the 3-50 keV band. These are two of three sources that showed indications of a delayed Compton hump in early data. With triple the previously analyzed exposures, we find no evidence for relativistic reverberation in MCG-5-23-16, and the energy-dependent lags are consistent with a log-linear continuum. In SWIFT J2127.4+5654, although a continuum-only model explains the data, the relativistic reverberation model provides a significant improvement to the energy and frequency-dependent lags, but with parameters that are not consistent with the time-averaged spectrum. This adds to mounting evidence showing that the lag data is not consistent with a static lamp-post model.

Accepted for publication in ApJ. Codes and data used to produce the results can be found in the following repository: https://github.com/zoghbi-a/relativistic-reverberation-in-mcg-5-23-16-and-swift-j127.4-5654

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Cited by in corpus (8)

• Reverberation mapping of Active Galactic Nuclei: from X-ray corona to dusty torus
• Frequency-resolved lags in UV/optical continuum reverberation mapping
• Spin and Accretion Rate Dependence of Black Hole X-Ray Spectra
• Investigating the impact of vertically extended coronae on X-ray reverberation mapping
• Predicting the black hole mass and correlations in X-ray reverberating AGN using neural networks
• Effects of the refractive index of the X-ray corona on the emission lines in AGN
• Correlated variability of the reflection fraction with the X-ray flux and spectral index for Mkn 478
• Mapping the X-ray corona evolution of IRAS 13224-3809 with the power spectral density