XMM-Newton spectrum of the radio-loud quasar 3C 215: slim accretion disk or SMBH binary?

Abstract

We want to explore the geometrical structure and mutual interactions of the innermost components of the broad line radio galaxy (BLRG) 3C 215, with particular interest in the accretion and ejection mechanisms involving the central supermassive black hole (SMBH). We compare these observational features with the ones of the RQ Seyfert 1 galaxies. Investigating their differences it is possible to understand more about the jet launching mechanisms, and why this phenomenon is efficient only in a small fraction of all the AGNs. Using high quality data from a $\sim 60$ ks observation with XMM-Newton, we carried out a detailed X-ray spectral analysis of 3C 215 in the broad energy range $0.5-10$ keV. We modeled the spectrum with an absorbed double power-law model for the primary continuum, reprocessed by reflection from ionized and cold neutral material and modified by relativistic blurring. We also compared our results with the ones obtained with previous multi-wavelength observations. We obtain a primary continuum photon index from the corona ${\Gamma }_1=1.97\pm 0.06$ and evidence of a jet contribution, modeled as a power law with photon index ${\Gamma }_2\simeq 1.29$. The reflector, possibly the accretion disk and portions of the broad-line region (BLR), is ionized ($\log \xi =2.31_{-0.27}^{+0.37}\mathrm{erg}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}\mathrm{cm}$) and relatively distant from the SMBH ($R_{in}>38R_g$), where $R_g=G{M}_{BH}/c^2$ is the gravitational radius. The obscuring torus seems patchy, dust-poor and inefficient, while the jet emission shows a twisted and knotted geometry. We propose three scenarios in order to describe these characteristics: 1.) ADAF state in the inner disk; 2.) Slim accretion disk; 3.) sub-pc SMBH binary system (SMBHB).

arXiv comment11 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in A&A

References in corpus (72)

• Unified Schemes for Radio-Loud Active Galactic Nuclei
• On the Absorption of X-rays in the Interstellar Medium
• Advection-Dominated Accretion: A Self-Similar Solution
• Hot Accretion Flows Around Black Holes
• Determining Central Black Hole Masses in Distant Active Galaxies and Quasars. II. Improved Optical and UV Scaling Relationships
• Advection-Dominated Accretion: Self-Similarity and Bipolar Outflows
• Improved Reflection Models of Black-Hole Accretion Disks: Treating the Angular Distribution of X-rays
• Foundations of Black Hole Accretion Disk Theory
• Active Galactic Nuclei: what's in a name?
• An XMM-Newton survey of broad iron lines in Seyfert galaxies
• X-ray reflected spectra from accretion disk models. III. A complete grid of ionized reflection calculations
• An X-ray Spectral Model for Compton-Thick Toroidal Reprocessors
• Advection-Dominated Accretion and the Black Hole Event Horizon
• X-ray Spectra of a large sample of Quasars with ASCA
• Mass Functions of the Active Black Holes in Distant Quasars from the Large Bright Quasar Survey, the Bright Quasar Survey, and the Color-Selected Sample of the SDSS Fall Equatorial Stripe
• The role of the reflection fraction in constraining black hole spin
• Universal bolometric corrections for AGN over 7 luminosity decades
• The close environments of accreting massive black holes are shaped by radiative feedback
• On Black Hole Masses and Radio Loudness in AGN
• The origin of the Broad Line Region in Active Galactic Nuclei
• The Quest for Dual and Binary Supermassive Black Holes: A Multi-Messenger View
• Explaining changing-look AGN with state transition triggered by rapid mass accretion rate drop
• A Large Systematic Search for Recoiling and Close Supermassive Binary Black Holes
• An X-ray Spectral Survey of Radio-Loud AGN With ASCA
• The X-ray nuclei of intermediate-redshift radio sources
• Normalizing a Relativistic Model of X-ray Reflection: The Definition of the Reflection Fraction and its Implementation in relxill
• The Cores of the Fe K$\alpha$ Lines in Active Galactic Nuclei: an Extended Chandra High Energy Grating Sample
• Parsec-scale dust emission from the polar region in the type 2 nucleus of NGC 424
• Dust inflated accretion disc as the origin of the Broad Line Region in Active Galactic Nuclei
• The X-ray and Radio Connection in Low-luminosity Active Nuclei
• The host galaxies of luminous quasars
• The black hole mass of low redshift radiogalaxies
• Study on X-ray Spectra of Obscured AGNs based on Monte Carlo simulation - an interpretation of observed wide-band spectra
• On the two main classes of Active Galactic Nuclei
• On the origin of radio-loudness in AGNs and its relationship with the properties of the central supermassive black hole
• On the soft X-ray spectra of gamma-loud blazars
• Self-shadowing Effects of Slim Accretion Disks in Active Galactic Nuclei: Diverse Appearance of the Broad-line Region
• On the determination of the spin and disc truncation of accreting black holes using X-ray reflection
• On the spin paradigm and the radio dichotomy of quasars
• Search for Supermassive Black Hole Binaries in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Spectroscopic Sample
• Nuclear Cusps and Cores in Early-type Galaxies As Relics of Binary Black Hole Mergers
• BeppoSAX view of radio-loud Active Galactic Nuclei
• Hard X-Ray Spectra of Broad-Line Radio Galaxies from the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer
• On the geometry of broad emission region in quasars
• Broad Line Radio Galaxies Observed with Fermi-LAT: The Origin of the GeV Gamma-Ray Emission
• Modeling of Emission Signatures of Massive Black Hole Binaries: I Methods
• Dynamics of warped accretion discs
• Warped accretion disks and the unification of Active Galactic Nuclei
• NuSTAR Reveals the Comptonizing Corona of the Broad-Line Radio Galaxy 3C 382
• The nature of massive black hole binary candidates: I. Spectral properties and evolution
• Searching for Binary Supermassive Black Holes via Variable Broad Emission Line Shifts: Low Binary Fraction
• The BH mass of nearby QSOs: a comparison of the bulge luminosity and virial methods
• Search of sub-parsec massive binary black holes through line diagnosis
• The quasar M_bh - M_host relation through Cosmic Time I - Dataset and black hole masses
• On the hard X-ray spectra of radio-loud active galaxies
• X-ray and Optical Correlation of Type I Seyfert NGC 3516 Studied with Suzaku and Japanese Ground-Based Telescopes
• The Optical and Ultraviolet Emission-Line Properties of Bright Quasars with Detailed Spectral Energy Distributions
• Self-gravitating warped discs around supermassive black holes
• Search of sub-parsec massive binary black holes through line diagnosis II
• The column density distribution of hard X-ray radio galaxies
• Suzaku Studies of the Central Engine in the Typical Type I Seyfert NGC 3227: Detection of Multiple Primary X-ray Continua with Distinct Properties
• Hard X-ray selected giant radio galaxies - I. The X-ray properties and radio connection
• The Accretion Geometry in Radio-Loud Active Galaxies
• The orientation dependence of quasar spectral energy distributions
• Suzaku View of the Swift/BAT Active Galactic Nuclei. V. Torus Structure of Two Luminous Radio-loud AGNs (3C 206 and PKS 0707-35)
• Constraints on the radio loud/radio quiet dichotomy from the fundamental plane
• On the equivalent width of the Fe K$\alpha$ line produced by a dusty absorber in active galactic nuclei
• Near infrared observations of quasars with extended ionized envelopes
• Resolving the radio loud/radio quiet dichotomy without thick disks
• An XMM-Newton View of the Radio Galaxy 3C 411
• Broad-band X-ray observation of broad-line radio galaxy 3C 109
• X-ray analysis of the accreting supermassive black hole in the radio galaxy PKS 2251+11