Coevolution of broad emission lines and X-ray spectrum in changing-look AGNs

Abstract

Changing-look active galactic nuclei (CLAGNs) show the disappearance and reappearance of broad emission lines in a few years, which challenges the orientation-based AGN unification model. We reduce the X-ray data for five well-studied CLAGNs that show a strong change in broad emission lines in the past several decades. We find that the X-ray photon index, $\Gamma$, and the Eddington-scaled X-ray luminosity, $L_{2-10keV}/L_{\mathrm{Edd}}$, normally follow negative and positive correlations when the Eddington ratio is lower and higher than a critical value of $\sim 10^{-3}$. We find that the CLAGNs observed with broad H$\beta$ emission lines stay in the positive part of the $\Gamma -L_{2-10keV}/L_{\mathrm{Edd}}$ correlation, while the broad H$\beta$ lines become weak or disappear in the anticorrelation part of the $\Gamma -L_{2-10keV}/L_{\mathrm{Edd}}$ correlation, which suggests that the evolution of the broad lines should be correlated with the evolution of the underlying accretion process. We further find that the CLAGNs are consistent with the other different types of AGNs in the $L_{\mathrm{bol}}-L_{\mathrm{bol}}/L_{\mathrm{Edd}}$ correlation. These results support that the CLAGNs are belong to a special stage of AGNs with a bolometric Eddington ratio $\sim$1\%, where the broad emission lines are easily affected by the strong variation in ionization luminosity that is caused by the transition of accretion modes.

arXiv commentpublished paper of 2022 ApJ, 930,46

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