Searching for similarities in the accretion flow of Seyfert 1 galaxies and cataclysmic variables based on flare profiles of IRAS 13224-3809, 1H 0707-495, Mrk 766 and MV Lyr

Abstract

AIMS: We studied fast variability of three selected AGNs, IRAS 13224-3809, 1H 0707-495 and Mrk 766, and the cataclysmic variable MV Lyr observed by XMM-Newton and Kepler spacecrafts, respectively. Our goal is to search for common origin of the variability and to test the so-called sandwich model where a geometrically thick corona is surrounding a geometrically thin disc. METHODS: We study substructures of the averaged flare profiles. The flare profile method identifies individual flares in the light curve, and averages them. Direct fitting of the profile substructures identify individual characteristic frequencies seen in standard power density spectra (PDS) as a break frequency or quasi-periodic oscillation. The credibility of flare profile substructures is demonstrated by comparison with autocorrelation function. RESULTS: We found that the flare profiles of AGNs are similar to that of the cataclysmic variable in the low state. We explain this as a consequence of a truncated inner disc in a sandwich model. The same scenario is also able to explain the presence of characteristic break frequencies in X-ray PDS, but not seen in optical. We also searched for substructures in the flare profile of IRAS 13224-3809. In addition to a permanently present main flare, we found transient side-lobe appearing before the main flare and only seen in a high flux period. This complex flare profile of this AGN suggests that an additional source of X-rays appears during the high flux period. We propose a scenario in which an accretion flow fluctuation enters the sandwich corona and propagates further to some very central part of the accretion disc.

Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics

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