X-ray polarization in radio-quiet AGN: Insights from the wedge corona model using Monte Carlo simulations

Abstract

In this study, we present novel calculations of X-ray polarization from radio-quiet and unobscured active galactic nuclei (AGNs) using the Monte Carlo code MONK, which includes all general and special relativity effects. Our geometric model, referred to as the ``wedge corona'', features a homogeneous cloud of electrons characterized by an aspect ratio of h/r and a radius that extends down to the innermost stable circular orbit around the central black hole (BH). Adopting the physical parameters of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 4151 as a baseline, we investigated various geometric and physical configurations of the BH-corona-accretion disk (AD) system, such as the coronal opening angle, temperature, optical depth, BH spin, and the inner radius of the disk. Finally, we compared our calculations with results from the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) for NGC 4151, the only radio-quiet and unobscured AGN with significant polarization detected by IXPE, to constrain the system's geometric parameters within the framework of the wedge corona model.

arXiv comment10 pages, 14 figures

References in corpus (27)

• Advection-Dominated Accretion and the Spectral States of Black Hole X-Ray Binaries: Application to Nova Muscae 1991
• X-ray reverberation around accreting black holes
• The Two-Phase Pair Corona Model for Active Galactic Nuclei and X-ray Binaries: How to Obtain Exact Solutions
• Spectral Transitions in Cyg X-1 and Other Black Hole X-Ray Binaries
• A Reverberation-Based Mass for the Central Black Hole in NGC 4151
• X-ray Polarization from Accreting Black Holes: Coronal Emission
• Aborted jets and the X-ray emission of radio-quiet AGNs
• Modelling the broad Fe Kα reverberation in the AGN NGC 4151
• Rapid N_H changes in NGC 4151
• Radiative magnetic reconnection near accreting black holes
• A NuSTAR census of coronal parameters in Seyfert galaxies
• The INTEGRAL high energy cut-off distribution of type 1 AGN
• Uncovering the geometry of the hot X-ray corona in the Seyfert galaxy NGC4151 with IXPE
• Doughnut strikes sandwich: the geometry of hot medium in accreting black hole X-ray binaries
• Constraining the size of the corona with fully relativistic calculations of spectra of extended corona. I - the Monte Carlo radiative transfer code
• Long-term variability of the optical spectra of NGC 4151: I. Light curves and flux correlations
• The role of the disk magnetization on the hysteresis behavior of X-ray binaries
• Broadband study of hard X-ray selected absorbed AGN
• Polarization constraints on the X-ray corona in Seyfert Galaxies: MCG-05-23-16
• X-ray Coronal Properties of Swift/BAT-Selected Seyfert 1 Active Galactic Nuclei
• A Suzaku, NuSTAR, and XMM-Newton view on variable absorption and relativistic reflection in NGC 4151
• Prospects for differentiating extended coronal geometries in AGNs with the IXPE mission
• Relations between phenomenological and physical parameters in the hot coronae of AGNs computed with the MoCA code
• MoCA: A Monte Carlo code for Comptonisation in Astrophysics. I. Description of the code and first results
• A combined timing/spectral study of IRAS 13224-3809 using XMM-Newton data
• A second view on the X-ray polarization of NGC 4151 with IXPE
• The Future of X-ray Reverberation from AGN