A Limit Relation between Black Hole Mass and H$\beta$ Width: Testing Super-Eddington Accretion in Active Galactic Nuclei

Abstract

(abbreviated) We show that there is a limit relation between the black hole mass and the width at the half maximum of H$\beta$ for active galactic nuclei (AGNs) with super-Eddington accretion rates. When a black hole has a super-Eddington accretion rate, the empirical relation of reverberation mapping has two possible ways. First, it reduces to a relation between the black hole mass and the size of the broad line region due to the photon trapping effects inside the accretion disk. For the Kaspi et al.'s empirical reverberation relation, we get the limit relation as $M_{\mathrm{BH}}=(2.9-12.6)\times 10^6{M}_{\odot }({\upsilon }_{\mathrm{FWHM}}/10^3\mathrm{km}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}{)}^{6.67}$, called as the Eddington limit. Second, the Eddington limit luminosity will be relaxed if the trapped photons can escape from the magnetized super-Eddington accretion disk via the photon bubble instability, and the size of the broad line region will be enlarged according to the empirical reverberation relation, leading to a relatively narrow width of H$\beta$. We call this the Begelman limit. Super-Eddington accretions in a sample composed of 164 AGNs have been searched by this limit relation. We find there are a handful of objects locate between the Eddington and Begelman limit lines, they may be candidates of super-Eddington accretors in a hybrid structure of photon trapping and photon bubble instability. The maximum width of H$\beta$ is in the reange of $(3.0-3.8)\times 10^3$ km s${}^{-1}$ for the maximum mass black holes with super-Eddington accretion rates among AGNs. We suggest that this limit relation is more reliable and convenient to test whether a source is super-Eddington and useful to probe the structure of the super-Eddington accretion process.

5 pages (emulateapj5.sty), 1 figure. Astronomical Journal, 125 (June Issue 2003) in press

References in corpus (32)

• A Fundamental Relation Between Supermassive Black Holes and Their Host Galaxies
• A Relationship Between Nuclear Black Hole Mass and Galaxy Velocity Dispersion
• The slope of the black-hole mass versus velocity dispersion correlation
• Reverberation Measurements for 17 Quasars and the Size-Mass-Luminosity Relations in Active Galactic Nuclei
• Central Masses and Broad-Line Region Sizes of Active Galactic Nuclei: I. Comparing the Photoionization and Reverberation Techniques
• The Rest-Frame Extreme Ultraviolet Spectral Properties of QSOs
• On the black hole - bulge mass relation in active and inactive galaxies
• Black Hole Mass and Eddington Ratio as Drivers for the Observable Properties of Radio-Loud and Radio-Quiet QSOs
• Super-Eddington Fluxes from Thin Accretion Disks?
• Determining Central Black Hole Masses in Distant Active Galaxies
• Keplerian Motion of Broad-Line Region Gas as Evidence for Supermassive Black Holes in Active Galactic Nuclei
• The black-hole masses of Seyfert galaxies and quasars
• Slim Disk Model for Soft X-Ray Excess and Variability of Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 Galaxies
• The Black Hole-Bulge Relationship in QSOs
• X-Ray and Optical Variability in NGC 4051 and the Nature of Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 Galaxies
• Black Hole Mass, Velocity Dispersion and the Radio Source in AGN
• Unified Description of Accretion Flows Around Black Holes
• Systematic Errors in the Estimation of Black Hole Masses by Reverberation Mapping
• How the X-ray spectrum of a Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 galaxy may be reflection dominated
• Photon Bubbles in Accretion Discs
• The Mass of the Central Black Hole in the Seyfert Galaxy NGC 3783
• Does the Slim-Disk Model Correctly Consider Photon-Trapping Effects?
• Are quasars accreting at super-Eddington rates?
• Extreme Slim Accretion Disks and Narrow Line Seyfert 1 Galaxies: the Nature of the soft X-ray Hump
• Super-Eddington Atmospheres that Don't Blow Away
• Does the Narrow [O III] 5007 Line Reflect the Stellar Velocity Dispersion in AGN?
• The largest black holes and the most luminous galaxies
• The Brightest Black Holes
• Size-Mass-luminosity relations in AGN and the role of the accretion disc
• The Accretion Rates and Spectral Energy Distributions of BL Lacertae Objects
• Determination of the Central Mass in Active Galactic Nuclei Using Cross-Correlation Lags and Velocity Dispersions
• Black Hole Blackbodies

Cited by in corpus (10)

• Super-Eddington accretion rates in Narrow Line Seyfert 1 galaxies
• Active Galactic Nuclei Emission-Line Properties Versus Eddington Ratio
• Discovery of a ~2 hr high frequency X-ray QPO and iron K alpha reverberation in the active galaxy MS 2254.9-3712
• The Physical Connections Among IR QSOs, PG QSOs and Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 Galaxies
• VLT/ISAAC Spectra of the H-beta Region in Intermediate Redshift Quasars
• VLT/ISAAC Spectra of the H-beta Region in Intermediate-Redshift Quasars II. Black Hole Mass and Eddington Ratio
• The Unified Model of Active Galactic Nuclei: I. Non-hidden Broad Line Region Seyfert 2 and Narrow Line Seyfert 1 Galaxies
• Black hole masses in narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies
• Slim Disks with Transition Regions and Applications to Microquasars and Narrow Line Seyfert 1 Galaxies
• The Central Engines of Radio-Loud Quasars