Evidence for Gravitational Infall of Matter onto the Super-Massive Black Hole in the quasar PG 1211+143?

Abstract

We report the detection of redshifted iron K-alpha absorption lines in the Chandra LETG spectrum of the narrow-line quasar, PG 1211+143. The absorption lines are observed at 4.22 keV and 4.93 keV in the quasar spectrum, corresponding to 4.56 keV and 5.33 keV in the rest frame of PG 1211+143. From Monte Carlo simulations, the chance probability of both lines being false detections is low at 1.36e-04. Highly redshifted ionized iron K-alpha (Fe XXV or Fe XXVI) is the most plausible identification for the lines at their observed energies. If identified with H-like iron K-alpha at 6.97 keV, then the relativistic velocity shifts required are 0.40c and 0.26c. The extreme velocities can be explained by pure gravitational redshift if the matter exists in a stable orbit within 6 gravitational radii of the black hole. This would require a Kerr metric for the black hole. Alternatively the absorption may be the result of matter infalling directly onto the black hole, with a maximum observed velocity of 0.38c at 6Rg in the Schwarzschild metric. This matter may originate in a failed outflow or jet, which does not escape the gravitational potential of the black hole.

arXiv comment14 pages, including 3 figures. Acccepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal Letters

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• A Runaway Black Hole in COSMOS: Gravitational Wave or Slingshot Recoil?
• Relativistic blue- and red-shifted absorption lines in AGNs
• Evidence for relativistic features in the X-ray spectrum of Mrk 335
• On the evidence for narrow, relativistically shifted X-ray lines
• NuSTAR Reveals Relativistic Reflection But No Ultra-Fast Outflow In The Quasar PG 1211+143
• Variability of the High Velocity Outflow in the Quasar PDS 456
• The Ultra-Fast Outflow of the Quasar PG 1211+143 as Viewed by Time-Averaged Chandra Grating Spectroscopy
• Hard X-ray photon index as an indicator of bolometric correction in active galactic nuclei
• The origin of blue-shifted absorption features in the X-ray spectrum of PG 1211+143: Outflow or disc?
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• The XMM-Newton spectrum of a candidate recoiling supermassive black hole: an elusive inverted P-Cygni profile
• Modeling time delays in the X-ray spectrum of the Seyfert galaxy MCG-6-30-15
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