Soft versus Hard X-ray emission in AGN: partial covering and warm plus cold absorber models

Abstract

We analyse the ROSAT PSPC hardness ratio and the 0.5-2 keV to 2-10 keV flux ratio of 65 Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) for which there are both ROSAT archival observations available and 2-10 keV fluxes, mostly from the HEAO-1 MC-LASS survey. We conclude that the simplest spectral model for the AGN that can accommodate the variety of X-ray colours obtained is a standard power law (with energy spectral index $\alpha \sim 0.9$) plus a $\sim 0.1$ keV black body both partially absorbed. In our sample, type 1 AGN require an absorbing column around $10^{22}{\mathrm{cm}}^{-2}$ with covering fractions between 20 and 100\%, while type 2 AGN display larger columns and $\sim 100\%$ coverage. This simple model also provides a good link between soft and hard AGN X-ray luminosity functions and source counts. We also consider a warm absorber as an alternative model to partial covering and find that the the presence of gas in two phases (ionized and neutral) is required.

10 pages, Latex (mn.sty), 1 table, 5 figures included (epsf), postscript version also available via anonymous ftp at ftp://astsun1.unican.es/pub/ceballos/ . Accepted for publication in MNRAS

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