Reverberation Mapping and the Physics of Active Galactic Nuclei

Abstract

Reverberation-mapping campaigns have revolutionized our understanding of AGN. They have allowed the direct determination of the broad-line region size, enabled mapping of the gas distribution around the central black hole, and are starting to resolve the continuum source structure. This review describes the recent and successful campaigns of the International AGN Watch consortium, outlines the theoretical background of reverberation mapping and the calculation of transfer functions, and addresses the fundamental difficulties of such experiments. It shows that such large-scale experiments have resulted in a ``new BLR'' which is considerably different from the one we knew just ten years ago. We discuss in some detail the more important new results, including the luminosity-size-mass relationship for AGN, and suggest ways to proceed in the near future.

Review article to appear in Astronomical Time Series, Proceedings of the Wise Observatory 25th Ann. Symposium. 24 pages including 7 figures

Cited by in corpus (76)

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• On Uncertainties in Cross-Correlation Lags and the Reality of Wavelength-Dependent Continuum Lags in Active Galactic Nuclei
• The M(BH)-Sigma Relation for Supermassive Black Holes
• Black Hole Mass Estimates from Reverberation Mapping and from Spatially Resolved Kinematics
• Reverberation Mapping of High-Luminosity Quasars: First Results
• X-ray Spectral Variability and Rapid Variability of the Soft X-ray Spectrum Seyfert 1 Galaxies Ark 564 and Ton S180
• An expanded M_bh-sigma diagram, and a new calibration of active galactic nuclei masses
• Determining Central Black Hole Masses in Distant Active Galaxies
• Multiwavelength Monitoring of the Dwarf Seyfert 1 Galaxy NGC 4395. I. A Reverberation-Based Measurement of the Black Hole Mass
• Supermassive Black Holes in Active Galactic Nuclei. I. The Consistency of Black Hole Masses in Quiescent and Active Galaxies
• Evidence for Supermassive Black Holes in Active Galactic Nuclei from Emission-Line Reverberation
• Optical Continuum and Emission-Line Variability of Seyfert 1 Galaxies
• A 3x10^9 solar mass black hole in the quasar SDSS J1148+5251 at z=6.41
• Optical Variability in Active Galactic Nuclei: Starbursts or Disk Instabilities?
• X-Ray and Optical Variability in NGC 4051 and the Nature of Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 Galaxies
• On the Reliability of Cross Correlation Function Lag Determinations in Active Galactic Nuclei
• Black Hole Mass, Velocity Dispersion and the Radio Source in AGN
• Steps Toward Determination of the Size and Structure of the Broad-Line Region in Active Galactic Nuclei. XVI. A Thirteen-Year Study of Spectral Variability in NGC 5548
• X-ray Microlensing in RXJ1131-1231 and HE1104-1805
• The Relationship Between Black Hole Mass and Velocity Dispersion in Seyfert 1 Galaxies
• The Black Hole to Bulge Mass Relation in Active Galactic Nuclei
• The Nature of the Nuclear H2O Masers of NGC 1068: Reverberation and Evidence for a Rotating Disk Geometry
• Locally Optimally-Emitting Clouds and the Variable Broad Emission Line Spectrum of NGC 5548
• New constraints on the continuum-emission mechanism of AGN: Intensive monitoring of NGC 7469 in the X-ray and ultraviolet
• The Black Hole-Bulge Relationship in Luminous Broad-Line Active Galactic Nuclei and Host Galaxies
• Steps Toward Determination of the Size and Structure of the Broad-Line Region in Active Galactic Nuclei. XV. Long-Term Optical Monitoring of NGC 5548
• The largest black holes and the most luminous galaxies
• Evidence for periodicity in 43 year-long monitoring of NGC 5548
• Modeling Variable Emission Lines in AGNs: Method and Application to NGC 5548
• A Stellar Dynamical Measurement of the Black Hole Mass in the Maser Galaxy NGC 4258
• The Baldwin Effect and Black Hole Accretion: A Spectral Principal Component Analysis of a Complete QSO Sample
• Gravitational Lensing Size Scales for Quasars
• Multiwavelength Monitoring of the Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 Galaxy Akn 564. II. Ultraviolet Continuum and Emission-line Variability
• Supermassive Black Hole Masses of AGNs with Elliptical Hosts
• Caught in the Act; Chandra Observations of Microlensing of the Radio-Loud Quasar MG J0414+0534
• Quasar Variability in the Framework of Poissonian Models
• Optical Monitoring of the Broad-Line Radio Galaxy 3C390.3
• Quasar Parallax: a Method for Determining Direct Geometrical Distances to Quasars
• The Unified Model of Active Galactic Nuclei: I. Non-hidden Broad Line Region Seyfert 2 and Narrow Line Seyfert 1 Galaxies
• Partial coverage of the Broad Line Region of Q1232+082 by an intervening H2-bearing cloud
• Clues to Quasar Broad Line Region Geometry and Kinematics
• Photometric Reverberation Mapping of the Broad Emission Line Region in Quasars
• Tests for Standard Accretion Disk Models by Variability in Active Galactic Nuclei
• The Spectral Energy Distribution and Emission-Line properties of the NLS1 Galaxy Arakelian 564
• On time-dependent X-ray reflection by photoionized accretion disks: implication for Fe K-alpha line reverberation studies of AGN
• Modeling the X-ray - UV Correlations in NGC 3516
• Observational Evidence for a Multiphase Outflow in QSO FIRST J1044+3656
• Lens-Aided Multi-Angle Spectroscopy (LAMAS) Reveals Small-Scale Outflow Structure in Quasars
• Variation in the Scattering Shroud Surrounding Markarian 231
• Multiwavelength Monitoring of the Dwarf Seyfert 1 Galaxy NGC 4395. III. Optical Variability and X-ray/UV/Optical Correlations
• Size and disk-like shape of the broad-line region of ESO399-IG20
• Symbiotic starburst-black hole AGN -- I. Isothermal hydrodynamics of the mass-loaded ISM
• On the disappearance of broad-line region in low-luminosity active galactic nuclei: the role of the outflows from advection dominated accretion flows
• Accretion Onto the Supermassive Black Hole in the High-redshift Radio-loud AGN 0957+561
• Modeling the X-ray - UV Correlations in NGC 7469
• Systematically smaller single-epoch quasar black hole masses using a radius-luminosity relationship corrected for spectral bias
• Scaling of X-ray spectral properties of a black hole in the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC~7469
• The relation between black hole masses and Lorentz factors of the jet components in blazars
• A transition mass for black holes to show broad emission lines
• On the Performance of Quasar Reverberation Mapping in the Era of Time-Domain Photometric Surveys
• Measuring the AGN sublimation radius with a new approach: reverberation mapping of the broad line polarization
• Estimating black hole masses: Accretion disk fitting versus reverberation mapping and single epoch
• Black hole virial masses from single-epoch photometry: the miniJPAS test case
• A Spectroscopic and Photometric Study of Short-Timescale Variability in NGC5548
• Characterising SMSS J2157--3602, the most luminous known quasar, with accretion disc models
• Balmer Line Variations in the Radio-Loud AGN PG 1512+370
• Spectral variability studies in Active Galactic Nuclei: Exploring continuum and emission line regions in the age of LSST and JWST
• Continuum reverberation mapping in a z = 1.41 radio-loud quasar
• Black Hole masses for 14 gravitational lensed quasars
• Ultra-dense Broad-line Region Scale Outflow in Highly Reddened Quasar SDSS J145057.28+530007.6
• A new Bowen Fluorescence Flare and Extreme Coronal Line Emitter discovered by SRG/eROSITA
• Stellar Envelopes as Sources of Broad Line Region Emission: New Possibilities Allowed
• Long-term X-ray variability of quasars in the Lockman Hole field observed with ROSAT
• Distances on Cosmological Scales with VLTI