A disc wind model for blueshifts in quasar broad emission lines

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Matthews, James H., Strong-Wright, Jago, Knigge, Christian, Hewett, Paul, Temple, Matthew J., Long, Knox S., Rankine, Amy L., Stepney, Matthew, Banerji, Manda, Richards, Gordon T.
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2023
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author Matthews, James H.
Strong-Wright, Jago
Knigge, Christian
Hewett, Paul
Temple, Matthew J.
Long, Knox S.
Rankine, Amy L.
Stepney, Matthew
Banerji, Manda
Richards, Gordon T.
author_facet Matthews, James H.
Strong-Wright, Jago
Knigge, Christian
Hewett, Paul
Temple, Matthew J.
Long, Knox S.
Rankine, Amy L.
Stepney, Matthew
Banerji, Manda
Richards, Gordon T.
contents Blueshifts - or, more accurately, blue asymmetries - in broad emission lines such as CIV $λ$1550 are common in luminous quasars and correlate with fundamental properties such as Eddington ratio and broad absorption line (BAL) characteristics. However, the formation of these blueshifts is still not understood, and neither is their physical connection to the BAL phenomenon or accretion disc. In this work, we present Monte Carlo radiative transfer and photoionization simulations using parametrized biconical disc-wind models. We take advantage of the azimuthal symmetry of a quasar and show that we can reproduce CIV blueshifts provided that (i) the disc-midplane is optically thick out to radii beyond the line formation region, so that the receding wind bicone is obscured; and (ii) the system is viewed from relatively low (that is, more face-on) inclinations ($\lesssim40^\circ$). We show that CIV emission line blueshifts and BALs can form in the same wind structure. The velocity profile of the wind has a significant impact on the location of the line formation region and the resulting line profile, suggesting that the shape of the emission lines can be used as a probe of wind-driving physics. While we are successful at producing blueshifts/blue asymmetries in outflows, we struggle to match the detailed shape or skew of the observed emission line profiles. In addition, our models produce redshifted emission-line asymmetries for certain viewing angles. We discuss our work in the context of the CIV $λ$1550 emission blueshift versus equivalent-width space and explore the implications for quasar disc wind physics.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2309_14434
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A disc wind model for blueshifts in quasar broad emission lines
Matthews, James H.
Strong-Wright, Jago
Knigge, Christian
Hewett, Paul
Temple, Matthew J.
Long, Knox S.
Rankine, Amy L.
Stepney, Matthew
Banerji, Manda
Richards, Gordon T.
Astrophysics of Galaxies
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Blueshifts - or, more accurately, blue asymmetries - in broad emission lines such as CIV $λ$1550 are common in luminous quasars and correlate with fundamental properties such as Eddington ratio and broad absorption line (BAL) characteristics. However, the formation of these blueshifts is still not understood, and neither is their physical connection to the BAL phenomenon or accretion disc. In this work, we present Monte Carlo radiative transfer and photoionization simulations using parametrized biconical disc-wind models. We take advantage of the azimuthal symmetry of a quasar and show that we can reproduce CIV blueshifts provided that (i) the disc-midplane is optically thick out to radii beyond the line formation region, so that the receding wind bicone is obscured; and (ii) the system is viewed from relatively low (that is, more face-on) inclinations ($\lesssim40^\circ$). We show that CIV emission line blueshifts and BALs can form in the same wind structure. The velocity profile of the wind has a significant impact on the location of the line formation region and the resulting line profile, suggesting that the shape of the emission lines can be used as a probe of wind-driving physics. While we are successful at producing blueshifts/blue asymmetries in outflows, we struggle to match the detailed shape or skew of the observed emission line profiles. In addition, our models produce redshifted emission-line asymmetries for certain viewing angles. We discuss our work in the context of the CIV $λ$1550 emission blueshift versus equivalent-width space and explore the implications for quasar disc wind physics.
title A disc wind model for blueshifts in quasar broad emission lines
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.14434