A systematic study of the ultra-fast outflow responses to luminosity variations in active galactic nuclei

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Xu, Yerong, Pinto, Ciro, Rogantini, Daniele, Barret, Didier, Bianchi, Stefano, Guainazzi, Matteo, Ebrero, Jacobo, Alston, William, Kara, Erin, Cusumano, Giancarlo
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Xu, Yerong
Pinto, Ciro
Rogantini, Daniele
Barret, Didier
Bianchi, Stefano
Guainazzi, Matteo
Ebrero, Jacobo
Alston, William
Kara, Erin
Cusumano, Giancarlo
author_facet Xu, Yerong
Pinto, Ciro
Rogantini, Daniele
Barret, Didier
Bianchi, Stefano
Guainazzi, Matteo
Ebrero, Jacobo
Alston, William
Kara, Erin
Cusumano, Giancarlo
contents The extreme velocities and high ionization states of ultra-fast outflows (UFOs) make them a promising candidate for AGN feedback on the evolution of the host galaxy. However, their exact underlying driving mechanism is not yet fully understood. Given that the variability of UFOs may be used to distinguish among different launching mechanisms, we aim to search for and characterize the responses of the UFO properties to the variable irradiating luminosity. We performed a high-resolution spectroscopy of archival XMM-Newton observations on six highly-accreting NLS1 galaxies. The state-of-the-art methods of the blind Gaussian line scan and photoionization model scan are used to identify UFO solutions. We search for ionized winds and investigate the structure of ionized winds and their responses to the luminosity variations. The powerful photoionization model scan reveals three previously unreported UFOs in RE J1034+396, PG 1244+026 and I ZW 1, and two new WAs in RE J1034+396. The entrained UFOs are discovered in 4 (66%) AGN, supporting the shocked outflow interpretation for AGN ionized winds. 2 out of 7 (28%) UFOs seem to respond to the continuum and 3 (43%) UFOs hint at a radiatively accelerated nature. Combined with published works, we do not find any correlations between UFO responses and AGN properties except for a tentative ($\sim1.8σ$) anti-correlation between the UFO acceleration and the Eddington ratio, to be confirmed by further observations and an enlarged sample. The kinetic energy of UFOs, mostly detected in soft X-rays, is found to have a large uncertainty. We, therefore, cannot conclude whether soft X-ray UFOs have sufficient energy to drive the AGN feedback, although they are very promising based on some reasonable assumptions.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2405_07494
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A systematic study of the ultra-fast outflow responses to luminosity variations in active galactic nuclei
Xu, Yerong
Pinto, Ciro
Rogantini, Daniele
Barret, Didier
Bianchi, Stefano
Guainazzi, Matteo
Ebrero, Jacobo
Alston, William
Kara, Erin
Cusumano, Giancarlo
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Astrophysics of Galaxies
The extreme velocities and high ionization states of ultra-fast outflows (UFOs) make them a promising candidate for AGN feedback on the evolution of the host galaxy. However, their exact underlying driving mechanism is not yet fully understood. Given that the variability of UFOs may be used to distinguish among different launching mechanisms, we aim to search for and characterize the responses of the UFO properties to the variable irradiating luminosity. We performed a high-resolution spectroscopy of archival XMM-Newton observations on six highly-accreting NLS1 galaxies. The state-of-the-art methods of the blind Gaussian line scan and photoionization model scan are used to identify UFO solutions. We search for ionized winds and investigate the structure of ionized winds and their responses to the luminosity variations. The powerful photoionization model scan reveals three previously unreported UFOs in RE J1034+396, PG 1244+026 and I ZW 1, and two new WAs in RE J1034+396. The entrained UFOs are discovered in 4 (66%) AGN, supporting the shocked outflow interpretation for AGN ionized winds. 2 out of 7 (28%) UFOs seem to respond to the continuum and 3 (43%) UFOs hint at a radiatively accelerated nature. Combined with published works, we do not find any correlations between UFO responses and AGN properties except for a tentative ($\sim1.8σ$) anti-correlation between the UFO acceleration and the Eddington ratio, to be confirmed by further observations and an enlarged sample. The kinetic energy of UFOs, mostly detected in soft X-rays, is found to have a large uncertainty. We, therefore, cannot conclude whether soft X-ray UFOs have sufficient energy to drive the AGN feedback, although they are very promising based on some reasonable assumptions.
title A systematic study of the ultra-fast outflow responses to luminosity variations in active galactic nuclei
topic High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.07494