On the Relation between the Inclination Angle of the Accretion Disk and the Broad-line Region in Active Galactic Nuclei
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arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2024
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| _version_ | 1866908445231284224 |
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| author | Du, Rong Ho, Luis C. Ding, Yuanze Li, Ruancun |
| author_facet | Du, Rong Ho, Luis C. Ding, Yuanze Li, Ruancun |
| contents | Models of active galactic nuclei often invoke a close physical association between the broad-line region and the accretion disk. We evaluate this theoretical expectation by investigating the relationship between the inclination angle of the BLR ($θ_\mathrm{BLR}$) and the inclination angle of the inner accretion disk ($θ_\mathrm{disk}$). For a sample of eight active galactic nuclei that have published values of $θ_\mathrm{BLR}$ estimated from dynamical modeling of the BLR based on velocity-resolved reverberation mapping experiments, we analyze high-quality, joint XMM-Newton and NuSTAR X-ray observations to derive new, robust measurements of $θ_\mathrm{disk}$ through broadband (0.3--78\,keV) reflection spectroscopy. We find a strong, positive correlation between $θ_\mathrm{BLR}$ and $θ_\mathrm{disk}$ (Pearson correlation coefficient 0.856, $p$-value 0.007), although Monte Carlo simulations indicate that the level of significance is only marginal ($<3\,σ$). Nevertheless, the nearly linear relation between $θ_\mathrm{BLR}$ and $θ_\mathrm{disk}$ suggests of a possible physical alignment between the accretion disk and the BLR. Future studies with a larger and more homogeneous sample are needed to confirm the correlation and refine our understanding of the structure and dynamics of the central regions of active galaxies. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2412_09451 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | On the Relation between the Inclination Angle of the Accretion Disk and the Broad-line Region in Active Galactic Nuclei Du, Rong Ho, Luis C. Ding, Yuanze Li, Ruancun High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena Models of active galactic nuclei often invoke a close physical association between the broad-line region and the accretion disk. We evaluate this theoretical expectation by investigating the relationship between the inclination angle of the BLR ($θ_\mathrm{BLR}$) and the inclination angle of the inner accretion disk ($θ_\mathrm{disk}$). For a sample of eight active galactic nuclei that have published values of $θ_\mathrm{BLR}$ estimated from dynamical modeling of the BLR based on velocity-resolved reverberation mapping experiments, we analyze high-quality, joint XMM-Newton and NuSTAR X-ray observations to derive new, robust measurements of $θ_\mathrm{disk}$ through broadband (0.3--78\,keV) reflection spectroscopy. We find a strong, positive correlation between $θ_\mathrm{BLR}$ and $θ_\mathrm{disk}$ (Pearson correlation coefficient 0.856, $p$-value 0.007), although Monte Carlo simulations indicate that the level of significance is only marginal ($<3\,σ$). Nevertheless, the nearly linear relation between $θ_\mathrm{BLR}$ and $θ_\mathrm{disk}$ suggests of a possible physical alignment between the accretion disk and the BLR. Future studies with a larger and more homogeneous sample are needed to confirm the correlation and refine our understanding of the structure and dynamics of the central regions of active galaxies. |
| title | On the Relation between the Inclination Angle of the Accretion Disk and the Broad-line Region in Active Galactic Nuclei |
| topic | High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.09451 |