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Published July 2022 | Accepted Version + Published
Journal Article Open

High-density disc reflection spectroscopy of low-mass active galactic nuclei

Abstract

The standard alpha-disc model predicts an anticorrelation between the density of the inner accretion disc and the black hole mass times square of the accretion rate, as seen in higher mass (M_(BH) > 10⁶ M_⊙) active galactic nuclei (AGNs). In this work, we test the predictions of the alpha-disc model and study the properties of the inner accretion flow for the low-mass end (M_(BH) ≈ 10⁵⁻⁶ M_⊙) of AGNs. We utilize a new high-density disc reflection model where the density parameter varies from nₑ = 10¹⁵ to 10²⁰ cm⁻³ and apply it to the broad-band X-ray (0.3–10 keV) spectra of the low-mass AGN sample. The sources span a wide range of Eddington fractions and are consistent with being sub-Eddington or near-Eddington. The X-ray spectra reveal a soft X-ray excess below ∼1.5 keV which is well modelled by high-density reflection from an ionized accretion disc of density ne ∼ 10¹⁸ cm⁻³ on average. The results suggest a radiation pressure-dominated disc with an average of 70 per cent fraction of the disc power transferred to the corona, consistent with that observed in higher mass AGNs. We show that the disc density higher than 10¹⁵ cm⁻³ can result from the radiation pressure compression when the disc surface does not hold a strong magnetic pressure gradient. We find tentative evidence for a drop in black hole spin at low-mass regimes.

Additional Information

© 2022 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society. This article is published and distributed under the terms of the Oxford University Press, Standard Journals Publication Model (https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model) Accepted 2022 April 5. Received 2022 April 5; in original form 2021 December 9. LM is supported by NASA ADAP grant 80NSSC21K1567. JAG acknowledges support from NASA grant 80NSSC21K1567 and from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. JAT acknowledges partial support from NASA ADAP grant 80NSSC19K0586. BDM acknowledges support via Ramón y Cajal Fellowship RYC2018-025950-I. AGM acknowledges partial support from Polish National Science Center (NCN) grant numbers 2016/23/B/ST9/03123 and 2018/31/G/ST9/03224. We thank the anonymous reviewer for a constructive report. We dedicate this paper to doctors and nurses fighting the COVID-19 global pandemic. This research has made use of the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED), which is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the NASA. This research has made use of data, software and/or web tools obtained from the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC), a service of the Astrophysics Science Division at NASA/GSFC and of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's High Energy Astrophysics Division. DATA AVAILABILITY. All the data used in this article are publicly available from ESA XMM–Newton Science Archive (XSA; http://nxsa.esac.esa.int/) and NASA High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC; https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/).

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Accepted Version - 2203.04522.pdf

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Additional details

Created:
August 20, 2023
Modified:
October 23, 2023