2024ApJ...974...66P -
Astrophys. J., 974, 66 (2024/October-2)
Radio Scrutiny of the X-Ray-weak Tail of Low-mass Active Galactic Nuclei: A Novel Signature of High-Eddington Accretion?
PAUL J.D., PLOTKIN R.M., BRANDT W.N., ELLIS C.H., GALLO E., GREENE J.E., HO L.C., KIMBALL A.E. and HAGGARD D.
Abstract (from CDS):
The supermassive black holes (MBH ∼ 106-1010M⊙) that power luminous active galactic nuclei (AGNs), i.e., quasars, generally show a correlation between thermal disk emission in the ultraviolet (UV) and coronal emission in hard X-rays. In contrast, some “massive” black holes (mBHs; MBH ∼ 105-106M⊙) in low-mass galaxies present curious X-ray properties with coronal radiative output up to 100× weaker than expected. To examine this issue, we present a pilot study incorporating Very Large Array radio observations of a sample of 18 high-accretion-rate (Eddington ratios Lbol/LEdd > 0.1), mBH-powered AGNs (MBH ∼ 106M⊙) with Chandra X-ray coverage. Empirical correlations previously revealed in samples of radio-quiet, high-Eddington AGNs indicate that the radio-X-ray luminosity ratio, LR/LX, is approximately constant. Through multiwavelength analysis, we instead find that the X-ray-weaker mBHs in our sample tend toward larger values of LR/LX even though they remain radio-quiet per their optical-UV properties. This trend results in a tentative but highly intriguing correlation between LR/LX and X-ray weakness, which we argue is consistent with a scenario in which X-rays may be preferentially obscured from our line of sight by a “slim” accretion disk. We compare this observation to weak emission-line quasars (AGNs with exceptionally weak broad-line emission and a significant X-ray-weak fraction) and conclude by suggesting that our results may offer a new observational signature for finding high-accretion-rate AGNs.
Abstract Copyright:
© 2024. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.
Journal keyword(s):
Intermediate-mass black holes - Active galactic nuclei - High energy astrophysics - Radio quiet quasars
Simbad objects:
19
Full paper
View the references in ADS
To bookmark this query, right click on this link: simbad:2024ApJ...974...66P and select 'bookmark this link' or equivalent in the popup menu