Abstract
We show that individual (single-epoch) spectra of active galactic nuclei
(AGNs) can constrain some of the geometry and dynamics of the AGN broad
line region. Studies of the cosmic influence of supermassive black holes
are limited by the current large uncertainties in the determination of
black hole masses. One dominant limitation is the unknown geometry,
dynamics, and line-of-sight inclination of the broad line region, used
to probe the central black hole mass. Recent progress has been made to
constrain the spatial and kinematic structure of the broad line region
using dynamical modelling of AGN monitoring data and an underlying
physical model for the broad line region. In this work we test the
ability of a modified version of this dynamical modelling code to
constrain the broad line region structure using single-epoch spectra. We
test our modelling code on single-epoch spectra of nearby Arp 151 by
comparing our results with those obtained with monitoring data of this
same object. We find that a significant fraction of the broad line
region parameters can indeed be adequately constrained, with
uncertainties that are comparable to, or at most a factor of
approximately a few higher than those obtained from modelling of
monitoring data. Considering the wealth of available single-epoch
spectroscopic observations, this method is promising for establishing
the overall AGN population trends in the geometry and dynamics of the
broad line region. This method can be applied to spectra of AGNs at low
and high redshift making it valuable for studies of cosmological black
hole and AGN evolution.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society |
| Volume | 489 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1899-1918 |
| ISSN | 0035-8711 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 21 Oct 2019 |
Keywords
- galaxies: active
- galaxies: individual: Arp 151
- galaxies: nuclei
- galaxies: Seyfert