MAGNETICALLY DRIVEN ACCRETION DISK WINDS AND ULTRA-FAST OUTFLOWS IN PG 1211+143

Journal Article · Wed May 20 04:00:00 EDT 2015 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/805/1/17· OSTI ID:22522418

Fukumura, Keigo ^[1]; Tombesi, Francesco; Kazanas, Demosthenes; Shrader, Chris ^[2]; Behar, Ehud ^[3]; Contopoulos, Ioannis ^[4]

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1. James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA 22807 (United States)
2. Astrophysics Science Division, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
3. Department of Physics, Technion, Haifa 32000 (Israel)
4. Research Center for Astronomy, Academy of Athens, Athens 11527 (Greece)

We present a study of X-ray ionization of MHD accretion-disk winds in an effort to constrain the physics underlying the highly ionized ultra-fast outflows (UFOs) inferred by X-ray absorbers often detected in various sub classes of Seyfert active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Our primary focus is to show that magnetically driven outflows are indeed physically plausible candidates for the observed outflows accounting for the AGN absorption properties of the present X-ray spectroscopic observations. Employing a stratified MHD wind launched across the entire AGN accretion disk, we calculate its X-ray ionization and the ensuing X-ray absorption-line spectra. Assuming an appropriate ionizing AGN spectrum, we apply our MHD winds to model the absorption features in an XMM-Newton/EPIC spectrum of the narrow-line Seyfert, PG 1211+143. We find, through identifying the detected features with Fe Kα transitions, that the absorber has a characteristic ionization parameter of log (ξ{sub c}[erg cm s{sup −1}]) ≃ 5–6 and a column density on the order of N{sub H} ≃ 10{sup 23} cm{sup −2} outflowing at a characteristic velocity of v{sub c}/c ≃ 0.1–0.2 (where c is the speed of light). The best-fit model favors its radial location at r{sub c} ≃ 200 R{sub o} (R{sub o} is the black hole’s innermost stable circular orbit), with an inner wind truncation radius at R{sub t} ≃ 30 R{sub o}. The overall K-shell feature in the data is suggested to be dominated by Fe xxv with very little contribution from Fe xxvi and weakly ionized iron, which is in good agreement with a series of earlier analyses of the UFOs in various AGNs, including PG 1211+143.

• OSTI ID: 22522418
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 805; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
ACCRETION DISKS
BLACK HOLES
DENSITY
GALAXY NUCLEI
IONIZATION
IRON
K SHELL
MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS
ORBITS
SEYFERT GALAXIES
STELLAR WINDS
VISIBLE RADIATION
X RADIATION
X-RAY GALAXIES