Supermassive black holes with high accretion rates in active galactic nuclei. V. A new size-luminosity scaling relation for the broad-line region
- Key Laboratory for Particle Astrophysics, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19B Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049 (China)
- Yunnan Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650011 (China)
- Department of Astronomy, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026 (China)
- Physics Department, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210097 (China)
This paper reports results of the third-year campaign of monitoring super-Eddington accreting massive black holes (SEAMBHs) in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) between 2014 and 2015. Ten new targets were selected from the quasar sample of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), which have generally been more luminous than the SEAMBH candidates in the last two years. Hβ lags (τ{sub Hβ}) in five of the 10 quasars have been successfully measured in this monitoring season. We find that the lags are generally shorter, by large factors, than those of objects with same optical luminosity, in light of the well-known R {sub H} {sub β}–L {sub 5100} relation. The five quasars have dimensionless accretion rates of (M )-dot =10–10{sup 3}. Combining these with measurements of the previous SEAMBHs, we find that the reduction of Hβ lags depends tightly on accretion rates, τ{sub Hβ}/τ{sub R−L}∝ M-dot {sup −0.42}, where τ{sub R−L} is the Hβ lag from the normal R {sub H} {sub β}–L {sub 5100} relation. Fitting 63 mapped AGNs, we present a new scaling relation for the broad-line region: R{sub Hβ}=α{sub 1}ℓ{sub 44}{sup β{sub 1}} min [1,( M-dot / M-dot {sub c}){sup −γ{sub 1}}], where ℓ{sub 44}=L{sub 5100}/10{sup 44} erg s{sup −1} is the 5100 Å continuum luminosity, and the coefficients are α{sub 1}=29.6{sub −2.8}{sup +2.7} lt-day, β{sub 1}=0.56{sub −0.03}{sup +0.03}, γ{sub 1}=0.52{sub −0.16}{sup +0.33}, and M-dot {sub c}=11.19{sub −6.22}{sup +2.29}. This relation is applicable to AGNs over a wide range of accretion rates, from 10{sup −3} to 10{sup 3}. Implications of this new relation are briefly discussed.
- OSTI ID:
- 22868910
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 825, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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