Probing the Geometry and Physics of the Emission Region in Active Galactic Nuclei Using Hard X-ray & Gamma-ray Observations

Probing the Geometry and Physics of the Emission Region in Active Galactic Nuclei Using Hard X-ray & Gamma-ray Observations
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 22
Release: 2010
Genre:
ISBN:

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The X-ray spectra of (almost equal to)200 AGN collected from Swift-BAT were analyzed to test the Unified Model for AGN. Specifically, the photon indices, high energy cutoffs, and reflection components of Sy1 and Sy2 were compared. Under the Unified Model, the photon indices and reflection components for Sy1 should be larger than Sy2 and the high energy cutoffs should be the same. Fitting a simple power law model to the sample spectra proved to be insufficient. The PEXRAV model fit the spectra of the Sy1 and Sy2 significantly better, indicating that a reflection component and/or high energy cutoff exists as the Unified Model expects. Using both the simple power law and PEXRAV models it was concluded that in the population studied, Sy1 had a larger photon index than Sy2, as expected by the Unified Model. For Sy1 and Sy2, the reflection components were found to be compatible, but given the large errors, this finding cannot be said to be evidence against the Unified Model. However, it was concluded that Sy1 and Sy2 have different high energy cutoffs, which is unexpected under the Unified Model.

X-ray Studies of the Central Engine in Active Galactic Nuclei with Suzaku

X-ray Studies of the Central Engine in Active Galactic Nuclei with Suzaku
Author: Hirofumi Noda
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 164
Release: 2015-12-07
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9812877215

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The aim of this research was to use the X-ray satellite Suzaku to establish a picture of a central engine that effectively converts the gravitational energy of accreting matter onto the supermassive black hole to a huge amount of radiation in an active galactic nucleus. Although the engine is known to consist of a Comptonizing corona and an accretion disk, its image has remained unclear because primary emissions, coming directly from the engine, cannot be identified in X-ray spectra without models. The book describes a technique of time variability assisted spectral decomposition to model-independently examine X-ray signals, and how this was applied to the Suzaku archive data of active galactic nuclei. As a result, at least three distinct primary X-ray components have been discovered in an X-ray from an active galactic nucleus, presumably indicating a novel picture that the engine is composed of multiple coronae with different physical properties in an accretion flow. Furthermore, the determination of the spectral shapes of the primary X-rays has a significant impact on estimations of black hole spins, because it is essential to quantify reprocessed X-ray spectra. The successful model-independent decomposition of X-ray spectral components with flux variations of active galactic nuclei is likely to be effective in future data analyses from the soon-to-be-launched Japanese X-ray satellite ASTRO-H, which is capable of achieving unprecedented fine spectros copy and broad energy band coverage.

The Gamma Ray Sky with Compton GRO and SIGMA

The Gamma Ray Sky with Compton GRO and SIGMA
Author: M. Signore
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 422
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9401100675

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This volume consists of invited lectures and seminars presented at the NATO Advanced Study Institute "The Gamma Ray Sky with COMPTON GRO and SIGMA" , which was held at the Centre de Physique Theorique of Les Houches (France) in January / February 1994. The school has been planned by a Scientific Organizing Committee. It was organized with the aim of providing students and young researchers with an up-to-date account of the high-energy phenomena in the vicinity of compact objets and the diffuse gamma-ray backgrounds after the early results from the gamma-ray telescope SIGMA and the four instruments onboard COMPTON GRO (Gamma Ray Observatory) : BATSE (Burst and Transient Source Experiment),COMPTEL(Compto'l Telescope),EGRET (Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope) and OS SE(Oriented Scintillation Spectrometer Experiment) . It was attended by more than sixty researchers from many countries. The lectures and seminars represent a complete coverage of our present knowledge and understanding of: Gamma-ray backgrounds, Gamma-ray Burts,Active Galactic Nuclei,Galactic Compact Objects, Gamma-ray Spectroscopy, Instrumentation and observation techniques, etc ... Most of these lectures are reproduced in this volume. Unfortunately, a few lecturers have chosen not to submit their manuscript.

X-ray and Multiwavelength Studies of Active Galactic Nuclei from Large Area Sky Surveys

X-ray and Multiwavelength Studies of Active Galactic Nuclei from Large Area Sky Surveys
Author: Jianfeng Wu
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2012
Genre:
ISBN:

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Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are ideal laboratories for fundamental physics and cosmology. Our knowledge of AGNs has been greatly advanced during the past decades thanks to the unprecedentedly powerful X-ray missions (e.g., Chandra, XMM-Newton, and Swift) and modern large area surveys in the optical/UV band (e.g., the Sloan Digital Sky Survey; SDSS). Studies on the relation between multiwavelength properties of AGNs can reveal the physics of AGN accretion process. In this dissertation, I mainly study the relation between the AGN X-ray properties and their optical/UV spectral properties on emission lines, absorption lines and continuum. I also investigate the X-ray properties of AGNs with extreme radio properties in the early Universe. (1) We studied the X-ray properties of a class of radio-quiet SDSS quasars with weak broad emission lines (weak-line quasars; WLQs). Although the WLQ population shows diverse X-ray properties, they have an excess of X-ray weak sources. Besides having weak emission lines, the X-ray weak WLQs generally show other unusual UV emission-line properties similar to those of the remarkable X-ray weak quasar PHL 1811 (e.g., highly blueshifted C IV lines, weak semi-forbidden lines, and strong UV Fe emission). They are classified as "PHL 1811 analogs". The X-ray weak WLQs also show a harder X-ray spectrum, while the WLQ with normal X-ray brightness have similar X-ray spectral properties to those of typical quasars. We proposed an AGN geometry which can potentially unify the X-ray weak and X-ray normal WLQ populations via orientation effect. The infrared-to-UV spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of X-ray weak and X-ray normal WLQs have consistent SEDs with those for typical quasars, which disfavors the BL Lac-like scenario for the nature of these quasars (Chapters 2 and 3). (2) We have led the best X-ray study to date on quasars with intermediate-width absorption lines (mini-BALs). We found the X-ray brightness of mini-BAL quasars are more close to those of typical quasars than to BAL quasars (which are generally X-ray weak), showing they do not have substantial X-ray absorption. Strong correlations were found between the X-ray brightness and UV absorption parameters, e.g., the absorption strength and maximum outflow velocity. We further proposed new UV absorption parameters which better correlate with the X-ray properties than existing parameters do (Chapter 4). (3) We studied the relation between the optical/UV luminosity and X-ray luminosity (quantified by the alpha_ox parameter) for the most-luminous quasars over a wide range of redshifts. Our correlation analyses provide better constraints on the alpha_ox-UV luminosity correlation. We have also verified that the alpha_ox parameter does not significantly evolve with redshift. We provide the individual and composite mid-infrared-to-UV SEDs for the most-luminous quasars. (Chapter 5). (4) We presented the X-ray and multiwavelength properties of the highly radio-loud quasars (HRLQs) at z > 4. Our HRLQs show a significant enhancement of X-ray emission over those HRLQs at lower redshift with similar optical/UV and radio luminosities, suggesting that the jet-linked X-ray emission mechanism in the early universe may differ from that in the more evolved universe. The optical/UV emission-line strength of RLQs are correlated with radio loudness, but not with relative X-ray brightness. Our HRLQs generally follow the anti-correlation between radio loudness and X-ray power-law photon index. We also studied the broad-band SEDs of HRLQs. Some HRLQs have an excess of mid-infrared emission which may originate from the jet synchrotron emission. None of our z > 4 HRLQs is detected by the Fermi LAT two-year survey (Chapter 6).

Gamma-Ray Astronomy

Gamma-Ray Astronomy
Author: E.L. Chupp
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 332
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9401014965

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Observation of discrete energy electromagnetic emissions from celestial objects in the radio, IR, optical, lN, and X-ray spectral regions has dramatically advanced our know ledge in the field of astrophysics. It is expected that identification of nuclear 'Y-ray line emissions from any cosmic source would also prove to be a powerful new tool for probing the Universe. Since the publication of Morrison's work in 1958, many experiments were carried out searching for evidence of 'Y-ray lines from cosmic sources, however with little success. Only a few positive experimental results have been reported, in spite of an expenditure of considerable effort by many people: in particular, the possible Galactic Center emission line (473 to 530keV) and 'Y-ray lines at several energies (e. g. , 0. 5 MeV and 2. 2 MeV) associated with large solar flares. Both of these observations are unconfirmed by indepen dent observations (ca. 1975). The high energy 'Y-rays (>30MeV) from the Galactic Center are at least partly due to the decay of 1[0 mesons, which are of unique energy (67. 5 MeV) in the 1[0 rest frame only. The reasons for the limited amount of data avail able in this field, even though early theoretical predictions were very optimistic regarding fluxes of nuclear lines, are that experimental efforts are plagued with high backgrounds and low fluxes, and that development of instruments with telescopic properties in the energy range of interest is difficult.

Toward an Understanding of the Progenitors of Gamma-Ray Bursts

Toward an Understanding of the Progenitors of Gamma-Ray Bursts
Author: Joshua S. Bloom
Publisher: Universal-Publishers
Total Pages: 198
Release: 2002
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1581121695

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The various possibilities for the origin ("progenitors") of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) manifest in differing observable properties. Through deep spectroscopic and high-resolution imaging observations of some GRB hosts, I demonstrate that well-localized long-duration GRBs are connected with otherwise normal star-forming galaxies at moderate redshifts of order unity. Using high-mass binary stellar population synthesis models, I quantify the expected spatial extent around galaxies of coalescing neutron stars, one of the leading contenders for GRB progenitors. I then test this scenario by examining the offset distribution of GRBs about their apparent hosts making extensive use of ground-based optical data from Keck and Palomar and space-based imaging from the Hubble Space Telescope. The offset distribution appears to be inconsistent with the coalescing neutron star binary hypothesis (and, similarly, black-hole--neutron star coalescences); instead, the distribution is statistically consistent with a population of progenitors that closely traces the ultra-violet light of galaxies. This is naturally explained by bursts which originate from the collapse of massive stars ``collapsars''). This claim is further supported by the unambiguous detections of intermediate-time (approximately three weeks after the bursts) emission ``bumps'' which appear substantially more red than the afterglows themselves. I claim that these bumps could originate from supernovae that occur at approximately the same time as the associated GRB; if true, GRB 980326 and GRB 011121 provide strong observational evidence connecting cosmological GRBs to high-redshift supernovae and implicate massive stars as the progenitors of at least some long-duration GRBs.

Probing the Physics of Active Galactic Nuclei by Multiwavelength Monitoring

Probing the Physics of Active Galactic Nuclei by Multiwavelength Monitoring
Author: Bradley M. Peterson
Publisher:
Total Pages: 568
Release: 2001
Genre: Science
ISBN:

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Annotation Papers from a June 2000 meeting discuss multiwavelength monitoring methods for studying active galactic nuclei, the potential of dedicated facilities for multiwavelength monitoring, and future multiwavelength programs. Some topics discussed are multiwavelength observations of blazars, time delays of blazar flares observed at different wavebands, low radiative-efficiency accretion flows, spectrochronography, and variability of the intrinsic UV absorption lines in Seyfert galaxies. Other topics are the variable diffuse continuum emission of broad-line clouds, the MIDEX concept, and the mission. Peterson teaches astronomy at The Ohio State University. This volume lacks a subject index. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)