Periodicity of the ejection of superluminal components in 3C345

The search for periodic behavior in Blazars has been an important subject,which is helpful for providing significant clues to the structure and physical processes of their central energy engine. A binary black hole system has recently been suggested for causing precession of relativistic jets and rotation of the ejection position angle of VLBI knots in superluminal sources. It has been suggested that in QSO 3C345, the ejection direction of the superluminal knots rotates due to the precession of the central engine and thus the ejection position angle of the successive knots shows a periodic behavior. Some authors argue for a period of precession being～5.6 yr (Abraham & Caproni), ～8-10 yr (Klare et al.) and～9.5 yr (Lobanov & Roland). Applying the helical model proposed by Qian et al. and selecting appropriate parameters to fit the initial trajectories (within 0.3 mas) of all the components (C4 to C10), we derive the relation between the ejection position angle of the components and their precession phase, and thus find a 6.9-year precession period (4.3 yr in the source frame), which can fit the ejection position angle of all these superluminal knots well. Since the VLBI observations have covered more than two precession periods, confirmation in one or more future periods would be important.In addition, we emphasize that the initial parts of the trajectories of these knots can be fitted by a common helical pattern (channel) through a precessing of its initial phase.This scenario (or helical precessing model) is different from the usual ballistic precessing model in which the individual superluminal knots move along straight-lines after ejection (Tateyama & Kingham).     

A possible precession period for superluminal ejection in QSO 3C 279

The search for periodic features in fiux variability and superluminal ejection in blazars has been an important subject, which is helpful for providing significant clues to the understanding of the structure and kinematics of relativistic jets (physical processes of acceleration and collimation) and their association with central energy engines (black hole/accretion disk systems). The wobbling of the ejection position angle of VLBI knots in superluminal sources has been interpreted in terms of the precessio...     

Acceleration of particles in the vicinity of a massive black hole

Recent results of the gamma-ray Cherenkov astronomy definitely prove the existence of fast variability in the very high energy (V.H.E.) gamma-ray flux of some active galactic nuclei. The BL Lac PKS 2155-304 for instance showed variations down to a few minutes time scale. From standard light travel time argument, these variations put extremely strong constraints on the size of the TeV emitting zone, which has to be of the order of a few Schwarzschild radius, even for high values of the relativistic Doppler factor of the emitting jets. Such discovery is a challenge for particle acceleration scenarios, which have to imagine efficient acceleration processes at work in a very compact zone. Eventually, the immediate vicinity of the central black hole appears as the most conservative choice for the location of the TeV emission region of active galactic nuclei. In this paper, we propose a two-step mechanism for charged particle acceleration in the magnetosphere of a massive black hole surrounded by an accretion disk. Particles first gain energy by a stochastic process during the accretion phase. It is shown that effective proton acceleration up to energies 10¹⁷–10¹⁹ eV is possible in a low-luminosity magnetized accretion disk with 2D turbulent motion. The distribution function of energetic protons over energies is a power law function with typical index ≃−1. Here electrons are not very efficiently accelerated because of their drastic losses by synchrotron radiation. In a second time, part of the fast particles escape from the disk and are then entrained by the magnetic structure above the disk, in the rotating black hole magnetosphere. They thus gain additional energy by direct centrifugal mechanism, up to about 10²⁰ eV for the protons and to 10–100 TeV for the electrons when they cross the light cylinder surface. Such energetic particles can further radiate in the TeV spectral range observed by Cherenkov experiments as HESS, MAGIC and VERITAS. Energetic protons can produce γ-radiation in the energy band 1 GeV–100 TeV and above mainly by nuclei collisions with the disk matter, clouds, or ambient low energy photons. Energetic electrons can also reach the required spectral range by inverse Compton emission. However their acceleration is less efficient due to heavy radiation losses, and only gained by centrifugal process during the second phase of the whole mechanism we describe. Our present analysis would therefore favor hadronic scenarios for TeV emission of active galactic nuclei. It is tempting to relate long term variability over years of TeV active galactic nuclei to the first stochastic acceleration phase, which also provides the needed power law particle distributions, while short term variability over minutes is more likely due to perturbations of the second fast direct acceleration phase.     

3C345中视超光速节点运动轨道的数学描述

本文提出一种数学方法来描述类星体３Ｃ３４５中视超光速节点的运动轨道、它既可以描述内部节点的螺旋运动,又可以描述外部节点的直线运动这种统一的描述方法可能对描述其它致密射电源（例如ＰＫＳ０５２８＋１３４）中视超光速节点的运动是有用的。并有助于研究节点流量的内禀变化。     

Line emission from accretion discs around black holes: the analytic approach

The broad X-ray iron line observed in many active galactic nuclei spectra is thought to originate from the accretion disc surrounding the putative supermassive black hole. We show here how to perform the analytical integration of the geodesic equations that describe the photon trajectories in the general case of a rotating black hole (Kerr metric), in order to write a fast and efficient numerical code for modelling emission line profiles from accretion discs.     

The Black Hole Masses and Radio Characteristics of Radio Quasars

In this paper, we collect the redshift, bolometric luminosity, the full- width at half maximum of the H_β emission line, the monochromatic luminosity at 5100 Å and the radio loudness for the sample of 117 quasars, including 20 radio-quiet quasars (RQQs) and 97 radio-loud quasars (RLQs). With the reverberation mapping method we calculate the black hole mass and Eddington ratio for this sample, as well as the radio luminosity from the total 5 GHz ?ux density. By analyzing the correlations among them, we obtain the following conclusions: (1) The black hole mass has weak correlations with the bolometric luminosity, radio loudness and radio luminosity for the RQQs, and has strong correlations with the bolometric luminosity, radio loudness and radio luminosity for the RLQs; (2) For the RQQs, the bolometric luminosity has weak correlations with the radio luminosity and 5 100 Å monochromatic luminosity, and for the RLQs, the bolometric luminosity has strong correlations with the radio luminosity and 5 100 Å monochromatic luminosity; (3) The RQQs and RLQs differ in the distributions of the black hole mass, emission line width and Eddington ratio. Based on these results, we suggest: the difference of emission line width between RQQs and RLQs is probably caused by the difference of black hole mass; the fundamental difference between RQQs and RLQs is caused by the difference of their intrinsic physical nature; the black hole mass, black hole spin, Eddington ratio, and host galaxy morphology are the important parameters to explain the origin of radio loudness and the double-peaked distribution; and the radio jet is closely related with the accretion rate of disk.     

M 87大尺度喷流的多波段研究

射电星系M87的大尺度喷流在射电、光学和X波段都已经具备高分辨率的成像观测和频谱观测。其各个节点的宽波段连续谱目前被认为是同步辐射主导的。文章采用相对论性电子同步辐射的Kardashev-Pacholczyk模型,对各节点的多波段连续谱进行了独立的最佳拟和,从而得到相应的多普勒因子。此外进一步结合各节点的视超光速运动的观测数据,导出了不同节点整体运动的Lorentz因子和对观测者的视角。计算结果表明,M87的大尺度喷流具有一定程度的弯曲,其整体动力学行为是减速的。     

Soft X—ray Properties of Ultraluminous IRAS Galaxies

We report on the results of cross-correlation of a sample of 903 Utraluminous IRAS galaxies (ULIRGs) with the ROSAT-All Sky Survey Bright Source Catalogue and the ROSAT archived pointing observations. The sample of ULIRGs has been compiled from the recently released PSCz redshift survey. In total,35 ULIRGs are securely detected by the ROSAT All-Sky Survey and pointing observations, five of which are blazars. The statistical properties of these sources in the soft X-ray band are determined and compared with their properties on other wavebands. We find that the ratio of the soft X-ray to the far-infrared flux spans about five orders of magnitude and reaches values of about unity. This ratio is a good indicator of the main energy source of ULIRGs. Those with soft X-ray to far-infrared flux exceeding 0.01 are probably powered by accretion onto central supermassive black holes while those with ratios smaller than 0.001 are probably powered by starbursts or other heating processes, or are Compton thick sources. Some ULIRGs have energy contributions from both. This ratio is low for most ULIRGs and hyperluminous infrared galaxies, which explains their low detection rate by ROSAT and ASCA.We also find that some ULIRGs have a similar soft X-ray luminosity vs. temperature relation to that for groups of galaxies and elliptical galaxies,suggesting a common origin of these systems. Our study also reveals a tight correlation between the hardness ratio and the soft X-ray luminosity for Seyfert 1s/QSOs.     

Compact jets as probes for sub-parsec scale regions in AGN

Compact relativistic jets in active galactic nuclei offer an effective tool for investigating the physics of nuclear regions in galaxies. The emission properties, dynamics, and evolution of jets in AGN are closely connected to the characteristics of the central supermassive black hole, accretion disk and broad-line region in active galaxies. Recent results from studies of the nuclear regions in several active galaxies with prominent outflows are reviewed in this contribution.     

The active galaxy NGC 4151: Archetype or exception?

Summary. The Seyfert galaxy NGC 4151 harbors in its nucleus the most intensively studied AGN (Active Galactic Nucleus). Among the brightest AGN (in apparent luminosity) it is the most widely variable and the variations of its ultraviolet and X-ray spectrum have been studied on time scales ranging from hours to decades. These observations have formed the basis of methods and models which have been found to generally apply to broad emission line AGN: the rich and complex relation between the X-ray and UV variations, the comptonization model of the X-ray spectrum from medium X-ray to -rays, the reverberation mapping, the stratification in velocity and physical conditions of the gas in the broad line region, and a method to estimate the black hole mass from emission line variability. The large barred spiral which hosts this nucleus has been extensively studied especially in the central region. Inflow of gas along the and possibly also the orbits have been detected, but since the accretion disk is not in the galactic plane (as evidenced by the significant angle separating the radio axis and the rotation axis of the galaxy) the incoming gas seen on kpcs scale must, as it flows further inward, move out of the galactic plane, along trajectories which are entirely unknown. There is more to learn on NGC 4151. In fact, the best is yet to come. Three avenues of investigation appear particularly promising: 1) The variations in flux and spectral shape of the X-ray continuum and its relationship with the UV variations are the key to understanding the specifics of the Comptonization model. Progress on this point will come from repeated simultaneous observations of the UV spectrum and of the entire X-ray and -ray spectrum. This will also give insights on the structure of the disk in the last stable orbits, the formation and structure of the corona and in the end, the process of energy production. Exciting results on these topics are expected in the near future from Chandra-AXAF, XMM and INTEGRAL. The Chandra and XMM (which have short energy range) main contributions will, however, be line diagnostics and for Chandra, imaging of the soft diffuse emission. 2) The search for the gas inflow which merges into and/or forms the torus could finally be successful. Several powerful approaches are possible: observing molecular lines in emission with millimeter arrays of increasing baseline and collecting area; using the nuclear radio structure as background source to observe free-free and atomic or molecular lines in absorption. 3) The observations of NGC 4151 during a state of deep minimum will provide a unique oportunity to observe the X-ray spectrum of a Seyfert 1 nucleus at epochs of very low accretion rate, to identify the nature of the narrow variable lines, to determine the stellar population of a currently active nucleus, and measure the mass of the black hole from the stellar lines. NGC 4151 at minimum states should be a target of opportunity for all space missions. In addition, observations on time scales of 10 years or more, especially following a deep minimum, will allow one to map emitting regions of size up to 1pc, thereby overlapping with the linear scale directly mapped with large radio telescopes. Received 30 October 1999 / Published online: 24 March 2000     

Observational effects of the Kerr metric

Strong gravity effects should have crucial impact on structure and radiative properties of an accretion flow surrounding a black hole. We discuss several observational consequences of such effects. (i) We note that the hard X-ray spectra of Seyfert galaxies, which appear to be intrinsically harder when observed at higher inclination angles, may be most naturally explained by radiative properties of plasmas in the Kerr metric. (ii) We indicate bending of photon trajectories to the equatorial plane, which is a distinct property of rapidly rotating black holes, as the most feasible effect underlying reduced variability of the Fe Kα line observed in several objects. (iii) Both the extreme Fe line profile and the variability pattern (observed, e.g., in a Seyfert galaxy MCG–6-30-15) independently indicate that a primary hard X-ray source must be located within a few gravitational radii from the Kerr black hole. We indicate a hot inner corona as the most likely model of such a source.     

The relation between black hole masses and Lorentz factors of the jet components in blazars

We explore the relationship between black hole mass (MBH) and the motion of the jet components for a sample of blazars. The Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) 2cm Survey and its continuation: Monitoring of Jets in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) with VLBA Experiments (MOJAVE) have observed 278 radio-loud AGNs, of which 146 blazars have reliable measurements of their apparent velocities of the jet components. We calculate the minimal Lorentz factors for these sources from their measured apparent velocities, and their black hole masses ate estimated with their broad-line widths. A sig-nificant intrinsic correlation is found between black hole masses and the minimal Lorentz factors of the jet components. The Eddington ratio is only weakly correlated with the min-imal Lorentz factor, which may imply that the Blandford-Znajek (BZ) mechanism may dominate over the Blandford-Payne (BP) mechanism for the jet acceleration (at least) in blazars.     

Microvariability in Blazars

Optically violent variable quasars and BL Lac objects, which form a subclass of active galactic nuclei are termed as Blazars. Blazars show high degree variation in their flux and polarization in a relatively shorter period of time. They are strong radio sources with a non-stellar continuum. Most of the BL Lac objects do not show any emission lines though in some cases very weak lines are observed. They harbour in elliptical galaxies. Some BL Lacs show superluminal motion indicating the flow of matter at relativistic speeds close to the line of sight. It is likely that the enormous energy produced by these objects may be due to a massive black hole with an accretion disc system. Some Blazars have been observed to detect short time variations in their flux and polarization in the visual band. These studies are aimed at understanding the physical processes taking place in the central engine. Detecting shorter period variations assumes significance as they impose restrictions on the total volume from where the huge amount of energy is comming out. To date the recorded shortest period variation in visual band is 6.3 min in OJ 287, a BL Lac object. Attempts are being made to detect shorter period variations, which pose observational challenges. It is generally accepted that the central engine of AGN harbours a massive blackhole with an accretion disc surrounding it. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Radio-loudness of active galaxies and the black hole evolution

Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) form two distinct sequences on the radio-loudness–Eddington ratio plane. The ‘upper’ sequence contains radio selected AGNs, the ‘lower’ sequence is composed mainly of optically selected AGNs. The sequences mark the upper bounds for the radio-loudness of two distinct populations of AGNs, hosted, respectively, by elliptical and disk galaxies. Both sequences show the same dependence of the radio-loudness on the Eddington ratio (an increase with decreasing Eddington ratio), which suggests that another parameter in addition to the accretion rate must play a role in determining the efficiency of jet production in AGNs. We speculate that this additional parameter is the spin of the black hole, assuming that black holes in giant elliptical galaxies have (on average) much larger spins than black holes in disc galaxies. Possible evolutionary scenarios leading to such a spin dichotomy are discussed. The galaxy-morphology related radio dichotomy breaks down at high accretion rates where the dominant fraction of luminous quasars being hosted by giant ellipticals is radio-quiet. This indicates that the production of powerful jets at high accretion rates is in most cases suppressed and, in analogy to X-ray binary systems (XRB) during high and very high states, may be intermittent. Such intermittency can be caused by switches between two different accretion modes, assuming that only during one of them an outflow from the central engine is sufficiently collimated to form a relativistic jet.     

A Research on the Gravitational Wave Radiation of OJ 287

The research on quasar OJ 287 has lasted over 100 years. OJ 287 exhibits the phenomenon of periodic two-peak outbursts with the eruptive period of 12 years. Observations are rather well interpreted with the black hole binary model. In this model, the secondary black hole moves around the primary black hole and crashes against the accretion disk of the primary black hole, causing outbursts. This model reasonably explains the light curves of OJ 287 and correctly predicts the time of future outbursts. These indirectly justify the precessional effect of general relativity and the existence of gravitational waves. The massive black hole in the center of galaxy is an important kind of gravitational wave source. However, the number of the galaxies with precisely determined kinematical equations of inner components is quite small. The precise kinematic orbits of black holes are provided by the black hole binary model, so the radiation of gravitational waves can be studied on the basis of these kinematic orbits. Based on the existing work, the evolutionary relations of the radiation power and waveform of gravitational waves with time are first derived by using the post-Newtonian approximation method. According to the current progress of the detection equipment of gravitational waves, i.e., IPTA (International Pulsar Timing Array), the direct detection of gravitational waves from OJ 287 may be possible within the future decade.     

辐射效率对黑洞质量增长的影响

考虑了在黑洞质量增长过程中,辐射效率的变化对黑洞质量增长的影响．随着吸积的进行,黑洞的角动量会发生变化,辐射效率也会随之发生变化,从而影响了质量增长．对于黑洞的指数增长模型,给出了考虑辐射效率对黑洞质量增长影响下的黑洞质量增长方程,用数值方法进行求解,并得到了黑洞质量随时间变化的曲线．与假定辐射效率为常数的模型对比,结果表明辐射效率的变化对黑洞质量的增长有较明显的影响,使黑洞的增长延迟．这个模型可以定量地说明最近的观测结果．     

X-ray absorption and reflection in active galactic nuclei

X-ray spectroscopy offers an opportunity to study the complex mixture of emitting and absorbing components in the circumnuclear regions of active galactic nuclei (AGN), and to learn about the accretion process that fuels AGN and the feedback of material to their host galaxies. We describe the spectral signatures that may be studied and review the X-ray spectra and spectral variability of active galaxies, concentrating on progress from recent Chandra, XMM-Newton and Suzaku data for local type 1 AGN. We describe the evidence for absorption covering a wide range of column densities, ionization and dynamics, and discuss the growing evidence for partial-covering absorption from data at energies ≳ 10 keV. Such absorption can also explain the observed X-ray spectral curvature and variability in AGN at lower energies and is likely an important factor in shaping the observed properties of this class of source. Consideration of self-consistent models for local AGN indicates that X-ray spectra likely comprise a combination of absorption and reflection effects from material originating within a few light days of the black hole as well as on larger scales. It is likely that AGN X-ray spectra may be strongly affected by the presence of disk-wind outflows that are expected in systems with high accretion rates, and we describe models that attempt to predict the effects of radiative transfer through such winds, and discuss the prospects for new data to test and address these ideas.     

The relationship between X-ray variability and the central black hole mass

We assembled a sample of Seyfert 1 galaxies, quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) and low-luminosity active galactic nuclei (LLAGNs) observed by ASCA , the central black hole masses of which have been measured. We found that the X-ray variability (which is quantified by the 'excess variance' σ _rms²) is significantly anti-correlated with the central black hole mass, and it is likely that a linear relationship of σ _rms²∝ M _bh⁻¹ exists. It can be interpreted that the short time-scale X-ray variability is caused by some global coherent variations in the X-ray emission region, which is scaled by the size of the central black hole. Hence the central black hole mass is the driving parameter of the previously established relation between X-ray variability and luminosity. Our findings favour the hypothesis that the narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies and QSOs harbour smaller black holes than the broad-line objects, and can also easily explain the observational fact that high-redshift QSOs have greater variability than local AGNs at a given luminosity. Further investigations are needed to confirm our findings, and a large sample X-ray variability investigation can give constraints on the physical mechanisms and evolution of AGNs.     

Variability of the central region in active galactic nuclei

Summary We review implications of the observed optical and X-ray variability (periodicities and light-curves), relevant for the understanding of physical conditions in the deep interiors of active galactic nuclei. We discuss in detail kinematical, hydrodynamical, thermal and radiative transfer effects which may be responsible for observed variability patterns. We put emphasis on theoretical options which can predict basic accretion parameters, such as the mass of the central black hole, the accretion rate and the inclination angle, in terms of observable quantities. Closed analytical results are given whenever available.     

The Formation of Black Hole Binaries

A peak exists in the distribution of observed black hole masses and no satisfactory explanation has been forthcoming so far. Here, we attempt an interpretation. We first establish a link between the helium core mass and the initial black hole mass, based on the result of 2-dimensional simulation of stellar core collapse by Fryer et al. Then the helium core masses are computed by using the PPE stellar evolution code, and the distribution of initial black hole masses for black hole binaries in stellar populations II and I is obtained. These are then compared with observations.