Abstract Details
| Name: AmitKumar Mandal Affiliation: Christ (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru Conference ID: ASI2019_357 Title : Estimation of the size and structure of the broad line region in AGN using Bayesian approach Authors and Co-Authors : Amit Kumar Mandal, Suvendu Rakshit, C. S. Stalin, Blesson Mathew, Ram Sagar Abstract Type : Oral Abstract Category : Extragalactic Astronomy Abstract : Active galactic nuclei (AGN) believed to be powered by accretion of matter onto super-massive black holes at their centres are known to show continuum and emission line flux variations since their discovery. Also, correlation between such continuum and emission line flux variations were recognized within the first 10 years of the discovery of quasars a category of AGN. This correlation has been understood in terms of the response of the broad emission line (BLR) clouds present in an AGN to continuum flux changes. This concept has since then been termed as reverberation as the emission line reverberates in response to the continuum variations. The method of reverberation mapping has since then been used as a standard tool to probe the structure and kinematics of the BLR. This method assumes that the BLR responds linearly to the optical-UV continuum flux changes from the accretion disk, however, the presence of a non-linear response of the line emission to the optical-UV continuum changes cannot be ruled out. Towards this objective, we carried out a Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis based on Bayesian statistics on reverberation data in a homogeneous manner on a sample of 64 AGN. We found a strong BLR size luminosity correlation with a slope of alpha = 0.583 +/- 0.025 and 0.471 +/- 0.084 for H_beta and H_alpha lines respectively. Details of this first homogeneous analysis on the large sample of AGN will be discussed. |