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arXiv 2407.07574astro-ph.GA
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最靠近超大质量黑洞的中性气相

The neutral gas phase nearest to supermassive black holes

Wing-Fai Thi, Padelis Papadopoulos

AI总结:

本研究针对活动星系核宽线区研究多聚焦电离气相的现状,利用增强化学过程的CLOUDY代码模拟无尘埃宽线区,发现质量占主体的中性气相BLR0可通过其红外/亚毫米谱线探测超大质量黑洞附近气体动力学,甚至助力广义相对论检验。

摘要:

众所周知,在活动星系核(AGNs)中,宽线区(BLRs)包含位于超大质量黑洞(SMBHs)附近、半径r约为数百到数千史瓦西半径(Rs)范围内的引力束缚气体。受活动星系核的强非恒星连续谱光电离,该气体发射出明亮的来自电离氢(及其他多电离原子)的紫外/光学/近红外谱线,这些谱线拥有星系中观测到的最宽速度剖面,独特地指示了超大质量黑洞的深引力势阱。几乎所有宽线区研究都聚焦于其电离气相(以下简称BLR+),其典型质量仅为10-100倍太阳质量(M_Sun),尽管有强烈迹象表明存在质量约为10^5-10^6倍太阳质量的中性宽线区气体储库(以下简称BLR0)。我们使用光电离代码CLOUDY(通过三体反应增强了其化学过程),探索了无尘埃宽线区的一维模型,重点研究BLR0的条件,以及其最普遍的中性原子和分子的丰度。研究发现,富含中性原子和分子的BLR0气相位于BLR+之下,后者仅占据活动星系核辐照气体柱密度的薄外层,而前者包含了宽线区气体质量的主体。原子碳、氧以及CO分子在BLR0中可达到相当高的丰度,而它们在红外和亚毫米波长的谱线可成为探测宽线区物理条件和动力学的新手段,不受活动星系核外尘埃环的尘埃吸收影响——这些尘埃环会轻易吸收BLR+的光学/远紫外(FUV)谱线。我们发现,富含中性原子甚至富含分子的气体可以存在于BLR0中。来自中性原子和分子的相应谱线有望为超大质量黑洞附近的气体动力学提供一个不受尘埃吸收阻碍的新光谱窗口,这甚至可能为在强弯曲时空中开展广义相对论的新型检验提供前景。

英文摘要:

Broad Line Regions (BLRs) are known to contain gravitationally-bound gas within r~(few) 10^2-10^3 Schwarszchild radii (Rs) near supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs). Photo-ionized by strong non-stellar AGN continuum, this gas emits luminous ultraviolet/optical/near-infrared lines from ionized hydrogen (and other multi-ionized atoms) that have the widest velocity profiles observed in galaxies, uniquely indicating the deep gravitational wells of SMBHs. Nearly all BLR studies focus on its ionized gas phase (hereafter BLR+), with typical masses of only a few 10-100 M_Sun, despite strong indications of neutral BLR gas reservoirs (hereafter BLR0) with M_BLR0~10^{5-6} M_Sun. We used the photoionization code CLOUDY, with its chemistry augmented using three-body reactions, to explore 1-D models of dustless BLRs, focusing on the BLR0 conditions, and the abundances of its most prevalent neutral atoms and molecules. A neutral-atom-) and molecule-rich BLR0 gas phase is found underlying the BLR+, the latter occupying only a thin outer layer of AGN-irradiated gas column densities, while the former contains the bulk of the BLR gas mass. Atomic carbon and oxygen as well as the CO molecule can reach substantial abundances in the BLR0, while their lines at infrared and submillimeter wavelengths can yield new probes of the BLR physical conditions and dynamics, unhindered by the dust absorption from outer AGN tori that readily absorb the BLR+ optical/far-ultraviolet (FUV) lines. We find that neutral-atom-rich neutral-atom-rich and even molecule-rich gas can exist in the BLR0. The corresponding spectral lines from neutral atoms and molecules promise a new spectral window of gas dynamics in the vicinity of~SMBHs unhindered by dust absorption. This may even offer the prospect of conducting novel tests of general relativity in strongly curved spacetimes.

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