On The Linearity of The Black Hole - Bulge Mass Relation in Active and in Nearby Galaxies

Analysis of PG quasar observations suggests a nonlinear relation between the black hole mass, M_BH, and the bulge mass, M_bulge, although a linear relation, as proposed for nearby galaxies, cannot be ruled out. New M_BH values for nearby galaxies from Gebhardt et al., and L_bulge measurements for Seyfert 1 galaxies from Virani et al., are used here to obtain a more accurate value for the slope of the M_BH-M_bulge relation. The combined sample of 40 active and non-active galaxies suggests a significantly nonlinear relation, M_BH\propto M_bulge^{1.53\pm 0.14}. Further support for a nonlinear relation is provided by the slope of the M_BH-stellar velocity dispersion relation found recently, and by the low M_BH found in late type spiral galaxies. The mean M_BH/M_bulge ratio is therefore not a universal constant, but rather drops from ~0.5% in bright (M_V ~ -22) ellipticals, to ~0.05% in low luminosity (M_V ~ -18) bulges. Hubble Space Telescope determinations of M_BH in late type spirals, and of the bulge magnitude in narrow line Seyfert 1 galaxies (both predicted to have low M_BH), can further test the validity of the nonlinear M_BH-M_bulge relation.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ, 9 pages inc. 2 figure

Optical Continuum and Emission-Line Variability of Seyfert 1 Galaxies

We present the light curves obtained during an eight-year program of optical spectroscopic monitoring of nine Seyfert 1 galaxies: 3C 120, Akn 120, Mrk 79, Mrk 110, Mrk 335, Mrk 509, Mrk 590, Mrk 704, and Mrk 817. All objects show significant variability in both the continuum and emission-line fluxes. We use cross-correlation analysis to derive the sizes of the broad Hbeta-emitting regions based on emission-line time delays, or lags. We successfully measure time delays for eight of the nine sources, and find values ranging from about two weeks to a little over two months. Combining the measured lags and widths of the variable parts of the emission lines allows us to make virial mass estimates for the active nucleus in each galaxy. The virial masses are in the range 10^{7-8} solar masses.Comment: 24 pages, 16 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap

A discrete time relativistic Toda lattice

Four integrable symplectic maps approximating two Hamiltonian flows from the relativistic Toda hierarchy are introduced. They are demostrated to belong to the same hierarchy and to examplify the general scheme for symplectic maps on groups equiped with quadratic Poisson brackets. The initial value problem for the difference equations is solved in terms of a factorization problem in a group. Interpolating Hamiltonian flows are found for all the maps.Comment: 32 pages, LaTe

Magnetic Confinement, MHD Waves, and Smooth Line Profiles in AGN

In this paper, we show that if the broad line region clouds are in approximate energy equipartition between the magnetic field and gravity, as hypothesized by Rees, there will be a significant effect on the shape and smoothness of broad emission line profiles in active galactic nuclei. Line widths of contributing clouds or flow elements are much wider than their thermal widths, due to the presence of non-dissipative MHD waves, and their collective contribution produce emission line profiles broader and smoother than would be expected if a magnetic field were not present. As an illustration, a simple model of isotropically emitting clouds, normally distributed in velocity, is used to show that smoothness can be achieved for less than 80,000 clouds and may even be as low as a few hundred. We conclude that magnetic confinement has far reaching consequences for observing and modeling active galactic nuclei.Comment: to appear in MNRA

Central Masses and Broad-Line Region Sizes of Active Galactic Nuclei. II. A Homogeneous Analysis of a Large Reverberation-Mapping Database

We present improved black hole masses for 35 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) based on a complete and consistent reanalysis of broad emission-line reverberation-mapping data. From objects with multiple line measurements, we find that the highest precision measure of the virial product is obtained by using the cross-correlation function centroid (as opposed to the cross-correlation function peak) for the time delay and the line dispersion (as opposed to full width half maximum) for the line width and by measuring the line width in the variable part of the spectrum. Accurate line-width measurement depends critically on avoiding contaminating features, in particular the narrow components of the emission lines. We find that the precision (or random component of the error) of reverberation-based black hole mass measurements is typically around 30%, comparable to the precision attained in measurement of black hole masses in quiescent galaxies by gas or stellar dynamical methods. Based on results presented in a companion paper by Onken et al., we provide a zero-point calibration for the reverberation-based black hole mass scale by using the relationship between black hole mass and host-galaxy bulge velocity dispersion. The scatter around this relationship implies that the typical systematic uncertainties in reverberation-based black hole masses are smaller than a factor of three. We present a preliminary version of a mass-luminosity relationship that is much better defined than any previous attempt. Scatter about the mass-luminosity relationship for these AGNs appears to be real and could be correlated with either Eddington ratio or object inclination.Comment: 61 pages, including 8 Tables and 16 Figures. Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa

X-ray Fluctuation Power Spectral Densities of Seyfert 1 Galaxies

By combining complementary monitoring observations spanning long, medium and short time scales, we have constructed power spectral densities (PSDs) of six Seyfert~1 galaxies. These PSDs span $\gtrsim$4 orders of magnitude in temporal frequency, sampling variations on time scales ranging from tens of minutes to over a year. In at least four cases, the PSD shows a "break," a significant departure from a power law, typically on time scales of order a few days. This is similar to the behavior of Galactic X-ray binaries (XRBs), lower mass compact systems with breaks on time scales of seconds. NGC 3783 shows tentative evidence for a doubly-broken power law, a feature that until now has only been seen in the (much better-defined) PSDs of low-state XRBs. It is also interesting that (when one previously-observed object is added to make a small sample of seven), an apparently significant correlation is seen between the break time scale $T$ and the putative black hole mass $M_{\rm BH}$, while none is seen between break time scale and luminosity. The data are consistent with the linear relation T = M_{\rm BH}/10^{6.5} \Msun; extrapolation over 6--7 orders of magnitude is in reasonable agreement with XRBs. All of this strengthens the case for a physical similarity between Seyfert~1s and XRBs.Comment: 27 pages, 13 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ. Typo correcte

A Cutoff in the X-ray Fluctuation Power Density Spectrum of the Seyfert 1 Galaxy NGC 3516

During 1997 March-July, XTE observed the bright, strongly variable Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 3516 once every ~12.8 hr for 4.5 months and nearly continuously (with interruptions due to SAA passage but not Earth occultation) for a 4.2 day period in the middle. These were followed by ongoing monitoring once every ~4.3 days. These data are used to construct the first well-determined X-ray fluctuation power density spectrum (PDS) of an active galaxy to span more than 4 decades of usable temporal frequency. The PDS shows no signs of any strict or quasi-periodicity, but does show a progressive flattening of the power-law slope from -1.74 at short time scales to -0.73 at longer time scales. This is the clearest observation to date of the long-predicted cutoff in the PDS. The characteristic variability time scale corresponding to this cutoff temporal frequency is 1 month. Although it is unclear how this time scale may be interpreted in terms of a physical size or process, there are several promising candidate models. The PDS appears similar to those seen for Galactic black hole candidates such as Cyg X-1, suggesting that these two classes of objects with very different luminosities and putative black hole masses (differing by more than a factor of 10^5) may have similar X-ray generation processes and structures.Comment: 21 pages, incl. 5 figures, AASTe

On the precision of the theoretical predictions for pi pi scattering

In a recent paper, Pelaez and Yndurain evaluate some of the low energy observables of pi pi scattering and obtain flat disagreement with our earlier results. The authors work with unsubtracted dispersion relations, so that their results are very sensitive to the poorly known high energy behaviour of the scattering amplitude. They claim that the asymptotic representation we used is incorrect and propose an alternative one. We repeat their calculations on the basis of the standard, subtracted fixed-t dispersion relations, using their asymptotics. The outcome fully confirms our earlier findings. Moreover, we show that the Regge parametrization proposed by these authors for the region above 1.4 GeV violates crossing symmetry: Their ansatz is not consistent with the behaviour observed at low energies.Comment: Added more material, mostly in Sects. 7, 8 and 9, in support of the same conclusions. Latex, 28 pages, 3 figure

Reverberation Mapping and the Physics of Active Galactic Nuclei

Reverberation-mapping campaigns have revolutionized our understanding of AGN. They have allowed the direct determination of the broad-line region size, enabled mapping of the gas distribution around the central black hole, and are starting to resolve the continuum source structure. This review describes the recent and successful campaigns of the International AGN Watch consortium, outlines the theoretical background of reverberation mapping and the calculation of transfer functions, and addresses the fundamental difficulties of such experiments. It shows that such large-scale experiments have resulted in a ``new BLR'' which is considerably different from the one we knew just ten years ago. We discuss in some detail the more important new results, including the luminosity-size-mass relationship for AGN, and suggest ways to proceed in the near future.Comment: Review article to appear in Astronomical Time Series, Proceedings of the Wise Observatory 25th Ann. Symposium. 24 pages including 7 figure

Long-chain 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency

A new case of 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency is described with a relatively benign course