Elizabeth S. Klimek

REVERBERATION MAPPING MEASUREMENTS OF BLACK HOLE MASSES IN SIX LOCAL SEYFERT GALAXIES

We present the final results from a high sampling rate, multi-month, spectrophotometric reverberation mapping campaign undertaken to obtain either new or improved Hβ reverberation lag measurements for several relatively low-luminosity active galactic nuclei (AGNs). We have reliably measured the time delay between variations in the continuum and Hβ emission line in six local Seyfert 1 galaxies. These measurements are used to calculate the mass of the supermassive black hole at the center of each of these AGNs. We place our results in context to the most current calibration of the broad-line region (BLR) RBLR–L relationship, where our results remove outliers and reduce the scatter at the low-luminosity end of this relationship. We also present velocity-resolved Hβ time-delay measurements for our complete sample, though the clearest velocity-resolved kinematic signatures have already been published.

Disk-Jet Connection in the Radio Galaxy 3C 120

We present the results of extensive multi-frequency monitoring of the radio galaxy 3C 120 between 2002 and 2007 at X-ray (2-10 keV), optical (R and V bands), and radio (14.5 and 37 GHz) wave bands, as well as imaging with the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) at 43 GHz. Over the 5 yr of observation, significant dips in the X-ray light curve are followed by ejections of bright superluminal knots in the VLBA images. Consistent with this, the X-ray flux and 37 GHz flux are anti-correlated with X-ray leading the radio variations. Furthermore, the total radiative output of a radio flare is related to the equivalent width of the corresponding X-ray dip. This implies that, in this radio galaxy, the radiative state of accretion disk plus corona system, where the X-rays are produced, has a direct effect on the events in the jet, where the radio emission originates. The X-ray power spectral density of 3C 120 shows a break, with steeper slope at shorter timescale and the break timescale is commensurate with the mass of the central black hole (BH) based on observations of Seyfert galaxies and black hole X-ray binaries (BHXRBs). These findings provide support for the paradigm that BHXRBs and both radio-loud and radio-quiet active galactic nuclei are fundamentally similar systems, with characteristic time and size scales linearly proportional to the mass of the central BH. The X-ray and optical variations are strongly correlated in 3C 120, which implies that the optical emission in this object arises from the same general region as the X-rays, i.e., in the accretion disk-corona system. We numerically model multi-wavelength light curves of 3C 120 from such a system with the optical-UV emission produced in the disk and the X-rays generated by scattering of thermal photons by hot electrons in the corona. From the comparison of the temporal properties of the model light curves to that of the observed variability, we constrain the physical size of the corona and the distances of the emitting regions from the central BH. In addition, we discuss physical scenarios for the disk-jet connection that are consistent with our observations.

Radiative feedback and the low efficiency of galaxy formation in low-mass haloes at high redshift

Any successful model of galaxy formation needs to explain the low rate of star formation in the small progenitors of todays galaxies. This inefficiency is necessary for reproducing the low stellar-to-virial mass fractions, suggested by current abundance matching models. A possible driver of this low efficiency is the radiation pressure exerted by ionizing photons from massive stars. The effect of radiation pressure in cosmological, zoom-in galaxy formation simulations is modeled as a non-thermal pressure that acts only in dense and optically thick star-forming regions. We also include photoionization and photoheating by massive stars. The full photoionization of hydrogen reduces the radiative cooling in the

A REVISED BROAD-LINE REGION RADIUS AND BLACK HOLE MASS FOR THE NARROW-LINE SEYFERT 1 NGC 4051

10^{4-4.5}

DIVERSE KINEMATIC SIGNATURES FROM REVERBERATION MAPPING OF THE BROAD-LINE REGION IN AGNs

K regime. The main effect of radiation pressure is to regulate and limit the high values of gas density and the amount of gas available for star formation. This maintains a low star formation rate of

Multiwavelength Monitoring of the Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 Galaxy Arakelian 564. III. Optical Observations and the Optical-UV-X-Ray Connection

\sim 1 \ {\rm M_\odot} \ {\rm yr}^{-1}

X-ray/ultraviolet observing campaign of the Markarian 279 active galactic nucleus outflow: a close look at the absorbing/emitting gas with Chandra-LETGS

in halos with masses about

Optical variability of narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies

10^{11} \ {M_\odot}

VARIABILITY OF ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI FROM THE OPTICAL TO X-RAY REGIONS

at

THE REDSHIFT DISTRIBUTION OF INTERVENING WEAK Mg II QUASAR ABSORBERS AND A CURIOUS DEPENDENCE ON QUASAR LUMINOSITY

z\simeq3