English

Revisiting the dust torus size-luminosity relation based on a uniform reverberation mapping analysis

Astrophysics of Galaxies 2024-04-22 v3

Abstract

We investigate the torus size -- luminosity relation of Type 1 AGNs based on the reverberation-mapping analysis using the light curves of the optical continuum and the IR continuum obtained with the W1 and W2-bands of the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) survey. The final sample consists of 446 and 416 AGNs, respectively, for W1 and W2-band light curves, covering a large dynamic range of bolometric luminosity from 1043.410^{43.4} to 1047.610^{47.6} ergs1erg \, s^{-1}, which show reliable lag measurements based on our quality assessment analysis. After correcting for the accretion disk contamination in the observed IR flux, we constrain the torus size (RdustR_{dust}) and AGN bolometric luminosity (LbolL_{bol}) relationship with the best-fit slope of 0.39 (0.33) for the W1- (W2-) band, which is shallower than expected from the dust radiation equilibrium model. By combining the previous K-band lag measurements, we find that the measured torus size depends on the observed wavelength of the dust radiation, as Rdust,K:Rdust,W1:Rdust,W2R_{dust,K}:R_{dust,W1}:R_{dust,W2} = 1.0:1.5:1.8 (Rdustλ0.80R_{dust} \, \propto \, \lambda^{0.80}) at LbolL_{bol} = 1046ergs110^{46} \, erg \, s^{-1}, confirming a stratified structure of the torus, where wavelength-dependent emissions originate from distinct regions of the torus. By investigating the deviation from the best-fit torus size -- luminosity relation, we find a moderate correlation between the offset from the RdustR_{dust}--LbolL_{bol} relation and Eddington ratio. This suggests a possible influence of the Eddington ratio on the observed flattening of the RdustR_{dust}--LbolL_{bol} relationship.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2403.01885,
  title  = {Revisiting the dust torus size-luminosity relation based on a uniform reverberation mapping analysis},
  author = {Amit Kumar Mandal and Jong-Hak Woo and Shu Wang and Suvendu Rakshit and Hojin Cho and Donghoon Son and C. S. Stalin},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2403.01885},
  year   = {2024}
}

Comments

35 pages, 21 figures, 6 tables. Corrected for typos. Accepted for publication in ApJ

R2 v1 2026-06-28T15:08:09.549Z