Observational Constraints on the Dependence of Radio-Quiet Quasar X-ray Emission on Black Hole Mass and Accretion Rate

TL;DR

This study analyzes how X-ray and optical/UV emissions in radio-quiet quasars depend on black hole mass and accretion rate, revealing correlations and non-monotonic behaviors that inform accretion models and feedback mechanisms.

Contribution

It provides the largest analysis to date of RQQ X-ray properties in relation to black hole mass and accretion rate, including corrections for mass estimate uncertainties.

Findings

Alpha_ox increases with black hole mass and Eddington ratio.

Gamma_X correlates with black hole mass and Eddington ratios, with a sign change at ~3x10^8 M_sun.

X-ray spectral index depends on accretion rate, affecting quasar feedback models.

Abstract

In this work we use a sample of 318 radio-quiet quasars (RQQ) to investigate the dependence of the ratio of optical/UV flux to X-ray flux, alpha_ox, and the X-ray photon index, Gamma_X, on black hole mass, UV luminosity relative to Eddington, and X-ray luminosity relative to Eddington. Our sample is drawn from the SDSS, with X-ray data from ROSAT and Chandra, and optical data mostly from the SDSS; 153 of these sources have estimates of Gamma_X from Chandra. We estimate M_BH using standard estimates derived from the Hbeta, Mg II, and C IV broad emission lines. Our sample spans a broad range in black hole mass (10^6 < M_BH / M_Sun < 10^10) and redshift (z < 4.8). We find that alpha_ox increases with increasing M_BH and L_UV / L_Edd, and decreases with increasing L_X / L_Edd. In addition, we confirm the correlation seen in previous studies between Gamma_X and M_BH and both L_UV / L_Edd and L_X / L_Edd; however, we also find evidence that the dependence of Gamma_X of these quantities is not monotonic, changing sign at M_BH ~ 3 x 10^8 M_Sun. We argue that the alpha_ox correlations imply that the fraction of bolometric luminosity emitted by the accretion disk, as compared to the corona, increases with increasing accretion rate relative to Eddington. In addition, we argue that the Gamma_X trends are caused by a dependence of X-ray spectral index on accretion rate. We discuss our results within the context of accretion models with comptonizing corona, and discuss the implications of the alpha_ox correlations for quasar feedback. To date, this is the largest study of the dependence of RQQ X-ray parameters on black hole mass and related quantities, and the first to attempt to correct for the large statistical uncertainty in the broad line mass estimates.