Further Evidence for the Accretion Disk Origination of the Double-Peaked Broad H$\alpha$ of 3C390.3

TL;DR

This study supports the accretion disk origin of the double-peaked broad Hα lines in 3C390.3 by analyzing time lags and flux radii, estimating black hole mass, and confirming theoretical predictions.

Contribution

It provides empirical evidence linking time lags and flux radii in the accretion disk model, and independently estimates the black hole mass of 3C390.3.

Findings

Strong correlation between time lags and flux radii consistent with accretion disk theory.

Black hole mass estimated at approximately 10^9 solar masses.

Supports the accretion disk model as the origin of double-peaked broad lines.

Abstract

In the letter, under the widely accepted theoretical accretion disk model for the double-peaked emitter 3C390.3, the extended disk-like BLR can be well split into ten rings, and then the time lags between the lines from the rings and the continuum emission are estimated, based on the observed spectra around 1995. We can find one much strong correlation between the determined time lags (in unit of light-day) and the flux weighted radii (in unit of ${\rm R_G}$) of the rings, which is well consistent with the expected results through the theoretical accretion disk model. Moreover, through the strong correlation, the black hole masses of 3C390.3 are independently estimated as $\sim10^9{\rm M_{\odot}}$, the same as the reported black hole masses in the literature. The consistencies provide further evidence to strongly support the accretion disk origination of the double-peaked broad balmer lines of 3C390.3.