Constraining the geometry of AGN outflows with reflection spectroscopy

TL;DR

This study explores how combining reflection spectroscopy and outflow velocity data in AGN can help constrain the geometry of outflows, revealing a relationship between velocity and inclination.

Contribution

It introduces a method to constrain AGN outflow geometry by comparing reflection-derived inclination with outflow velocities, demonstrating potential for future research.

Findings

A relation between outflow velocity and inclination angle.

Potential explanations include wind geometries or disc surface absorption.

Systematic errors limit definitive conclusions.

Abstract

We collate active galactic nuclei (AGN) with reported detections of both relativistic reflection and ultra-fast outflows. By comparing the inclination of the inner disc from reflection with the line-of-sight velocity of the outflow, we show that it is possible to meaningfully constrain the geometry of the absorbing material. We find a clear relation between the velocity and inclination, and demonstrate that it can potentially be explained either by simple wind geometries or by absorption from the disc surface. Due to systematic errors and a shortage of high- quality simultaneous measurements our conclusions are tentative, but this study represents a proof-of-concept that has great potential.