Black hole mass measurements in AGN: Polarization in broad emission lines
Luka C. Popovic, Victor L. Afanasiev, Djordje Savic
TL;DR
This paper introduces a novel polarization-based method for measuring supermassive black hole masses in AGN, which aligns well with existing reverberation techniques and can account for complex BLR motions.
Contribution
The paper presents a new polarization angle method for SMBH mass estimation in AGN, validated against reverberation estimates and capable of handling various BLR dynamics.
Findings
Method agrees with reverberation estimates
Effective in cases with inflows or outflows in BLR
Discusses advantages of polarization-based measurements
Abstract
We present a new method for supermassive black hole (SMBH) mass measurements in Type 1 active galactic nuclei (AGN) using polarization angle across broad lines. This method gives measured masses which are in a good agreement with reverberation estimates. Additionally, we explore the possibilities and limits of this method using the STOKES radiative transfer code taking a dominant Keplerian motion in the broad line region (BLR). We found that this method can be used for the direct SMBH mass estimation in the cases when in addition to the Kepler motion, radial inflows or vertical outflows are present in the BLR. Some advantages of the method are discussed.
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