Probing the face-on disc-corona system of the bare AGN Mrk 110 from UV to hard X-rays: a moderate changing-state AGN?

TL;DR

This study analyzes the broadband X-ray spectra of the bare AGN Mrk 110, confirming the soft X-ray excess originates mainly from a warm corona, and characterizes its disc-corona system, suggesting it is a moderate changing-state AGN.

Contribution

The paper introduces sophisticated models reXcor and relagn to confirm the warm corona as the primary source of the soft X-ray excess in Mrk 110, advancing understanding of AGN disc-corona systems.

Findings

Warm corona is the main source of soft X-ray excess.

Hot and warm coronae are located at a few 10s and ~100 Rg, respectively.

Mrk 110 is classified as a moderate changing-state AGN.

Abstract

[Abridged] The X-ray broadband spectra of the bare AGN Mrk 110, obtained by simultaneous XMM-Newton and NuSTAR observations (Nov 2019 and April 2020), are characterised by the presence of a prominent and absorption-free smooth soft X-ray excess, moderately broad OVII and Fe Kalpha emission lines, and a lack of a strong Compton hump. While relativistic reflection as the sole emission is ruled out, a simplified combination of soft and hard Comptonisation from a warm and a hot coronae, plus mild relativistic disc reflection reproduces the data very well. We aim to confirm the physical origin of the soft X-ray excess of Mrk 110 and to determine its disc-corona system properties from its energetics using two new sophisticated models: reXcor and relagn, respectively. At both epochs, the inferred high-values of the warm-corona heating from the X-ray broadband spectral analysis using reXcor confirm that the soft X-ray excess originates mainly from a warm corona rather than relativistic reflection. The intrinsic best-fit SED determined at both epochs using relagn show a high X-ray contribution relative to the UV and are very well reproduced by a warm and hot coronae plus mild relativistic reflection. The outer radii of the hot and warm coronae are located at a few 10s and ~100 Rg, respectively. Moreover, combining the inferred low Eddington ratio (~ a few %) from this work, and previous multi-wavelength spectral and timing studies suggests that Mrk 110 could be classified as a moderate changing-state AGN. Our analysis confirms the existence of a warm corona as a significant contribution to the soft X-ray excess and UV emission in Mrk 110, adding to growing evidence that AGN accretion deviates from standard disc theory. This strengthens the importance of long-term multi-wavelength monitoring on both single targets and large AGN surveys to reveal the real nature of disc-corona system in AGN.