VLTI/GRAVITY Interferometric Measurements of Innermost Dust Structure Sizes around AGNs

TL;DR

This study uses VLTI/GRAVITY interferometry to measure the innermost hot dust sizes around 14 AGNs, revealing a tight radius-luminosity relation with a potential geometric explanation for observed offsets.

Contribution

First interferometric measurements of hot dust sizes in 14 AGNs, combined with previous data, to refine the radius-luminosity relation and explore dust geometry effects.

Findings

Inner dust sizes range from 0.028 to 1.33 pc.

The radius-luminosity relation has a slope consistent with R ∝ L^{0.5}.

An offset in the relation can be explained by a concave dust surface geometry.

Abstract

We present new VLTI/GRAVITY near-infrared interferometric measurements of the angular size of the innermost hot dust continuum for 14 type 1 AGNs. The angular sizes are resolved on scales of ~0.7 mas and the inferred ring radii range from 0.028 to 1.33 pc, comparable to those reported previously and a factor 10-20 smaller than the mid-infrared sizes in the literature. Combining our new data with previously published values, we compile a sample of 25 AGN with bolometric luminosity ranging from $10^{42}$ to $10^{47} \rm erg~s^{-1}$, with which we study the radius-luminosity (R-L) relation for the hot dust structure. Our interferometric measurements of radius are offset by a factor 2 from the equivalent relation derived through reverberation mapping. Using a simple model to explore the dust structure's geometry, we conclude that this offset can be explained if the 2 um emitting surface has a concave shape. Our data show that the slope of the relation is in line with the canonical $R \propto L^{0.5}$ when using an appropriately non-linear correction for bolometric luminosity. In contrast, using optical luminosity or applying a constant bolometric correction to it results in a significant deviation in the slope, suggesting a potential luminosity dependence on the spectral energy distribution. Over four orders of magnitude in luminosity, the intrinsic scatter around the R-L relation is 0.2 dex, suggesting a tight correlation between innermost hot dust structure size and the AGN luminosity.