Changing Look AGN: A study of Optical/UV and the Highly Ionized Fe K$\alpha$ X-ray Line Flux Variations Using Photo-Ionization Simulations

TL;DR

This study uses photo-ionization simulations to explore how optical/UV and Fe Kα X-ray emission lines in changing-look AGN respond to intrinsic continuum variations, revealing the origins of these emissions and the nature of spectral changes.

Contribution

It demonstrates that Fe Kα X-ray flux depends on intrinsic continuum changes, and shows that BLR line fluxes are insensitive to X-ray power-law variations alone, providing new insights into AGN spectral variability.

Findings

Fe Kα flux depends on intrinsic X-ray strength.

BLR line fluxes are insensitive to X-ray power-law changes.

Changing-look phenomena can be driven by intrinsic accretion changes.

Abstract

Significant variability in broad emission line strengths of active galactic nuclei (AGN) over months to years has been observed, often accompanied by intrinsic continuum changes. Such spectral variability challenges the traditional AGN classification scheme, which attributes differences between Type 1 and Type 2 to geometrical effects, as transitions between these types occur on timescales shorter than viscous ones. In this work, using the {\sc cloudy} photo-ionization simulations, we investigated the response of the major emission line fluxes, in the optical/UV and hard X-ray bands, to changes in the intensity and shape of the continuum emission of the AGN under two scenarios: (i) changes in the X-ray power-law while keeping disc emission fixed, and (ii) broadband continuum variations. We demonstrate that BLR line fluxes are insensitive to X-ray power-law changes alone. Considering a well-studied case of the changing-look (CL) AGN Mrk 1018, which exhibits variations in the intrinsic disc emission, as well as the X-ray power-law, our simulations reproduce observed brightening and dimming trends of the BLR emission. Moreover, we show that the highly ionized Fe K$\alpha$ X-ray flux, primarily produced by the H-like and He-like ions of Fe, strongly depends on the X-ray strength of the intrinsic SED. These findings suggest that the origin of highly ionized Fe K$\alpha$ emission is in the coronal part of the accretion disk and that the CL phenomenon can be triggered by intrinsic changes in the accretion properties of AGN.