Fast X-ray Variability from the Coronae of Supermassive Black Holes

TL;DR

This study systematically analyzes rapid X-ray variability in radio-quiet AGN, revealing extremely compact coronal regions and suggesting transient, localized structures rather than homogeneous plasmas, with implications for understanding black hole environments.

Contribution

First systematic survey of short-timescale X-ray variability in a large AGN sample, constraining coronal sizes and structure, and linking variability to magnetic energy dissipation mechanisms.

Findings

Identified 14 AGN with rapid X-ray flux variations

Coronal regions are constrained to be smaller than 10^{-4} parsecs

Results support transient, localized coronal structures over homogeneous plasmas

Abstract

We present the first systematic study of short-timescale X-ray variability in radio-quiet active galactic nuclei (AGN), utilizing archival Chandra observations of approximately 3,000 broad-line AGN selected from the SDSS and DESI spectroscopic surveys. We identify 14 AGN exhibiting rapid (on timescales of tens of kiloseconds) X-ray flux variations by factors of two or more that are statistically significant ($p\le6\times10^{-4}$), indicative of fast coronal variability. By converting minimum variability timescales to light-crossing times, we place upper limits on the sizes of the variable coronal regions, finding typical scales of $\lesssim10^{-4}$~pc. The coronal variable region size upper limits of an AGN in our sample are found to be much smaller than the typical coronal sizes inferred from microlensing, suggesting that its corona is composed of localized, transient structures rather than smooth, homogeneous plasmas. Such efficient magnetic energy dissipation in compact volumes is consistent with expectations for magnetically dominated coronae and is supported by recent general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations. Future high-throughput X-ray observatories will enable the detection of even faster coronal variability, providing direct constraints on the physical mechanisms driving plasma energization and flux fluctuation near supermassive black holes. Our results suggest that luminous AGN hosting massive black holes are prime targets for probing the small-scale structure and dynamics of AGN coronae.