Jet formation in BL Lacertae objects with different accretion modes

We estimate the masses of massive black holes in BL Lac objects from their host galaxy luminosity. The power of jets and central optical ionizing luminosity for a sample of BL Lac objects are derived from their extended radio emission and the narrow-line emission, respectively. The maximal jet power can be extracted from a standard thin accretion disk/spinning black hole is calculated as a function of dimensionless accretion rate $\dot{m}$ ($\dot{m}=\dot{M}/\dot{M}_{\rm Edd}$). Comparing with the derived jet power, we find that the accretion disks in most BL Lac objects should not be standard accretion disks. For a pure advection dominated accretion flow (ADAF), there is an upper limit on its optical continuum luminosity due to the existence of an upper limit $\dot{m}_{\rm crit}$ on the accretion rate. It is found that a pure ADAF is too faint to produce the optical ionizing luminosity of BL Lac objects derived from their narrow-line luminosity. We propose that an ADAF is present in the inner region of the disk and it becomes a standard thin disk in the outer region in most BL Lac objects, i.e., ADAF+SD(standard disk) scenario. This ADAF+SD scenario can explain both the jet power and optical ionizing continuum emission of these BL Lac objects. The inferred transition radii between the inner ADAF and outer SD are in the range of $40-150 GM_{bh}/c^2$, if the disks are accreting at the rate $\dot{m}=0.01$.Comment: accepted by Ap

Average UV Quasar Spectra in the Context of Eigenvector 1: A Baldwin Effect Governed by Eddington Ratio?

We present composite UV spectra for low redshift Type 1 AGN binned to exploit the information content of the Eigenvector 1 (E1) parameter space. Composite spectra allow a decomposition of the CIV1549 line profile - one of the strongest high-ionization lines. The simplest CIV decomposition into narrow (NLR), broad (BLR) and very broad (VBLR) components suggests that different components have an analog in Hb with two major exceptions. VBLR emission is seen only in population B (FWHM(Hb)>4000 km/s) sources. A blue shifted/asymmetric BLR component is seen only in pop. A (FWHM(Hb)<4000 km/s) HIL such as CIV. The blueshifted component is thought to arise in a wind or outflow. Our analysis suggests that such a wind can only be produced in pop. A (almost all radio-quiet) sources where the accretion rate is relatively high. Comparison between broad UV lines in radio-loud (RL) and radio-quiet (RQ) sources shows few significant differences. Clear evidence is found for a narrow CIV component in most radio-loud sources. We find also some indirect indications that the black hole (BH) spin, rather than BH mass or accretion rate is a key trigger in determining whether an object will be RL or RQ. We find a ten-fold decrease in EW CIV with Eddington ratio (decreasing from ~1 to \~0.01) while NV shows no change. These trends suggest a luminosity-independent "Baldwin effect" where the physical driver may be the Eddington ratio.Comment: 39 pages, 6 figures. To appear in Ap

X-ray iron line variability for the model of an orbiting flare above a black hole accretion disc

The broad X-ray iron line, detected in many active galactic nuclei, is likely to be produced by fluorescence from the X-ray illuminated central parts of an accretion disc close to a supermassive black hole. The time-averaged shape of the line can be explained most naturally by a combination of special and general relativistic effects. Such line profiles contain information about the black hole spin and the accretion disc as well as the geometry of the emitting region and may help to test general relativity in the strong gravity regime. In this paper we embark on the computation of the temporal response of the line to the illuminating flux. Previous studies concentrated on the calculation of reverberation signatures from static sources illuminating the disc. In this paper we focus on the more physically justified case of flares located above the accretion disc and corotating with it. We compute the time dependent iron line taking into account all general relativistic effects and show that its shape is of very complex nature, and also present light curves accompanying the iron line variability. We suggest that future X-ray satellites like XMM or Constellation-X may be capable of detecting features present in the computed reverberation maps.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS, 11 pages, 12 figure

The COSPIX mission: focusing on the energetic and obscured Universe

Tracing the formation and evolution of all supermassive black holes, including the obscured ones, understanding how black holes influence their surroundings and how matter behaves under extreme conditions, are recognized as key science objectives to be addressed by the next generation of instruments. These are the main goals of the COSPIX proposal, made to ESA in December 2010 in the context of its call for selection of the M3 mission. In addition, COSPIX, will also provide key measurements on the non thermal Universe, particularly in relation to the question of the acceleration of particles, as well as on many other fundamental questions as for example the energetic particle content of clusters of galaxies. COSPIX is proposed as an observatory operating from 0.3 to more than 100 keV. The payload features a single long focal length focusing telescope offering an effective area close to ten times larger than any scheduled focusing mission at 30 keV, an angular resolution better than 20 arcseconds in hard X-rays, and polarimetric capabilities within the same focal plane instrumentation. In this paper, we describe the science objectives of the mission, its baseline design, and its performances, as proposed to ESA.Comment: 7 pages, accepted for publication in Proceedings of Science, for the 25th Texas Symposium on Relativistic Astrophysics (eds. F. Rieger &amp; C. van Eldik), PoS(Texas 2010)25

Accretion, ejection and reprocessing in supermassive black holes

This is a White Paper in support of the mission concept of the Large Observatory for X-ray Timing (LOFT), proposed as a medium-sized ESA mission. We discuss the potential of LOFT for the study of active galactic nuclei. For a summary, we refer to the paper.Comment: White Paper in Support of the Mission Concept of the Large Observatory for X-ray Timin

Measurements of CP Violation in B0→D∗−π+B^0 \to D^{*-}\pi^+ and B0→D−π+B^0 \to D^- \pi^+ Decays

We report measurements of time dependent decay rates for $B^0 \to D^{(*)-}\pi^+$ decays and extraction of CP violation parameters that depend on $\phi_3$. Using fully reconstructed $D^{(*)}\pi$ events and partially reconstructed $D^{*}\pi$ events from a data sample that contains 386 million $B\bar{B}$ pairs that was collected near the $\Upsilon(4S)$ resonance, with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric energy $e^+ e^-$ collider, we obtain the CP violation parameters $S^+ (D^{(*)}\pi)$ and $S^- (D^{(*)}\pi)$. We obtain $S^+ (D^* \pi) = 0.049 \pm 0.020(\mathrm{stat}) \pm 0.011(\mathrm{sys})$, $S^- (D^* \pi) = 0.031 \pm 0.019(\mathrm{stat}) \pm 0.011(\mathrm{sys})$, and $S^+ (D \pi) = 0.031 \pm 0.030(\mathrm{stat}) \pm 0.012(\mathrm{sys})$, $S^- (D \pi) = 0.068 \pm 0.029(\mathrm{stat}) \pm 0.012(\mathrm{sys})$. These results are an indication of CP violation in $B^0 \to D^{*-}\pi^+$ and $B^0 \to D^- \pi^+$ decays at the $2.5 \sigma$ and $2.2 \sigma$ levels, respectively. If we use the values of $R_{D^{(*)}\pi}$ that are derived using assumptions of factorization and SU(3) symmetry, the branching fraction measurements for the $D_s^{(*)} \pi$ modes, and lattice QCD calculations, we can restrict the allowed region of $|\sin (2\phi_1 + \phi_3)|$ to be above 0.44 and 0.52 at 68% confidence level from the $D^* \pi$ and $D \pi$ modes, respectively.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures, submitted to Physical Review

Observation of a near-threshold omega-J/psi mass enhancement in exclusive B-->K omega J/psi decays

We report the observation of a near-threshold enhancement in the omega-J/psi invariant mass distribution for exclusive B-->K omega J/psi decays. The results are obtained from a 253 fb-1 data sample that contains 275 million BB-bar meson pairs that were collected near the Upsilon(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric energy e+e- collider. The statistical significance of the omega-J/psi mass enhancement is estimated to be greater than 8 sigma.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letter

Measurement of Inclusive Radiative B-meson Decays with a Photon Energy Threshold of 1.7 GeV

Using 605/fb of data collected at the Upsilon(4S) resonance we present a measurement of the inclusive radiative B-meson decay channel, B to X_s gamma. For the lower photon energy thresholds of 1.7, 1.8, 1.9 and 2.0GeV, as defined in the rest frame of the B-meson, we measure the partial branching fraction and the mean and variance of the photon energy spectrum. At the 1.7GeV threshold we obtain the partial branching fraction BF(B to X_s gamma) = (3.45 +/- 0.15 +/- 0.40) x 10^-4, where the errors are statistical and systematic.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, 2 table

Observation of chi_c2 Production in B-meson Decay

We report the first observation of chi_c2 production in B-meson decays. We find an inclusive B -> chi_c2 X branching fraction of (1.80^{+0.23}_{-0.28}+/- 0.26) 10^-3. The data set, collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB e^+e^- collider, consists of 31.9 million B\bar B events. We also present branching fractions and momentum spectra for both chi_c1 and chi_c2 production.Comment: 5 pages with 2 figure

Angular analysis of B0→K∗(892)0ℓ+ℓ−B^0 \to K^\ast(892)^0 \ell^+ \ell^-

We present a measurement of angular observables, $P_4'$, $P_5'$, $P_6'$, $P_8'$, in the decay $B^0 \to K^\ast(892)^0 \ell^+ \ell^-$, where $\ell^+\ell^-$ is either $e^+e^-$ or $\mu^+\mu^-$. The analysis is performed on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $711~\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ containing $772\times 10^{6}$ $B\bar B$ pairs, collected at the $\Upsilon(4S)$ resonance with the Belle detector at the asymmetric-energy $e^+e^-$ collider KEKB. Four angular observables, $P_{4,5,6,8}'$ are extracted in five bins of the invariant mass squared of the lepton system, $q^2$. We compare our results for $P_{4,5,6,8}'$ with Standard Model predictions including the $q^2$ region in which the LHCb collaboration reported the so-called $P_5'$ anomaly.Comment: Conference paper for LHC Ski 2016. SM prediction for $P_{6}'$ corrected and reference for arXiv:1207.2753 adde