학술논문

Observable Signatures of Stellar-mass Black Holes in Active Galactic Nuclei
Document Type
article
Source
The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol 946, Iss 1, p L3 (2023)
Subject
Astrophysical black holes
Active galactic nuclei
Transient sources
Time domain astronomy
High energy astrophysics
Astrophysics
QB460-466
Language
English
ISSN
2041-8213
2041-8205
Abstract
Stellar-mass black holes (BHs) are predicted to be embedded in the disks of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) due to gravitational drag and in situ star formation. However, clear evidence for AGN disk-embedded BHs is currently lacking. Here, as possible electromagnetic signatures of these BHs, we investigate breakout emission from shocks emerging around Blandford–Znajek jets launched from accreting BHs in AGN disks. We assume that most of the highly super-Eddington flow reaches the BH and produces a strong jet, and the jet produces feedback that shuts off accretion and thus leads to episodic flaring. These assumptions, while poorly understood at present, yield observable consequences that can probe the presence of AGN-embedded BHs as well as the accretion process itself. They predict a breakout emission characterized by luminous thermal emission in the X-ray bands and bright broadband nonthermal emission from the infrared to the gamma-ray bands. The flare duration depends on the BH’s distance r from the central supermassive BH, varying between 10 ^3 –10 ^6 s for r ∼ 0.01–1 pc. This emission can be discovered by current and future infrared, optical, and X-ray wide-field surveys and monitoring campaigns of nearby AGNs.