The ongoing hunt for supermassive black hole binaries Jessie Runnoe - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Farris et al. (2014) The ongoing hunt for supermassive black hole binaries Jessie Runnoe Black Holes in Dense Star Clusters � January 17-22, 2015 - Aspen Center For Physics Collaborators: Gavin Mathes, Michael Eracleous, Todd Boroson, � Jules Halpern, Steinn Sigur ð sson, Tamara Bogdanovi ć , Alison Pennell

The hypothesis: two black holes in a disk Cuadra et al. (2009)

The hypothesis: two black holes in a disk 250 200 f � [10 � 17 erg s � 1 cm � 2 Å � 1 ] 150 100 u 2 = 50 4600 4700 4800 4900 5000 5100 5200 Cuadra et al. (2009) Rest Wavelength [ Å ]

The binary candidates Eracleous et al. (2012) Relative f λ • 88 Type I active galactic nuclei � • 0.1 < z < 0.7 Velocity (km s -1 )

Project outline • Continue spectroscopic monitoring observations � � Measure velocity variations � � Check for monotonic velocity changes � • Compare spectral variability properties to regular quasars � � Ensemble flux variability � � Profile variability � • Optical imaging � � Look for galaxy interactions. � • Radio imaging � • Simulations of the population of binary properties � • Spectroscopic test for perturbed accretion disks � � Involves comparison of Balmer and Lyman profiles

Project outline • Continue spectroscopic monitoring observations � � Measure velocity variations � � Check for monotonic velocity changes � • Compare spectral variability properties to regular quasars � � Ensemble flux variability � � Profile variability � • Optical imaging � � Look for galaxy interactions. � • Radio imaging � • Simulations of the population of binary properties � • Spectroscopic test for perturbed accretion disks � � Involves comparison of Balmer and Lyman profiles

MDM MDM 085 APO APO Spectroscopic KPNO KPNO 080 Palomar Palomar HET HET 075 monitoring campaign 070 065 060 • Multiple follow-up observations 
 055 BBH object number Dec 2009 - Sep 2014 � 050 045 � MDM 2.4m Hiltner � 040 035 � APO ARC 3.5m � 030 025 � KPNO 4m Mayall � 020 015 � Palomar 5m Hale � 010 005 � 9.2m Hobby-Eberly 000 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 Observed � frame time interval [years]

Shifts via cross-correlation analysis

The radial velocity curve J125809 BBH044 � 2000 2000 H β radial velocity [km s -1 ] 1000 1000 0 0 � 1000 -1000 � 2000 -2000 � 3000 -3000 0 5 10 15 0 5 10 15 Rest-frame time [years] � �

J115158 BBH011 � radial velocity [km s � ] Radial velocity results 2000 1000 • Eracleous et al. (2012) 0 • Mathes et al. (2014 AAS) � 1000 • New spectra H β radial velocity [km s -1 ] � 2000 � 3000 0 5 10 15 J113706 BBH023 J001224 BBH026 J161911 BBH028 � � � 2000 � 2000 2000 1000 1000 1000 0 0 0 � 1000 � 1000 � 1000 � 2000 � 2000 � 2000 � 3000 � 3000 � 3000 J123001 BBH075 J095539 0 5 10 BBH033 15 J162914 0 5 10 BBH044 15 0 5 10 15 H � radial velocity [km s � ] � � � � � 2000 2000 2000 � � � 1000 1000 1000 0 0 0 � 1000 � 1000 � 1000 � 2000 � 2000 � 2000 � 3000 � 3000 � 3000 0 5 10 15 0 5 10 15 0 5 10 15 � � Rest � frame time [years] Rest � frame time [years] Rest � frame time [years] Rest-frame time [years]

A comparison sample of regular quasars 20 25 Binary candidates Binary candidates 15 20 15 10 Number of objects 10 Number of objects 5 5 0 0 Comparison sample Comparison sample 60 30 40 20 20 10 0 0 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 43.0 43.5 44.0 44.5 45.0 log( � L � 5100 Å ) [erg s � 1 ] Redshift • 211 Type I active galactic nuclei � • multiple epochs of spectroscopy in SDSS

H β flux variability Binary candidates 1.0 SDSS H � SF IQR [mag] quasars 0.1 10 100 1000 Rest � frame time lag [days]

Characterizing profile variability Compare spectra from How well does a line fit two epochs. the ratio spectrum? χ /nu 2 =0.03, no profile χ 2 =13.7, profile varied variability 8 10 f � [10 � 17 erg s � 1 cm � 2 Å � 1 ] f � [10 � 17 erg s � 1 cm � 2 Å � 1 ] 6 8 6 4 4 2 2 0 0 � 2 � 2 2.0 2.0 1.5 Flux ratio 1.5 Flux ratio 1.0 1.0 0.5 0.5 0.0 0.0 4600 4700 4800 4900 5000 5100 5200 4600 4700 4800 4900 5000 5100 5200 Rest Wavelength [ Å ] Rest Wavelength [ Å ]

Profile variability results Binary candidates 60 40 Number of objects 20 0 Comparison sample 300 200 100 0 0 5 10 15 20 Reduced � 2

Up next: a look at the host galaxies J113651.66+445016.4 J143123.52+392501.4

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