We have collected a sample of 70 BL Lacs (33 radio-selected BL Lacs and 37 X-ray selected BL Lacs) with multi-waveband data for investigating the classifying criteria of BL Lacertae Objects. For each source, we esti...We have collected a sample of 70 BL Lacs (33 radio-selected BL Lacs and 37 X-ray selected BL Lacs) with multi-waveband data for investigating the classifying criteria of BL Lacertae Objects. For each source, we estimate its luminosities in radio, optical and X-ray, the broad-band spectral index from radio to X-ray and the peak frequency of the synchrotron emission, and make a statistical analysis of the data obtained. Our main results are as follows: (1) The broad-band spectral index and the peak frequency have no correlation with the redshift, while they are inversely correlated with each other and they could be regarded as equivalent classifying criteria of BL Lac objects. (2) There are significant effects of the luminosity/redshift relation on the observed luminosity distribution in our sample, hence, if the radio luminosity is to be used as a classifying criterion of BL Lac objects, it should not be regarded as equivalent to the broad-band spectral index or the peak frequency. (3) Our resuits supply a specific piece of evidence for the suggestion that the use of luminosities always introduces a redshift bias to the data and show that the location of the peak frequency is not always linked to the luminosity of any wave band.展开更多
Black hole mass is one of the fundamental physical parameters of active galactic nuclei (AGNs), for which many methods of estimation have been proposed. One set of methods assumes that the broad-line region (BLR) ...Black hole mass is one of the fundamental physical parameters of active galactic nuclei (AGNs), for which many methods of estimation have been proposed. One set of methods assumes that the broad-line region (BLR) is gravitationally bound by the central black hole potential, so the black hole mass can be estimated from the orbital radius and the Doppler velocity. Another set of methods assumes the observed variability timescale is determined by the orbital timescale near the innermost stable orbit around the Schwarzschild black hole or the Kerr black hole, or by the characteristic timescale of the accretion disk. We collect a sample of 21 AGNs, for which the minimum variability timescales have been obtained and their black hole masses (Mσ) have been well estimated from the stellar velocity dispersion or the BLR size-luminosity relation. Using the minimum variability timescales we estimated the black hole masses for 21 objects by the three different methods, the results are denoted by Ms, Mk and Md,respectively. We compared each of them with Mσ individually and found that: (1) using the minimum variability timescale with the Kerr black hole theory leads to small differences between Mσ and Mk, none exceeding one order of magnitude, and the mean difference between them is about 0.53 dex; (2) using the minimum variability timescale with the Schwarzschild black hole theory leads to somewhat larger difference between Mσ and Ms: larger than one order of magnitude for 6 of the 21 sources, and the mean difference is 0.74 dex; (3) using the minimum variability timescale with the accretion disk theory leads to much larger differences between Mσ and Md, for 13 of the 21 sources the differences are larger than two orders of magnitude; and the mean difference is as high as about 2.01 dex.展开更多
We compiled the radio, optical and X-ray data of blazars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey database, and presented the distribution of luminosities and broadband spectral indices. The distribution of luminosities show...We compiled the radio, optical and X-ray data of blazars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey database, and presented the distribution of luminosities and broadband spectral indices. The distribution of luminosities shows that the averaged luminosity of flat spectrum radio quasars(FSRQs) is larger than that of BL Lacertae(BL Lac) objects. On the other hand, the broadband spectral energy distribution reveals that FSRQs and low energy peaked BL Lac objects have similar spectral properties,but high energy peaked BL Lac objects have a distinct spectral property. This may be due to the fact that different subclasses of blazars have different intrinsic environments and are at different cooling levels. Even so, a unified scheme is also revealed from the color-color diagram, which hints that there are similar physical processes operating in all objects under a range of intrinsic physical conditions or beaming parameters.展开更多
Using a large sample of blazars of the Fermi observations presented by Abdo et al., we constructed a sample of blazars including high energy peaked BL Lac objects (HBLs), low energy peaked BL Lac objects (LBLs) an...Using a large sample of blazars of the Fermi observations presented by Abdo et al., we constructed a sample of blazars including high energy peaked BL Lac objects (HBLs), low energy peaked BL Lac objects (LBLs) and flat-spectral ra- dio quasars (FSRQs). These unique characteristics make it possible to unambiguously address the question of how HBLs, LBLs and FSRQs are related. In this paper, we investigated the relationship between X-ray and 7-ray spectral indices (~^-aT), as well as the relationship between the broadband spectral indices (~ro--ar~, ~ro--~ox, OZro--O^x7 and ~r^-~xT) for this sample. The color-color diagram shows that there is a significant correlation between both quantities when all three subclasses of blazars are considered, which suggests that there is a unified scheme for blazars. On the other hand, the a^-~7 diagram reveals that three kinds of blazars have different spectral energy distributions: the trend of HBLs is different from that of FSRQs and LBLs, whereas FSRQs and LBLs have a similar trend, which hints that FSRQs and LBLs have similar spectral properties, but HBLs have distinct spectral properties. In addi- tion, the broadband energy distributions also reveal the similar spectral properties with that of the Cx-C7 diagram. The spectral properties revealed from the Fermi sample do not support the blazar sequence reported by Fossati et al. and Ghisellini et al.展开更多
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China
文摘We have collected a sample of 70 BL Lacs (33 radio-selected BL Lacs and 37 X-ray selected BL Lacs) with multi-waveband data for investigating the classifying criteria of BL Lacertae Objects. For each source, we estimate its luminosities in radio, optical and X-ray, the broad-band spectral index from radio to X-ray and the peak frequency of the synchrotron emission, and make a statistical analysis of the data obtained. Our main results are as follows: (1) The broad-band spectral index and the peak frequency have no correlation with the redshift, while they are inversely correlated with each other and they could be regarded as equivalent classifying criteria of BL Lac objects. (2) There are significant effects of the luminosity/redshift relation on the observed luminosity distribution in our sample, hence, if the radio luminosity is to be used as a classifying criterion of BL Lac objects, it should not be regarded as equivalent to the broad-band spectral index or the peak frequency. (3) Our resuits supply a specific piece of evidence for the suggestion that the use of luminosities always introduces a redshift bias to the data and show that the location of the peak frequency is not always linked to the luminosity of any wave band.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
文摘Black hole mass is one of the fundamental physical parameters of active galactic nuclei (AGNs), for which many methods of estimation have been proposed. One set of methods assumes that the broad-line region (BLR) is gravitationally bound by the central black hole potential, so the black hole mass can be estimated from the orbital radius and the Doppler velocity. Another set of methods assumes the observed variability timescale is determined by the orbital timescale near the innermost stable orbit around the Schwarzschild black hole or the Kerr black hole, or by the characteristic timescale of the accretion disk. We collect a sample of 21 AGNs, for which the minimum variability timescales have been obtained and their black hole masses (Mσ) have been well estimated from the stellar velocity dispersion or the BLR size-luminosity relation. Using the minimum variability timescales we estimated the black hole masses for 21 objects by the three different methods, the results are denoted by Ms, Mk and Md,respectively. We compared each of them with Mσ individually and found that: (1) using the minimum variability timescale with the Kerr black hole theory leads to small differences between Mσ and Mk, none exceeding one order of magnitude, and the mean difference between them is about 0.53 dex; (2) using the minimum variability timescale with the Schwarzschild black hole theory leads to somewhat larger difference between Mσ and Ms: larger than one order of magnitude for 6 of the 21 sources, and the mean difference is 0.74 dex; (3) using the minimum variability timescale with the accretion disk theory leads to much larger differences between Mσ and Md, for 13 of the 21 sources the differences are larger than two orders of magnitude; and the mean difference is as high as about 2.01 dex.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China
文摘We compiled the radio, optical and X-ray data of blazars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey database, and presented the distribution of luminosities and broadband spectral indices. The distribution of luminosities shows that the averaged luminosity of flat spectrum radio quasars(FSRQs) is larger than that of BL Lacertae(BL Lac) objects. On the other hand, the broadband spectral energy distribution reveals that FSRQs and low energy peaked BL Lac objects have similar spectral properties,but high energy peaked BL Lac objects have a distinct spectral property. This may be due to the fact that different subclasses of blazars have different intrinsic environments and are at different cooling levels. Even so, a unified scheme is also revealed from the color-color diagram, which hints that there are similar physical processes operating in all objects under a range of intrinsic physical conditions or beaming parameters.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No. 10878013)the Natural Science Foundation of Yunnan Province (2007A230M,2011FZ081)the Program for Innovative Research Team (in Scienceand Technology) in University of Yunnan Province (IRTSTYN)
文摘Using a large sample of blazars of the Fermi observations presented by Abdo et al., we constructed a sample of blazars including high energy peaked BL Lac objects (HBLs), low energy peaked BL Lac objects (LBLs) and flat-spectral ra- dio quasars (FSRQs). These unique characteristics make it possible to unambiguously address the question of how HBLs, LBLs and FSRQs are related. In this paper, we investigated the relationship between X-ray and 7-ray spectral indices (~^-aT), as well as the relationship between the broadband spectral indices (~ro--ar~, ~ro--~ox, OZro--O^x7 and ~r^-~xT) for this sample. The color-color diagram shows that there is a significant correlation between both quantities when all three subclasses of blazars are considered, which suggests that there is a unified scheme for blazars. On the other hand, the a^-~7 diagram reveals that three kinds of blazars have different spectral energy distributions: the trend of HBLs is different from that of FSRQs and LBLs, whereas FSRQs and LBLs have a similar trend, which hints that FSRQs and LBLs have similar spectral properties, but HBLs have distinct spectral properties. In addi- tion, the broadband energy distributions also reveal the similar spectral properties with that of the Cx-C7 diagram. The spectral properties revealed from the Fermi sample do not support the blazar sequence reported by Fossati et al. and Ghisellini et al.