X-ray Reverberation Mapping of Ark 564 using Gaussian Process Regression [HEAP]

http://arxiv.org/abs/2210.01810


Ark 564 is an extreme high-Eddington Narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy, known for being one of the brightest, most rapidly variable soft X-ray AGN, and for having one of the lowest temperature coronae. Here we present a 410-ks NuSTAR observation and two 115-ks XMM-Newton observations of this unique source, which reveal a very strong, relativistically broadened iron line. We compute the Fourier-resolved time lags by first using Gaussian processes to interpolate the NuSTAR gaps, implementing the first employment of multi-task learning for application in AGN timing. By fitting simultaneously the time lags and the flux spectra with the relativistic reverberation model RELTRANS, we constrain the mass at $2.3^{+2.6}{-1.3} \times 10^6M\odot$, although additional components are required to describe the prominent soft excess in this source. These results motivate future combinations of machine learning, Fourier-resolved timing, and the development of reverberation models.

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C. Lewin, E. Kara, D. Wilkins, et. al.
Thu, 6 Oct 22
3/77

Comments: 19 pages, 9 figures. Accepted for publication in The Astrophysics Journal