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A Suzaku survey of iron lines in type 1 Active Galactic Nuclei

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Abstract

Active galactic nuclei (AGN) are some of the most energetic objects which have ever been observed and each of these harbour a supermassive black hole at its centre. By looking at the X-ray emission from these nuclei, information can be gathered regarding their inner workings. Emission from regions which are very close to the central black hole can be subject to strong relativistic effects and the examination of this emission
can lead to the placing of estimates upon the rate at which the black hole is spinning.
Within this thesis, I make an analysis of all Seyfert 1 observations which have been observed with Suzaku to date, although using selection criteria such that broad features in the FeK region can be observed if they are indeed present. Models are constructed of the time-averaged broadband spectra over 0.6-60.0 keV, which accurately describe these complex AGN and allow the measurement of the impact relativistic effects have
upon the X-ray spectrum. There are a total of 46 different objects and 84 observations used within this analysis.
By conducting a full broadband analysis of these AGN, supermassive black hole spin constraints are placed upon 11 objects, 7 of which are unique to this analysis with
the remaining 4 either confirming or improving upon previous analyses. In general, it is found that 50% of the objects in this sample show evidence for emission from the inner regions of the nucleus although none of the AGN require a maximally spinning black hole, which is in contrast to the results in alternative analyses. The data within this thesis are best described with emission originating from no further in than a few tens of Rg.

Citation

(2013). A Suzaku survey of iron lines in type 1 Active Galactic Nuclei

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