Ensemble power spectral density of SDSS quasars in UV/optical bands

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dc.contributor.authorPetrecca, V.
dc.contributor.authorPapadakis, I. E.
dc.contributor.authorPaolillo, M.
dc.contributor.authorDe Cicco, D.
dc.contributor.authorBauer, F. E.
dc.date.accessioned2025-01-20T16:15:01Z
dc.date.available2025-01-20T16:15:01Z
dc.date.issued2024
dc.description.abstractContext. Quasar variability has proven to be a powerful tool to constrain the properties of their inner engine and the accretion process onto supermassive black holes. Correlations between UV/optical variability and physical properties have been long studied with a plethora of different approaches and time-domain surveys, although the detailed picture is not yet clear. Aims. We analysed archival data from the SDSS Stripe-82 region to study how the quasar power spectral density (PSD) depends on the black hole mass, bolometric luminosity, accretion rate, redshift, and rest-frame wavelength. We developed a model-independent analysis framework that could be easily applied to upcoming large surveys such as the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). Methods. We used light curves of 8042 spectroscopically confirmed quasars, observed in at least six yearly seasons in five filters ugriz. We split the sample into bins of similar physical properties containing at least 50 sources, and we measured the ensemble PSD in each of them. Results. We find that a simple power law is a good fit to the power spectra in the frequency range explored. Variability does not depend on the redshift at a fixed wavelength. Instead, both PSD amplitude and slope depend on the black hole mass, accretion rate, and rest-frame wavelength. We provide scaling relations to model the observed variability as a function of the physical properties, and discuss the possibility of a universal PSD shape for all quasars, where frequencies scale with the black hole mass, while normalization and slope(s) are fixed (at any given wavelength and accretion rate).
dc.fuente.origenWOS
dc.identifier.doi10.1051/0004-6361/202449161
dc.identifier.eissn1432-0746
dc.identifier.issn0004-6361
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202449161
dc.identifier.urihttps://repositorio.uc.cl/handle/11534/90473
dc.identifier.wosidWOS:001252009900004
dc.language.isoen
dc.revistaAstronomy & astrophysics
dc.rightsacceso restringido
dc.subjectaccretion, accretion disks
dc.subjectmethods: statistical
dc.subjectsurveys
dc.subjectgalaxies: active
dc.subjectquasars: general
dc.titleEnsemble power spectral density of SDSS quasars in UV/optical bands
dc.typeartículo
dc.volumen686
sipa.indexWOS
sipa.trazabilidadWOS;2025-01-12
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