On the equivalent width of the Fe Kα line produced by a dusty absorber in active galactic nuclei

Abstract

Obscured active galactic nuclei (AGNs) provide an opportunity to study thematerial surrounding the central engine. Geometric and physical constraints on the absorber can be deduced from the reprocessed AGN emission. In particular, the obscuring gas may reprocess the nuclear X-ray emission producing a narrow Fe Kα line and a Compton reflection hump. In recent years, models of the X-ray reflection from an obscuring torus have been computed; however, although the reflecting gas may be dusty, the models do not yet take into account the effects of dust on the predicted spectrum. We study this problem by analysing two sets of models, with and without the presence of dust, using the one-dimensional photoionization code CLOUDY. The calculations are performed for a range of column densities (22 < log[NH(cm-2)] < 24.5) and hydrogen densities (6 < log[nH(cm-3)] < 8). The calculations show the presence of dust can enhance the Fe Kα equivalent width (EW) in the reflected spectrum by factors up to ≈8 for Compton thick (CT) gas and a typical interstellar medium grain size distribution. The enhancement in EW with respect to the reflection continuum is due to the reduction in the reflected continuum intensity caused by the anisotropic scattering behaviour of dust grains. This effect will be most relevant for reflection from distant, predominately neutral gas, and is a possible explanation for AGNs which show a strong Fe Kα EW and a relatively weak reflection continuum. Our results show it is an important to take into account dust while modelling the X-ray reflection spectrum, and that inferring a CT column density from an observed Fe Kα EW may not always be valid. Multidimensional models are needed to fully explore the magnitude of the effect.