Bayesian analysis of reverberation mapping data

Abstract

Reverberation mapping is a powerful technique for studying the broad line regions (BLR) and themasses of the central black holes in distant active galactic nuclei (AGN). By monitoring the temporal variations of the continuum emission and the broad emission lines, it is possible to measure the size of the broad line region, and combining this with velocity information from the line widths yields an estimator for the black hole mass. However, this estimator depends on an unknown dimensionless proportionality constant called the virial coefficient. Recently, we have developed an alternative, direct approach to analyzing reverberation mapping data that infers details of the astrophysical situation from the data, bypassing the need for a virial coefficient and providing information about the physical configuration of the BLR. In this contribution I will outline the method and discuss how it differs from traditional reverberation mapping analysis. © Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013.