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Flagging super-Eddington candidates among gamma-ray-emitting AGN
1  National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), Astronomical Observatory of Padua, Padua, Italy
2  Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia (CSIC), Glorieta de la Astronomía s/n, ES18008 Granada, Spain
Academic Editor: Nicolas Chamel

Abstract:

The quasar Eigenvector-1/Main Sequence (E1/MS) is a practical roadmap that organizes AGN spectral diversity by accretion state, letting us compare objects in a common, physically motivated trend. Past applications of the E1/MS sequence made it possible to identify the effects of intrinsic viewing angle, black hole mass, and luminosity. We propose an E1/MS-driven framework to clarify the accretion status of gamma-ray-emitting AGN with an emphasis on radio-loud narrow-line Seyfert 1s (NLSy1s) and Population A sources. We argue that the E1/MS context is ideal for flagging super-Eddington candidates among radio-loud NLSy1s and other Population A sources that also host relativistic jets. An optimal strategy would be to place gamma-ray AGN on E1 using optical/UV spectroscopy, to derive disk-based bolometric luminosities from line or IR reprocessing (or jet-quiet SED states), and to correct single-epoch black hole masses for orientation and radiation pressure biases. This strategy should identify super-Eddington candidates and reflect a physical link between accretion state and gamma-ray efficiency: dense broad-line region/torus photon fields in high-Eddington-ratio systems should boost the external Compton emission, whereas mass loading and radiative drag shape moderate bulk Lorentz factors in gamma-ray emitters observed with VLBI. We apply the method based on the E1/MS criteria to targets for which high-S/N optical and UV spectra as well as multi-frequency coverage are available.

Keywords: AGN; accretion (super-Eddington); gamma-rays; black hole physics

 
 
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