dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaRuling Out Compact Jets as the Dominant Source of Radio Emission in Radio-quiet, High Eddington-ratio Active Galactic Nuclei
| Authors | Jeremiah D. Paul, Richard M. Plotkin |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | 2601.06480vv1 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.06480 |
| License | http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/ |
Abstract
The origin of core radio emission in radio-quiet active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is still actively debated. General relativistic magnetohydrodynamics simulations often predict the launching of moderately large-scale jets from super-Eddington accretion flows, but this prediction seems at odds with observations indicating most high/super-Eddington AGNs appear radio quiet. Here, we use the ratio of radio to X-ray luminosities as a multiwavelength diagnostic to probe the origin of radio emission in a sample of 69 radio-quiet, high/super-Eddington AGNs with black-hole masses $M_{\rm BH} \sim 10^{5}-10^{9}~M_\odot$. With this wide dynamic range in $M_{\rm BH}$, we adapt existing formalisms for how jetted radio emission and accretion-powered X-ray emission scale with black hole mass into the super-Eddington regime. We find that the radio/X-ray luminosity ratios observed across this $M_{\rm BH}$ range are inconsistent with a jet-dominated model for radio emission. We discuss how our results may instead be consistent with a corona-dominated radio emission origin with a contribution from outflows at higher accretion rates.
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"abstract": "The origin of core radio emission in radio-quiet active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is still actively debated. General relativistic magnetohydrodynamics simulations often predict the launching of moderately large-scale jets from super-Eddington accretion flows, but this prediction seems at odds with observations indicating most high/super-Eddington AGNs appear radio quiet. Here, we use the ratio of radio to X-ray luminosities as a multiwavelength diagnostic to probe the origin of radio emission in a sample of 69 radio-quiet, high/super-Eddington AGNs with black-hole masses $M_{\\rm BH} \\sim 10^{5}-10^{9}~M_\\odot$. With this wide dynamic range in $M_{\\rm BH}$, we adapt existing formalisms for how jetted radio emission and accretion-powered X-ray emission scale with black hole mass into the super-Eddington regime. We find that the radio/X-ray luminosity ratios observed across this $M_{\\rm BH}$ range are inconsistent with a jet-dominated model for radio emission. We discuss how our results may instead be consistent with a corona-dominated radio emission origin with a contribution from outflows at higher accretion rates.",
"arxiv_id": "2601.06480",
"authors": [
"Jeremiah D. Paul",
"Richard M. Plotkin"
],
"categories": [
"astro-ph.HE",
"astro-ph.GA"
],
"license": "http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/",
"title": "Ruling Out Compact Jets as the Dominant Source of Radio Emission in Radio-quiet, High Eddington-ratio Active Galactic Nuclei",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.06480",
"version": "v1"
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