Bibcode
DOI
Abajas, C.; Mediavilla, E.; Muñoz, J. A.; Gómez-Álvarez, P.; Gil-Merino, R.
Bibliographical reference
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 658, Issue 2, pp. 748-762.
Advertised on:
4
2007
Journal
Citations
33
Refereed citations
29
Description
The influence of microlensing on the profiles of emission lines
generated in a biconical geometry is discussed. Microlensing
amplification in this anisotropic model is not directly related to the
bicone's intrinsic size but, rather, depends on the orientation of the
bicone axis and on the cone aperture. The orientation of the projected
bicone with respect to the shear of the magnification pattern can induce
very interesting effects, such as quasi-periodic enhancements of the red
or blue part of the emission-line profile or a lack of correlation
between the broad-line region (BLR) and continuum light curve for QSOs.
The emission-line profiles of a BLR moving in a high caustic
concentration exhibit sharp features that are well defined in
wavelength. These features (spikes) correspond to a scanning of the
kinematics of the BLR by the caustic clusters. The biconical model can
qualitatively reproduce, with a transverse (with respect to the shear)
movement of the BLR, the recurrent blue-wing enhancement detected in the
emission-line profile of image A of the lensed quasar SDSS J1004+4112.
The probability of observing such a repetitive event is almost 2% for a
fraction of matter in stars of 5%. This result makes plausible the
detection of the spectral variability in SDSS J1004+4112 under the
hypothesis that it reflects the microlensing of a bicone.