Bibcode
DOI
Popović, L. Č.; Jovanović, P.; Mediavilla, E.; Zakharov, A. F.; Abajas, C.; Muñoz, J. A.; Chartas, G.
Bibliographical reference
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 637, Issue 2, pp. 620-630.
Advertised on:
2
2006
Journal
Citations
51
Refereed citations
44
Description
The observed enhancement of the Fe Kα line in three
gravitationally lensed QSOs (MG J0414+0534, QSO 2237+0305, and
H1413+117) is interpreted in terms of microlensing, even when equivalent
X-ray continuum amplification is not observed. In order to interpret
these observations, first we studied the effects of microlensing on
quasar spectra produced by a straight fold caustic crossing over a
standard relativistic accretion disk. The disk emission was analyzed
using the ray-tracing method, considering Schwarzschild and Kerr
metrics. When the emission is separated into two regions (an inner disk
corresponding to the Fe Kα line and an outer annulus corresponding
to the continuum, or vice versa), we find microlensing events that
enhance the Fe Kα line without noticeable amplification of the
X-ray continuum, but only during a limited time interval. Continuum
amplification is expected if a complete microlensing event is monitored.
Second, we studied a more realistic case of amplification by a caustic
magnification pattern. In this case we could satisfactorily explain the
observations if the Fe Kα line is emitted from the innermost part
of the accretion disk while the continuum is emitted from a larger
region. We also studied the chromatic effects of microlensing, finding
that the radial distribution of temperature in the accretion disk,
combined with microlensing itself, can induce wavelength-dependent
variability of ~30% for microlenses with very small masses. All these
results show that X-ray monitoring of gravitational lenses is a method
well suited for studying the innermost structure of active galactic
nucleus accretion disks.