The narrow Fe K$α$ line and the molecular torus in active galactic nuclei - an IR/X-ray view

Claudio Ricci, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kohei Ichikawa, Stephane Paltani, Rozenn Boissay, Poshak Gandhi, Marko Stalevski, Hisamitsu Awaki

Published 2014-05-12, updated 2014-05-22Version 2

The narrow component of the iron K$\alpha$ is an almost ubiquitous feature in the X-ray spectra of active galactic nuclei (AGN) and is believed to originate in neutral material, possibly located in the molecular torus. This would imply a tight connection between the Fe K$\alpha$ equivalent width (EW) and the physical properties of the torus. In a recent work we have shown that the decrease of the covering factor of the torus with the luminosity, as expected by luminosity-dependent unification models, would be able to explain the decrease of Fe K$\alpha$ EW with the luminosity (i.e., the X-ray Baldwin effect). Recent developments in the study of the mid-IR (MIR) spectrum of AGN allow important parameters of the torus to be deduced, such as its covering factor ($f_{\rm\,obs}$) and equatorial column density ($N_{\rm\,H}^{\rm\,T}$), by applying clumpy torus models. Using XMM-Newton/EPIC observations of a sample of 24 type-I AGN, we investigate the relation between the physical parameters of the torus obtained by recent MIR works and the properties of the Fe K$\alpha$ line. We correct the values of the Fe K$\alpha$ EW by taking the inclination angle, the photon index, the equatorial column density, and half-opening angle of the torus into account using a physical torus model of X-ray reprocessed radiation. We find that the relation between Fe K$\alpha$ EW and $f_{\rm\,obs}$ shows a slope that is consistent with the expected value, albeit with a low statistical significance. A trend that is consistent with the theoretical prediction is also found when comparing the Fe K$\alpha$ EW to $N_{\rm\,H}^{\rm\,T}$. Our work seems to confirm that the bulk of the narrow Fe K$\alpha$ line is produced by the same material responsible for the MIR emission.