Kavli Affiliate: Claudio Ricci
| First 5 Authors: Lulu Zhang, Lulu Zhang, , ,
| Summary:
With excellent spectral and angular resolutions and, especially, sensitivity,
the JWST allows us to observe infrared emission lines that were previously
inaccessible or barely accessible. These emission lines are promising for
evaluating the physical conditions in different galaxies. Based on sc
MAPPINGS V photoionization models, we systematically analyze the dependence of
over 20 mid-infrared (mid-IR) emission lines covered by the Mid-Infrared
Instrument (MIRI) onboard JWST on the physical conditions of different galactic
environments, in particular narrow line regions (NLRs) in active galactic
nuclei (AGN). We find that mid-IR emission lines of highly ionized argon (i.e.,
[Ar~small V]7.90,13.10) and neon (i.e., [Ne~small V]14.32,24.32,
[Ne~small VI]7.65) are effective in diagnosing the physical conditions in
AGN. We accordingly propose new prescriptions to constrain the ionization
parameter ($U$), peak energy of the AGN spectrum ($E_rm peak$), metallicity
($rm 12+log (O/H)$), and gas pressure ($P/k$) in AGN. These new calibrations
are applied to the central regions of six Seyfert galaxies included in the
Galaxy Activity, Torus, and Outflow Survey (GATOS) as a proof of concept. We
also discuss the similarity and difference in the calibrations of these
diagnostics in AGN of different luminosities, highlighting the impact of hard
X-ray emission and particularly radiative shocks, as well as the different
diagnostics in star-forming regions. Finally, we propose diagnostic diagrams
involving [Ar~small V]7.90 and [Ne~small VI]7.65 to demonstrate the
feasibility of using the results of this study to distinguish galactic regions
governed by different excitation sources.
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