Science with a small two-band UV-photometry mission III: Active Galactic Nuclei and nuclear transients

Abstract

In this review (the third in the series focused on a small two-band UV-photometry mission), we assess possibilities for a small UV two-band photometry mission in studying accreting supermassive black holes (SMBHs; mass range $\sim 10^6$-$10^{10}\,M_{\odot}$). We focus on the following observational concepts: (i) dedicated monitoring of selected type-I Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) in order to measure the time delay between the far-UV, the near-UV, and other wavebands (X-ray and optical), (ii) nuclear transients including (partial) tidal disruption events and repetitive nuclear transients, and (iii) the study of peculiar sources, such as changing-look AGN, hollows and gaps in accretion disks, low-luminosity AGN, and candidates for Intermediate-Mass Black Holes (IMBHs; mass range $\sim 10^2$-$10^5\,M_{\odot}$) in galactic nuclei. For tidal disruption events (TDEs), high-cadence UV monitoring is crucial for distinguishing among different scenarios for the origin of the UV emission. The small two-band UV space telescope will also provide the information about the near- and far-UV continuum variability for rare transients, such as repetitive partial TDEs and jetted TDEs. We also discuss the possibilities to study and analyze sources with non-standard accretion flows, such as AGN with gappy disks, low-luminosity active galactic nuclei with intermittent accretion, and SMBH binaries potentially involving intermediate-mass black holes.