A Nearly Constant Compton y-parameter for Mildly Relativistic Slab Coronae in AGN

Abstract

The thermal state of active galactic nucleus (AGN) coronae is commonly characterized by the electron temperature $kT_{\rm e}$, the Thomson optical depth $\tau$, and the geometry of the Comptonizing medium. We compile a literature sample of Seyfert galaxies with broadband X-ray constraints obtained under slab geometry and with directly reported $kT_{\rm e}$ and $\tau$. To interpret these data, we develop a Monte Carlo radiative transfer calculation for bottom-illuminated slab coronae and show that the appropriate effective Compton parameter for slab geometry is $y=(4\theta+16\theta^2)\tau$, where $\theta = kT_{\rm e}/m_{\rm e}c^2$. We find that the cleaned AGN sample lies along a narrow anti-correlated ridge in the $kT_{\rm e}-\tau$ plane, corresponding to a nearly constant $y$ with mean $\langle y \rangle=0.414$ and logarithmic dispersion of only 0.10 dex. Radiative-equilibrium boundaries computed for slab disk-corona systems further show that reproducing this ridge requires a predominantly coronal dissipation fraction $f$. We therefore suggest that luminous AGN slab coronae occupy a stable Comptonization branch broadly governed by slab radiative balance, and that the observed $kT_{\rm e}-\tau$ locus provides a new constraint on how accretion power is partitioned between the disk and the corona.