Reverberation Mapping of Two Luminous Quasars: The Broad-line Region Structure and Black Hole Mass

We report the results of a multiyear spectroscopic and photometric monitoring campaign of two luminous quasars, PG 0923+201 and PG 1001+291, both located at the high-luminosity end of the broad-line region (BLR) size-luminosity relation with optical luminosities above 10<SUP>45</SUP> erg s<SUP>-1</SUP>. PG 0923+201 is monitored for the first time, while PG 1001+291 was previously monitored but our campaign has a much longer temporal baseline. We detect time lags of variations of the broad Hβ, Hγ, and Fe II lines with respect to those of the 5100 Å continuum. The velocity-resolved delay map of Hβ in PG 0923+201 indicates a complicated structure with a mix of Keplerian disk-like motion and outflow, and the map of Hβ in PG 1001+291 shows a signature of Keplerian disk-like motion. Assuming a virial factor of f<SUB>BLR</SUB> = 1 and FWHM line widths, we measure the black hole mass to be ${118}_{-16}^{+11}\times {10}^{7}{M}_{\odot }$ for PG 0923+201 and ${3.33}_{-0.54}^{+0.62}\times {10}^{7}{M}_{\odot }$ for PG 1001+291. Their respective accretion rates are estimated to be ${0.21}_{-0.07}^{+0.06}\times {L}_{\mathrm{Edd}}\,{c}^{-2}$ and ${679}_{-227}^{+259}\times {L}_{\mathrm{Edd}}\,{c}^{-2}$ , indicating that PG 0923+201 is a sub-Eddington accretor and PG 1001+291 is a super-Eddington accretor. While the Hβ time lag of PG 0923+201 agrees with the size-luminosity relation, the time lag of PG 1001+291 shows a significant deviation, confirming that in high-luminosity active galactic nuclei (AGNs), the BLR size depends on both luminosity and Eddington ratio. Black hole mass estimates from single-AGN spectra will be overestimated at high luminosities and redshifts if this effect is not taken into account.