Echo mapping of the black hole accretion flow in NGC 7469

Reverberation mapping (RM) can measure black hole accretion disc sizes and radial structure through observable light travel time lags that should increase with wavelength as τ ∝ λ^4/3 due to the disc’s T ∝ r^−3/4 temperature profile. Our 250-d RM campaign on NGC 7469 combines sub-day cadence 7-band photometry from the Las Cumbres Observatory robotic telescopes and weekly X-ray and UVOT data from Swift. By fitting these light curves, we measure the spectral energy distribution (SED) of the variable accretion disc, and inter-band lags of just 1.5 d across the UV to optical range. The disc SED is close to the expected f_ν ∝ ν^1/3, and the lags are consistent with τ ∝ λ^4/3, but three times larger than expected. We consider several possible modifications to standard disc assumptions. First, for a 9 × 10₆ M_☉ black hole and two possible spins a* = (0, 1), we fit the X-ray-ultraviolet (UV)-optical SED with a compact relativistic corona at height H_x ∼ (46, 27) R_g irradiating a flat disc with accretion rate ṁ_Edd ∼ (0.23, 0.24) inclined to the line of sight by i < 20°. To fit the lags as well as the SED, this model requires a low spin a* ≈ 0 and boosts disc colour temperatures by a factor f_col ≈ 1.8, which shifts reprocessed light to shorter wavelengths. Our Bowl model with f_col = 1 neglects relativity near the black hole, but fits the UV-optical lags and SEDs using a flat disc with ṁ_Edd < 0.06 and a steep outer rim at R_out/c ∼ 5 − 10 d with H/R < 1 per cent. This rim occurs near the 10³K dust sublimation temperature in the disc atmosphere, supporting models that invoke dust opacity to thicken the disc and launch failed radiatively driven dusty outflows at the inner edge of the broad line region (BLR). Finally, the disc lags and SEDs exhibit a significant excess in the u and r bands, suggesting Balmer continuum and Hα emission, respectively, from the BLR.