Examining molecular clouds in the Galactic Centre region using X-ray reflection spectra simulations

In the centre of our Galaxy lies a supermassive black hole, identified with the radio source Sagittarius A^⋆. This black hole has an estimated mass of around 4 million solar masses. Although Sagittarius A^⋆ is quite dim in terms of total radiated energy, having a luminosity that is a factor of 10¹⁰ lower than its Eddington luminosity, there is now compelling evidence that this source was far brighter in the past. Evidence derived from the detection of reflected X-ray emission from the giant molecular clouds in the Galactic Centre region. However, the interpretation of the reflected emission spectra cannot be done correctly without detailed modelling of the reflection process. Attempts to do so can lead to an incorrect interpretation of the data. In this paper, we present the results of a Monte Carlo simulation code we developed in order to fully model the complex processes involved in the emerging reflection spectra. The simulated spectra can be compared to real data in order to derive model parameters and constrain the past activity of the black hole. In particular, we apply our code to observations of Sagittarius B2, in order to constrain the position and density of the cloud and the incident luminosity of the central source. The results of the code have been adapted to be used in XSPEC by a large community of astronomers.