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X-ray reflection is a very powerful method to assess the spin of supermassiveblack holes (SMBHs) in active galactic nuclei (AGN), yet this technique is notuniversally accepted. Indeed, complex reprocessing (absorption, scattering) ofthe intrinsic spectra along the line of sight can mimic the relativisticeffects on which the spin measure is based. In this work, we test thereliability of SMBH spin measurements that can currently be achieved throughthe simulations of high-quality XMM-Newton and NuSTAR spectra. Each member ofour group simulated ten spectra with multiple components that are typicallyseen in AGN, such as warm and (partial-covering) neutral absorbers,relativistic and distant reflection, and thermal emission. The resultingspectra were blindly analysed by the other two members. Out of the 60 fits, 42turn out to be physically accurate when compared to the input model. The SMBHspin is retrieved with success in 31 cases, some of which (9) are even foundamong formally inaccurate fits (although with looser constraints). We showthat, at the high signal-to-noise ratio assumed in our simulations, neither thecomplexity of the multi-layer, partial-covering absorber nor the input value ofthe spin are the major drivers of our results. The height of the X-ray source(in a lamp-post geometry) instead plays a crucial role in recovering the spin.In particular, a success rate of 16 out of 16 is found among the accurate fitsfor a dimensionless spin parameter larger than 0.8 and a lamp-post height lowerthan five gravitational radii.

Testing the accuracy of reflection-based supermassive black hole spin measurements in AGN