The polyhedral nature of LINERs: An XMM-Newton view of LINERs in radio galaxies

Aims: We investigate the origin of X-rays and the nature of accretion flow in 4 LINERs hosted by radio galaxies, namely NGC1692, PKS0625-35, 3C88, 3C444, recently observed with XMM. Methods: We combine the results from the time-averaged spectral analysis with model-independent information from X-ray temporal and spectral variability analyses, and with additional broadband information (UV and radio). Results: The values of the Eddington ratios of our sample span 2 orders of magnitude. The 4 AGN are adequately fitted by the same continuum model that comprises at least one thermal component and a partially absorbed power law, whose relative contribution and photon index vary substantially from source to source. NGC1692 and PKS0625-35 have fairly steep power-law components, perhaps indicative of synchrotron emission from a jet. Conversely, the flat photon index derived for 3C88 may be indicative of a heavily absorbed object. Finally, the time-averaged spectral properties of 3C444 (Gamma~1.9 and an apparent line-like excess around 6.7 keV) are more in line with Seyfert galaxies. The temporal analysis reveals that PKS0625-35 and 3C88 are significantly variable in the soft energy band. PKS0625-35 also shows suggestive evidence of spectral variability on timescales of months. The main findings from the broadband analysis can be summarized as follows: 1) 3C444, PKS0625-35, and NGC1692 have alpha_OX values consistent with the well known alpha_OX -l_UV correlation. 2) No positive correlation is found between L_X and the inclination angle, suggesting that the X-ray emission is not beamed. 3) The values of the radio-loudness are inversely proportional to the Eddington ratio and locate our objects in between the ``radio-loud'' and ``radio-quiet'' branches in the R- l_UV plane.