Long term variability of the Broad Emission Line profiles in AGN

Results of a long-term monitoring ($\gtrsim 10$ years) of the broad line and continuum fluxes of three Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), 3C 390.3, NGC 4151, and NGC 5548, are presented. We analyze the H$\alpha$ and H$\beta$ profile variations during the monitoring period and study different details (as bumps, absorption bands) which can indicate structural changes in the Broad Line Region (BLR). The BLR dimensions are estimated using the time lags between the continuum and the broad lines flux variations. We find that in the case of 3C 390.3 and NGC 5548 a disk geometry can explain both the broad line profiles and their flux variations, while the BLR of NGC 4151 seems more complex and is probably composed of two or three kinematically different regions.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, New Astronomy Reviews (Proceeding of 7th SCSLSA), in pres

Electroweak Phase Transitions in left-right symmetric models

We study the finite-temperature effective potential of minimal left-right symmetric models containing a bidoublet and two triplets in the scalar sector. We perform a numerical analysis of the parameter space compatible with the requirement that baryon asymmetry is not washed out by sphaleron processes after the electroweak phase transition. We find that the spectrum of scalar particles for these acceptable cases is consistent with present experimental bounds.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures (included), some comments added, typos corrected and new references included. Final version to appear in PR

Wind-Blown Bubbles around Evolved Stars

Most stars will experience episodes of substantial mass loss at some point in their lives. For very massive stars, mass loss dominates their evolution, although the mass loss rates are not known exactly, particularly once the star has left the main sequence. Direct observations of the stellar winds of massive stars can give information on the current mass-loss rates, while studies of the ring nebulae and HI shells that surround many Wolf-Rayet (WR) and luminous blue variable (LBV) stars provide information on the previous mass-loss history. The evolution of the most massive stars, (M > 25 solar masses), essentially follows the sequence O star to LBV or red supergiant (RSG) to WR star to supernova. For stars of mass less than 25 solar masses there is no final WR stage. During the main sequence and WR stages, the mass loss takes the form of highly supersonic stellar winds, which blow bubbles in the interstellar and circumstellar medium. In this way, the mechanical luminosity of the stellar wind is converted into kinetic energy of the swept-up ambient material, which is important for the dynamics of the interstellar medium. In this review article, analytic and numerical models are used to describe the hydrodynamics and energetics of wind-blown bubbles. A brief review of observations of bubbles is given, and the degree to which theory is supported by observations is discussed.Comment: To be published as a chapter in 'Diffuse Matter from Star Forming Regions to Active Galaxies' - A volume Honouring John Dyson. Eds. T. W. Harquist, J. M. Pittard and S. A. E. G. Falle. 22 pages, 12 figure

Optical Monitoring of Seyfert Galaxies and Quasar Nuclei in 1998. I. Observations

The variations of emission-line profiles of NGC 4151, NGC 5548, 3C 390.3, Arp 102-B and E1821+643 in 1998 are being investigated

Steps Toward Determination of the Size and Structure of the Broad-Line Region in Active Galactic Nuclei. XIV. Intensive Optical Spectrophotometric Observations of NGC 7469

We present results of an intensive 2 month campaign of ground-based spectrophotometric monitoring of the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 7469, with a temporal resolution [approximately less than]1 day. The broad Hα and Hβ emission lines respond to ~35% ultraviolet continuum variations with an amplitude of ~10% and time delays of 5.6±1.3 days and 5.4±0.8 days, respectively. We interpret this as evidence of variable Balmer line gas ~5-6 light days from the central source in this object, widely believed to be a supermassive black hole. The virial mass of the central source implied by line widths and time delays is ~106-107 M◉ Concomitantly, we find evidence for wavelength-dependent continuum time delays : optical continuum variations lag those at 1315 Å by 1.0±0.3 days at 4865 Å to 1.5±0.7 days at 6962 Å. . This suggests a stratified continuum reprocessing region extending several light days from the central source, possibly an accretion disk

Spectral optical monitoring of a double-peaked emission line AGN Arp 102B.Variability of spectral lines and continuum

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