899 research outputs found
The role of advection in the accreting corona model for active galactic nuclei and Galactic black holes
We consider the role of advection in the two-temperature accreting corona
with an underlying optically thick disc. The properties of coronal solutions
depend significantly on the description of advection. Local parameterization of
advection by a constant coeficient replacing the radial derivatives
lead to complex topology of solutions, similar to some extent to other
advection-dominated accretion flow solutions. One, radiatively cooled branch
exists for low accertion rates. For higher accretion rates two solutions exist
in a broad range of radii: one is radiatively cooled and the other one is
advection-dominated. With further increase of accretion rate the radial
extensions of the two solutions shrink and no solutions are found above certain
critical value. However, these trends change if the local parameterization of
advection is replaced by proper radial derivatives computed iteratively from
the model. Only one, radiatively cooled solution remains, and it exists even
for high accretion rates. The advection-dominated branch disappears during the
iteration process which means that a self-consistently described
advection-dominated flow cannot exist in the presence of an underlying cold
disc.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, accepted to MNRA
Vertical Structure of Accretion Discs with Hot Coronae in AGN
We study vertical structure of radiation pressure dominated disc with a hot
corona. We include all the relevant processes like bound--free opacity and
convection. We show that the presence of the corona modifies considerably the
density and the opacity of the disc surface layers which are important from the
point of view of spectrum formation. The surface of the disc with a corona is
much denser and less ionized than the surface of a bare disc. Such a disc is
likely to produce a neutral reflection and a local spectrum close to a black
body. This effect will help to reconcile the predictions of accretion disc
models with the observational data since a neutral reflection and a lack of
Lyman edge are generally seen in AGN.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, submitted to MNRA
The intermediate line region in active galactic nuclei
We show that the recently observed suppression of the gap between the broad
line region (BLR) and the narrow line region (NLR) in some AGN can be fully
explained by an increase of the gas density in the emitting region. Our model
predicts the formation of the intermediate line region (ILR) that is observed
in some Seyfert galaxies by the detection of emission lines with intermediate
velocity full width half maximum (FWHM) 700 - 1200 km s. These
lines are believed to be originating from an ILR located somewhere between the
BLR and NLR. As it was previously proved, the apparent gap is assumed to be
caused by the presence of dust beyond the sublimation radius. Our computations
with the use of {\sc cloudy} photoionization code, show that the differences in
the shape of spectral energy distribution (SED) from the central region of AGN,
do not diminish the apparent gap in the line emission in those objects. A
strong discontinuity in the line emission vs radius exists for all lines at the
dust sublimation radius. However, increasing the gas density to
10 cm at the sublimation radius provides the continuous line
emission vs radius and fully explains the recently observed lack of apparent
gap in some AGN. We show that such a high density is consistent with the
density of upper layers of an accretion disk atmosphere. Therefore, the upper
layers of the disk atmosphere can give rise to the formation of observed
emission line clouds.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Intermediate-line Emission in AGNs: The Effect of Prescription of the Gas Density
The requirement of intermediate line component in the recently observed
spectra of several AGNs points to possibility of the existence of a physically
separate region between broad line region (BLR) and narrow line region (NLR).
In this paper we explore the emission from intermediate line region (ILR) by
using the photoionization simulations of the gas clouds distributed radially
from the AGN center. The gas clouds span distances typical for BLR, ILR and
NLR, and the appearance of dust at the sublimation radius is fully taken into
account in our model. Single cloud structure is calculated under the assumption
of the constant pressure. We show that the slope of the power law cloud density
radial profile does not affect the existence of ILR in major types of AGN. We
found that the low ionization iron line, Fe~II, appears to be highly sensitive
for the presence of dust and therefore becomes potential tracer of dust content
in line emitting regions. We show that the use of disk-like cloud density
profile computed at the upper part of the accretion disc atmosphere reproduces
the observed properties of the line emissivities. In particular, the distance
of H line inferred from our model agrees with that obtained from the
reverberation mapping studies in Sy1 galaxy NGC 5548.Comment: 15 pages, 13 figure
The Nature of the Emission Components in the Quasar/NLS1 PG1211+143
We present the study of the emission properties of the quasar PG1211+143,
which belongs to the class of Narrow Line Seyfert 1 galaxies. On the basis of
observational data analyzed by us and collected from the literature, we study
the temporal and spectral variability of the source in the optical/UV/X-ray
bands and we propose a model that explains the spectrum emitted in this broad
energy range. In this model, the intrinsic emission originating in the warm
skin of the accretion disk is responsible for the spectral component that is
dominant in the softest X-ray range. The shape of reflected spectrum as well as
Fe K line detected in hard X-rays require the reflecting medium to be mildly
ionized (xi~500). We identify this reflector with the warm skin of the disk and
we show that the heating of the skin is consistent with the classical alpha
P_{tot} prescription, while alpha P_{gas} option is at least two orders of
magnitude too low to provide the required heating. We find that the mass of the
central black hole is relatively small (M_BH~10^7- 10^8 Msun, which is
consistent with the Broad Line Region mapping results and characteristic for
NLS1 class.Comment: 22 pages, 10 figures, accepted to Ap
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