Speaker
Description
Advancements in both spectral analysis and photoionization simulations helped establish concept of direct connection between accretion disk and line emitting regions in active galactic nuclei (AGN).
In fact the most promising model of AGN emission lines situates line emitting matter in the accretion disk atmosphere and its extension.
In this talk I will show how combining computed accretion disk density distribution with photoionization simulations helped explain the typical Seyfert 1 AGN broad emission lines. We used simulated vertical structure of the Shakura & Sunyaev disk with the aim to derive radial emissivity of typical emission lines from AGNs. This result is consistent with the continuum-emission line delay from reverberation mapping measurements.
Based on this method I will describe how broad and intermediate emission lines can be useful in probing radial distribution of matter in the upper parts of accretion disks. This method may help verify which model of accretion flow is consistent with the observed spectra of particular object. We need to use simulation of low-, sub- and super-Eddington accretion flows to explain population of AGNs. This kind of research is also important for the effort of standardizing AGNs for use in cosmological applications.