Line Emission from an Accretion Disk Around a Black Hole: Effects of Disk Structure
- P. N. Lebedev Physical Institute, Leninsky Prospect 53, Moscow 117924 (Russia)
- Theoretical Astrophysics Group, MS-51, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
The observed iron K{alpha} fluorescence lines in Seyfert I galaxies provide strong evidence for an accretion disk near a supermassive black hole as a source of the line emission. These lines serve as powerful probes for examining the structure of inner regions of accretion disks. Previous studies of line emission have considered only geometrically thin disks, where the gas moves along geodesics in the equatorial plane of a black hole. Here we extend this work to consider the effects on line profiles from finite disk thickness, radial accretion flow, and turbulence. We adopt the Novikov{endash}Thorne {alpha}-disk model and find that within this framework turbulent broadening is the dominant new effect. The most prominent change in the skewed, double-horned line profiles is a substantial reduction in the maximum flux at both red and blue peaks. The effect is most pronounced when the inclination angle is large and when the accretion rate is high. Thus, the effects discussed here may be important for future detailed modeling of high-quality observational data. {copyright} {ital {copyright} 1998.} {ital The American Astronomical Society}
- OSTI ID:
- 324906
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 508, Issue 2; Other Information: PBD: Dec 1998
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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