AGN disc winds: interpreting the X-ray spectra of accreting super-massive black holes
One of the exciting discoveries made with the current generation of X-ray observatories was the identification of highly blue-shifted, narrow absorption lines in the spectra of some active galactic nuclei. These features imply the presence of fast, highly ionized outflows that were previously unknown. This is of considerable interest since AGN outflows are a possible feedback mechanism by which growing super-massive black holes can influence their host galaxies. The origin and launching mechanism for such outflows remains unclear but they may be associated with winds blown off the accretion flow/accretion disc. I will discuss the theoretical motivation behind disk wind models, focusing on AGN line-driven winds whose properties are relatively well-characterized by numerical simulations. I will discuss results of our theoretical multi-dimensional radiative transfer simulations that provide detailed synthetic spectra for plausible wind geometries. This will include both the absorption features (including highly blue-shifted absorption lines) and broad emission features that are predicted in the wind models. By comparing these results to observations we can asses how well the theory of line-driven disk winds can account for observed spectral features.
Stuart Sim — Queen's University Belfast
Wednesday 19 June 2013, 15:30
Location: C4.174