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| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2025
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.00504 |
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| _version_ | 1866929693646651392 |
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| author | Zhao, Yu Li, Yan-Rong Wang, Jian-Min |
| author_facet | Zhao, Yu Li, Yan-Rong Wang, Jian-Min |
| contents | This work attempts to provide a new interpretation for the hot corona in active galactic nuclei (AGNs). A thin
parabolic magnetic reconnection layer, anchored at the innermost disk and extending along the boundary of the
magnetic tower for a few tens of gravitational radii, serves as a hard-X-ray source above the disk. Within this
reconnection layer, the tearing instability leads to the formation of a chain of plasmoids, which contain relativistic
electrons that generate X-ray radiation through inverse-Compton (IC) scattering of soft photons emitted by the
accretion disk. Based on previous theoretical works and numerical simulations, we develop a heuristic framework
to parameterize the geometry and magnetization of the reconnection layer, as well as to compute both the power of
the IC-scattering radiation and the height of the reconnection layer. Our model allows for a quantitative
investigation of the relation between the height of the corona and the X-ray radiation luminosity, which can be
directly compared against the observed relation from X-ray reverberation mapping of individual AGNs. The
theoretical results are in good agreement with the observations of IRAS 13224-3809, indicating the validation of
our model. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_00504 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | A New Interpretation for the Hot Corona in Active Galactic Nuclei Zhao, Yu Li, Yan-Rong Wang, Jian-Min High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena This work attempts to provide a new interpretation for the hot corona in active galactic nuclei (AGNs). A thin parabolic magnetic reconnection layer, anchored at the innermost disk and extending along the boundary of the magnetic tower for a few tens of gravitational radii, serves as a hard-X-ray source above the disk. Within this reconnection layer, the tearing instability leads to the formation of a chain of plasmoids, which contain relativistic electrons that generate X-ray radiation through inverse-Compton (IC) scattering of soft photons emitted by the accretion disk. Based on previous theoretical works and numerical simulations, we develop a heuristic framework to parameterize the geometry and magnetization of the reconnection layer, as well as to compute both the power of the IC-scattering radiation and the height of the reconnection layer. Our model allows for a quantitative investigation of the relation between the height of the corona and the X-ray radiation luminosity, which can be directly compared against the observed relation from X-ray reverberation mapping of individual AGNs. The theoretical results are in good agreement with the observations of IRAS 13224-3809, indicating the validation of our model. |
| title | A New Interpretation for the Hot Corona in Active Galactic Nuclei |
| topic | High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.00504 |