a Definitive Test for the Excitation Mechanism of Liners

Computer Science

Scientific paper

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Hst Proposal Id #5850 Agn

Scientific paper

We propose to undertake a definitive test which will determine whether LINERs are photoionised or shock ionised, by obtaining a single FOS spectrum of the bright, nearby and unreddened accretion disk of M87 from 1150 - 6800 Angstrom. At visible wavelengths, the emission-line diagnostics which might distinguish between excitation mechanisms are ambiguous. However, models generated using our shock and photoionisation code MAPPINGS II, shows that a comparison between the optical and the UV line intensities produces an unambiguous diagnostic. The shock produces a strong UV emission line spectrum, and the photoionisation mechanism does not. If LINER nuclei turn out to be shock excited, we will be able to compare the results with the predictions of the magnetic instability model of Balbus and Hawley (1991) which provides both a means of angular momentum transport in accretion disks, and of shock generation in the outer atmospheric layers of such disks. This would provide a powerful new insight into the accretion process of AGN, and open up the way for a quantitative understanding of the LINER phenomenon.

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