Accretion Disk-Winds in Cataclysmic Variables and Active Galactic Nuclei

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

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Scientific paper

The disk-wind model of the Broad Line Region was initially proposed as an explanation for the broad, smooth absorption in the P-Cygni-like profiles seen in BAL QSOs. It was later realized that the disk-wind system could also be responsible for the broad emission lines in AGN. The properties of the expanding wind coupled with Keplerian shears in the accretion disk result in anisotropic line emission near the surface of the accretion disk. This anisotropic emission can account for both the single-peaked line shapes and their reverberation mapping response to the central continuum. Unfortunately, the dynamics of the disk-wind system are complicated, and uncertainties about the central regions in AGN make a definitive theoretical picture difficult. Like AGN, cataclysmic variable systems exhibit broad emission lines. In low luminosity systems, the lines are double-peaked and have line shapes which are consistent with those expected from an accretion disk. In high luminosity CVs and low luminosity ones in outburst, the lines are single-peaked much like those seen in QSOs. Furthermore, there is abundant evidence for outflows as well as disks in these systems. Hence, we expect that much of the disk-wind model for AGN also pertains to these objects. In particular, the eclisping nova-like variable SW Sex stars should provide a useful laboratory for testing the disk-wind model of the broad emission lines. By studying the changes in line shape for the single-peaked Balmer lines in these systems as the disk is eclipsed by the companion, we can map out the disk surface brightness and compare it with that expected from the disk-wind model. We will present the results of this eclipse mapping for the eclipsing nova-like variables SW Sex and BT Mon, and will discuss the implications of these findings for disk-wind models of the Broad Line Region in AGN.

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