Constraints on radiatively inefficient accretion history from Eddington ratio distribution of active galactic nuclei

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

6 pages, accepted by MNRAS

Scientific paper

10.1111/j.1365-2966.2007.11610.x

The transition of a standard thin disk to a radiatively inefficient accretion flow (RIAF) is expected to occur, when the accretion rate is close to the critical rate. The radiative efficiencies of accretion flows accreting at rates lower than the critical accretion rate become significantly lower than that of standard thin disks. It is believed that the initial transition radius is small just after the accretion mode transition, and then the transition radius increases with decreasing accretion rate, as suggested by some theoretical models and observations. Based on such variable transition radius models, we derive how the dimensionless accretion rate evolves with time from the observed Eddington ratio distribution for a sample of low-luminosity active galactic nuclei in the local universe. The derived time-dependent accretion rates show a rapid decrease after the transition of the standard thin accretion disk to a RIAF, which is consistent with that derived from the hard X-ray background.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Constraints on radiatively inefficient accretion history from Eddington ratio distribution of active galactic nuclei does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Constraints on radiatively inefficient accretion history from Eddington ratio distribution of active galactic nuclei, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Constraints on radiatively inefficient accretion history from Eddington ratio distribution of active galactic nuclei will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-402870

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.