Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-qxdb6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-28T15:16:59.610Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

A Scaling Law for Magnetic Flux Tubes on an AGN Accretion Disk

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 May 2016

A. M. K. LeRoux
Affiliation:
Physics Department, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717, U.S.A.
D. W. Longcope
Affiliation:
Physics Department, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717, U.S.A.
S. Tsuruta
Affiliation:
Physics Department, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717, U.S.A.

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

An ASCA observation of Seyfert galaxy NGC 3227 showed flares with a linear increase and exponential decrease similar to that of solar flares. We derive a scaling law relating the loop length of a magnetic flux tube to rise and decay times of the flare using cooling mechanisms suitable for the central engine of a Seyfert galaxy. The predicted loop lengths are consistent with physical constraints on the plasma dynamics, suggesting that the same mechanism which explains solar flares may explain variability in Seyfert galaxies.

Type
Part II: Posters
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of the Pacific 2000 

References

DiMatteo, T. 1998, MNRAS, 299, L1.Google Scholar
Fisher, G. H., & Hawley, S. L. 1990, ApJ, 357, 243.Google Scholar
Hawley, S. L., et al. 1995, ApJ, 453, 464.Google Scholar
LeRoux, A. M. K., Longcope, D. W., Fisher, G. H., & Tsuruta, S., in preparation.Google Scholar
Lin, R. P., & Hudson, H. S. 1976, Solar Phys., 50, 153.Google Scholar
Rosner, R., Tucker, W. H., & Vaiana, G. S. 1978, ApJ, 220, 643.Google Scholar