Thermal Comptonization and Disk Thermal Reprocessing in NGC 3516
Abstract
We present an application of the thermal Comptonization/disk reprocessing model recently proposed by Zdziarski, Lubi\'nski, & Smith. We show that the absence of strong optical variations in the presence of strong concurrent X-ray variations, similar to those found by HST/RXTE monitoring observations of NGC 3516, can be explained by changing the geometry of the Comptonizing plasma rather than the accretion disk itself. The total X-ray luminosity of the Comptonizing plasma must decrease as its spatial extent increases. In contrast, the disk inner radius must be roughly fixed in order not to produce optical/ultraviolet color variations stronger than observed. By including emission due to internal viscous dissipation in the disk, we can roughly match the optical and X-ray flux levels and variability amplitudes seen from NGC 3516 during the HST/RXTE campaign.
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0107036,
title = {Thermal Comptonization and Disk Thermal Reprocessing in NGC 3516},
author = {James Chiang and Omer Blaes},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0107036},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
5 pages, 2 figs, LaTeX2e, emulateapj5.sty, to appear in ApJ Letters