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Physical processes in active galactic nuclei

  • 7. Active Galactic Nuclei
  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Radiation Hydrodynamics in Stars and Compact Objects

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Physics ((LNP,volume 255))

Abstract

Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) emit continuum radiation evenly spread over up to ten decades in frequency from the radio into the gamma-ray range. Plausible emission mechanisms and their characteristics are reviewed. In the deep potential wells around black holes the mean energy per proton can reach 100 MeV. Part or all of this energy may be channeled to all electrons equally (thermal plasma) or, preferentially, into only a small fraction of the electrons (nonthermal plasma). In the former case thermal Comptonization of soft photons may be the dominant emission mechanism, while in the latter case the synchrotron and the inverse Compton scattering process (synchro-self-Compton) are likely to dominate.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. NORDITA, Blegdamsvej 17, DK-2100, Copenhagen Ø, Denmark

    Roland Svensson

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  1. Roland Svensson
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Editor information

Dimitri Mihalas Karl-Heinz A. Winkler

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© 1976 Springer-Verlag

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Svensson, R. (1976). Physical processes in active galactic nuclei. In: Mihalas, D., Winkler, KH.A. (eds) Radiation Hydrodynamics in Stars and Compact Objects. Lecture Notes in Physics, vol 255. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-16764-1_18

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-16764-1_18

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-16764-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-38739-8

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