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| Paper: |
The Timescale of AGN Variations and the Structure of the Accretion Disk |
| Volume: |
360, AGN Variability from X-Rays to Radio Waves |
| Page: |
23 |
| Authors: |
Hawkins, M.R.S. |
| Abstract: |
AGN are known to vary at some level from timescales of seconds to many decades. Encoded in these timescales are essential clues to the structure of the accretion disk, the mechanism for fuelling it, and the reprocessing of the energy released from the infalling material. Much work has been done in analysing the shortest timescales of variation with a view to setting limits on the maximum size of the emitting region, but less attention has been given to longer timescales which carry information about the size and structure of the accretion disk itself, and its viscosity and temperature gradient. In this paper we examine the timescales of strongest variation of a large sample of quasars monitored over a period of about 30 years and draw conclusions as to the size and structure of the accretion disks driving the power output. |
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