Publication: Consistency of spherical, gravity-dominated dynamics with quasar high-ionization emission-line profiles
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Date
1993
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IOP Publishing
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Citation
Kallman, T. R., B. J. Wilkes, J. H. Krolik, and Richard Green. 1993. “Consistency of Spherical, Gravity-Dominated Dynamics with Quasar High-Ionization Emission-Line Profiles.” The Astrophysical Journal 403 (January): 45. doi:10.1086/172182.
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Abstract
Line profile data are used to test a simple kinematic model - spherically symmetric gravitational free fall - in which the number of free parameters is limited by requiring physical self-consistency. The predictions of this model are fitted to high-resolution spectra of the stronger rest-frame UV emission lines in 12 quasars with z of about 2. It is found that if all the lines are radiated predominantly from the illuminated faces of the emission-line clouds, the profiles of Ly-alpha, N V 1240 A, and C IV 1549 A can be simultaneously well fitted with very similar parameters for all 12 quasars. It is concluded that spherically symmetric gravitational free fall does not correctly describe the dynamics of quasar broad emission-line regions.
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Keywords
Active Galactic Nuclei, Emission Spectra, Gravitational Effects, Quasars, Astronomical Models, Line Spectra, Radiation Distribution
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