Accretion Disks and the Nature and Origin of AGN Continuum Variability

Abstract

Theory and observations of the dominant thermal continuum emission in AGNs are examined. After correction for reddening, the steady state AGN optical--UV spectral energy distributions (SEDs) are very similar. The SEDs are dominated energetically by the big blue bump (BBB), but this bump never shows the nu^{+1/3} spectrum predicted for a standard thin accretion disk with a r^{-0.75} radial temperature gradient. Instead, the observed optical-UV SED implies a temperature gradient of r^{-0.57} independent of the thickness of the disk. This means that there is some flow of heat outwards in the disk. The disk is large and the region emitting the optical continuum is as large as the inner broad-line region (BLR). Because optical variability is seen in all AGNs on the light-crossing time of the BLR, variations must propagate at close to the speed of light, rather than on dynamical timescales. This argues that the energy-generation mechanism is electromagnetic rather that hydrodynamic. Since the velocities are near the speed of light, there can be significant local anisotropy in the emission. The large rapid variations of the BBB imply that the magnetohydrodynamic energy generation is fundamentally unstable. Because of the inevitable radial temperature gradient in the accreting material, different spectral regions come predominantly from different radii, and variations in different spectral regions correspond to variability at different radii. This explains the frequently observed independence of X-ray and optical variations, cases of variability at lower energies leading variability at higher energies, and rapid changes in emission-line reverberation lags. Some observational tests of the local variability hypothesis are proposed.