Observational signatures of the magnetic connection between a black hole and a disk

Free access article

Issue		A&A Volume 392, Number 2, September III 2002


Page(s)		469 - 472
Section		Extragalactic astronomy
DOI		http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:20020958

A&A 392, 469-472 (2002)
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361:20020958

Observational signatures of the magnetic connection between a black hole and a disk

L.-X. Li

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

(Received 14 January 2002 / Accepted 19 June 2002)

Abstract
We use a simple model to demonstrate the observational signatures of the magnetic connection between a black hole and a disk: (1) with the existence of the magnetic connection, more energy is dissipated in and radiated away from regions close to the center of the disk; (2) the magnetic connection can produce a very steep emissivity compared to the standard disk accretion; (3) the observational spectral signature of the magnetic connection can be robust. These signatures can be identified by the observations of Chandra and XMM-Newton. In fact, the steep emissivity index for the Seyfert 1 galaxies MCG-6-30-15 and Mrk-766 inferred from the recent XMM-Newton observations is very difficult to be explained with a standard accretion disk but can be easily explained with the magnetic connection between a black hole and a disk.

Key words: black hole physics -- accretion disks -- magnetic fields -- galaxies: active -- galaxies: Seyfert

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