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Relativistic enhancement of the Compton-reflected component in active galactic nucleiCompton reflection may be an important process in AGNs, since it provides an improvement over power-law fits to AGN spectra observed by Ginga and can also explain the spectrum of the cosmic X-ray background. The fraction of the total X-ray luminosity which is incident upon a thin steady alpha-disk if the X-rays are produced by inverse-Compton scattering of soft, disk photons off relativistic electrons located above the disk is calculated. This fraction is called the Compton reflection covering factor, f, and it is found that it can range between 0.5 and 0.88. This large range in f, due to a relativistic kinematic effect first calculated in this connection by Ghisellini et al (1991) is sufficient to explain the typical covering (about 0.5) observed in bright AGNs by Ginga as well as the large covering factor (about 0.9) required to explain the cosmic X-ray background in the Compton reflection model.
Document ID
19920035408
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Rogers, R. D.
(Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Cambridge, MA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 15, 2013
Publication Date
December 20, 1991
Publication Information
Publication: Astrophysical Journal, Part 1
Volume: 383
ISSN: 0004-637X
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Accession Number
92A18032
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAGW-931
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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