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Type of talk
Seminar
Speaker
Dr. Priyanka Rani
Affiliation
IUCAA, Pune
Date and Time of Talk
Venue
Online
Abstract

To probe the innermost regions of active galactic nuclei (AGN), it is beneficial to use hard X-ray observations as they are less affected by absorption processes. In fact, by analysing the hard X-ray AGN flux variability, one can put strong constraints on the physics of the innermost regions of AGN. According to our current understanding, the primary X-ray emission in radio- quiet AGN originates from corona, a region which is very near to the supermassive black hole (SMBH). Hence, the knowledge of high energy cut-off, Ecut, of primary X-ray continuum is very important as it is often considered as a proxy for the physical properties of X-ray corona. Thus, a combination of variability analysis and spectral studies is essential for our comprehensive understanding of the nature of the X-ray emission processes. In this series of work, using a comparative X-ray flux variability analysis in the 3-79 keV band of a total of 335 AGN from NuSTAR, we have found time variability as small as ~3 minutes. Furthermore, using the spectral data, we have measured different properties of AGN corona including the Ecut and optical depth. A total of 12 Seyfert galaxies from the NuSTAR hard X-ray band (3-79 keV) were analyzed for this purpose. Further details of results from timing and spectral studies and their physical implications will be discussed.

Email Speaker
priyanka@iucaa.in
About Speaker

Postdoctoral researcher at IUCAA. Invited seminar as a part of the activities commemorating "75 years of India's Independence: Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav" at ARIES.

Email Host
suvendu@aries.res.in
Host Name
ARIES seminar/colloquium committee