Gravitational Physics
Theoretical modelling of the X-ray reverberation in AGN
Speaker: Poemwai Chainakun (University of Bristol)
Date: Friday 2 December 2016
Time: 11.15
Venue: Chart Room (N/3.23)
X-ray reverberation technique has provided us a new tool to probe the innermost region closest to the event horizon of a black hole. This technique is based on a measurement of the observed time delays between the primary X-rays produced in a corona and the reflection X-rays that are back-scattered off an accretion disc. These delays, referred to as reverberation lags, relate to the light travel time between the X-ray source and the disc, so they can be used to map out the disc-corona geometry. In this talk, I will give an overview of the observational evidence for X-ray reverberation in AGN. Then the theoretical models that predict the X-ray reverberation time lags under the lamp-post geometry will be presented. Finally, I will talk about the most recent development of the models using an extended corona geometry that can put more constraints on the location and properties of the X-ray sources.