1998/05/28 by T. Di Matteo · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1046/j.1365-8711.1998.01950.x
revised version, 6 pages, 1 figures in MNRAS LaTex style
arxiv created 1998/05/28 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01
A magnetically-structured accretion disk corona, generated by buoyancy instability in the disk, can account for observations of flare--like events in Active Galactic Nuclei. We examine how Petschek magnetic reconnection, associated with MHD turbulence, can result in a violent release of energy and heat the magnetically closed regions of the corona up to canonical X-ray emitting temperatures. X-ray magnetic flares, the after effect of the energy released in slow shocks, can account for the bulk of the X-ray luminosity from Seyfert galaxies and consistently explain the observed short-timescale variability.