• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.179-183
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• 1993

We analyze the evolution of active galactic nuclei for the decreasing accretion rate case. Our analysis is based on the unified theory of active galactic nuclei which entirely depends on the accretion rates of the central supermassive black holes. Our discussion leads us to conclude that active galactic nuclei may evolve from QSOs into the nuclei of Seyfert or radio galaxies.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.77-80
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• 1994

Variability of the emission-line spectra of active galactic nuclei is now a well-known phenomenon. This remains to be fully explained by a theoretical model of the central engine in an active galactic nucleus. Since the magnetic field lines are anchored on the accreting matter, they continuously fall on the event horizon of the central supermassive black hole and increase the net field strength of the hole magnetosphere. The field strength, however, cannot increase without an upper limit and, therefore, it will be decreased by some unknown processes. In this paper we discuss that these increasing and decreasing modes can be repeated periodically and explain the variability of power output, therefore, variability of active galactic nuclei.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.29 no.spc1
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• pp.97-98
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• 1996

Variability of active galactic nuclei is now a well-known phenomenon. This remains to be fully explained by a theoretical model of the central engine. Time scales of AGN variability seem to range continuously from hours up to months. The short time scale variability must be related to the phenomena on the event horizon of the black hole, while the long one to those in the accretion disk or surrounding matter. Based on the axisymmetric, nonstationary model of the central engine, we discuss theoretical considerations on the variability of active galactic nucleus.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.59-65
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• 2011

A small number of active galactic nuclei are known to exhibit prominent double peak emission profiles that are well-fitted by a relativistic accretion disk model. We develop a Monte Carlo code to compute the linear polarization of a double peaked broad emission line arising from Thomson scattering. A Keplerian accretion disk is adopted for the double peak emission line region and the geometry is assumed to be Schwarzschild. Far from the accretion disk where flat Minkowski geometry is appropriate, we place an azimuthally symmetric scattering region in the shape of a spherical shell sliced with ${\Delta}{\mu}=0.1$. Adopting a Monte Carlo method we generate line photons in the accretion disk in arbitrary directions in the local rest frame and follow the geodesic paths of the photons until they hit the scattering region. The profile of the polarized flux is mainly determined by the relative location of the scattering region with respect to the emission source. When the scattering region is in the polar direction, the degree of linear polarization also shows a double peak structure. Under favorable conditions we show that up to 0.6% linear polarization may be obtained. We conclude that spectropolarimetry can be a powerful probe to reveal much information regarding the accretion disk geometry of these active galactic nuclei.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.34.1-34.1
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• 2012

I present an analysis of the linear polarization of six active galactic nuclei (AGN). We monitored our targets from 2007 to 2011 in the observatory-frame frequency range 80-253 GHz with the Plateau de Bure Interferometer (PdBI). We find average degrees of polarization in the range 2-7%; this indicates that the polarization signals are effectively averaged out by the emitter geometries. We see indication for the presence of strong shocks and/or variability of the emitter geometries. We attempt to derive rotation measures for all sources, leading to actual measurements for two targets which find the highest rotation measures reported to date for AGN.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.21-33
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• 2019

This paper focuses on the interpretation of radiation fluxes from active galactic nuclei. The advantage of positron annihilation spectroscopy over other methods of spectral diagnostics of active galactic nuclei (therefore AGN) is demonstrated. A relationship between regular and random components in both bolometric and spectral composition of fluxes of quanta and particles generated in AGN is found. We consider their diffuse component separately and also detect radiative feedback after the passage of high-velocity cosmic rays and hard quanta through gas-and-dust aggregates surrounding massive black holes in AGN. The motion of relativistic positrons and electrons in such complex systems produces secondary radiation throughout the whole investigated region of active galactic nuclei in form of cylinder with radius R= 400-1000 pc and height H=200-400 pc, thus causing their visible luminescence across all spectral bands. We obtain radiation and electron energy distribution functions depending on the spatial distribution of the investigated bulk of matter in AGN. Radiation luminescence of the non-central part of AGN is a response to the effects of particles and quanta falling from its center created by atoms, molecules and dust of its diffuse component. The cross-sections for the single-photon annihilation of positrons of different energies with atoms in these active galactic nuclei are determined. For the first time we use the data on the change in chemical composition due to spallation reactions induced by high-energy particles. We establish or define more accurately how the energies of the incident positron, emitted ${\gamma}-quantum$ and recoiling nucleus correlate with the atomic number and weight of the target nucleus. For light elements, we provide detailed tables of all indicated parameters. A new criterion is proposed, based on the use of the ratio of the fluxes of ${\gamma}-quanta$ formed in one- and two-photon annihilation of positrons in a diffuse medium. It is concluded that, as is the case in young supernova remnants, the two-photon annihilation tends to occur in solid-state grains as a result of active loss of kinetic energy of positrons due to ionisation down to thermal energy of free electrons. The single-photon annihilation of positrons manifests itself in the gas component of active galactic nuclei. Such annihilation occurs as interaction between positrons and K-shell electrons; hence, it is suitable for identification of the chemical state of substances comprising the gas component of the investigated media. Specific physical media producing high fluxes of positrons are discussed; it allowed a significant reduction in the number of reaction channels generating positrons. We estimate the brightness distribution in the ${\gamma}-ray$ spectra of the gas-and-dust media through which positron fluxes travel with the energy range similar to that recorded by the Payload for Antimatter Matter Exploration and Light-nuclei Astrophysics (PAMELA) research module. Based on the results of our calculations, we analyse the reasons for such a high power of positrons to penetrate through gas-and-dust aggregates. The energy loss of positrons by ionisation is compared to the production of secondary positrons by high-energy cosmic rays in order to determine the depth of their penetration into gas-and-dust aggregations clustered in active galactic nuclei. The relationship between the energy of ${\gamma}-quanta$ emitted upon the single-photon annihilation and the energy of incident electrons is established. The obtained cross sections for positron interactions with bound electrons of the diffuse component of the non-central, peripheral AGN regions allowed us to obtain new spectroscopic characteristics of the atoms involved in single-photon annihilation.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.195-199
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• 2014

We present a GUI-based interactive Python program, VIMAP, which generates radio spectral index maps of active galactic nuclei (AGN) from Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) maps obtained at different frequencies. VIMAP is a handy tool for the spectral analysis of synchrotron emission from AGN jets, specifically of spectral index distributions, turn-over frequencies, and core-shifts. In general, the required accurate image alignment is difficult to achieve because of a loss of absolute spatial coordinate information during VLBI data reduction (self-calibration) and/or intrinsic variations of source structure as function of frequency. These issues are overcome by VIMAP which in turn is based on the two-dimensional cross-correlation algorithm of Croke & Gabuzda (2008). In this paper, we briefly review the problem of aligning VLBI AGN maps, describe the workflow of VIMAP, and present an analysis of archival VLBI maps of the active nucleus 3C 120.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.48.1-48.1
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• 2007

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.23
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• pp.60-60
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• 1998

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.72.1-72.1
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• 2015

We investigate black hole (BH) activities of 16 red active galactic nuclei (AGNs). The 16 red AGNs selected by red colors in optical through near-infrared (NIR) and radio detection. In order to derive BH activities of the red AGNs, we use $P{\beta}$ line with NIR spectra obtained by the SpeX on the IRTF. The $P{\beta}$ line suffers from dust extinction less than UV/optical BH mass estimators. We compared Eddington ratios of the red AGNs and "normal" AGNs, and the Eddington ratios of red AGNs are significantly higher than those of "normal" AGNs. The result is consistent with a scenario that red AGNs are the intermediate population between star forming galaxies and "normal" AGNs, and BHs of red AGNs are very active and grow rapidly in such a stage.