X-Ray Observations and Theoretical Modeling of Active Galactic Nuclei

Michael James Kellen

The archival ASCA observation of the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 4593 is thoroughly analyzed across the entire calibrated X-ray band. In addition to the typical power law spectrum, several emission and absorption features are discovered. Temporal analysis of several of these features indicates significant variability in correlation to the variations in the continuum luminosity and each other. Several possible models are put forth to describe the spectrum. A self-consistent one dimensional nonthermal pair plasma disk-corona model for the high energy spectrum of active galaxies is developed following the intent of earlier work. The detailed physics is used along with object oriented programming techniques to implement a library of pair plasma object routines, which are tested and used to explore the behaviour of a pair-plasma atmosphere.

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