Active Galactic Nuclei XVI: A Sea of Discoveries

(Review) The X-ray Corona and its dependence on AGN Accretion Properties

15 Jun 2026, 10:15

30m

Sala Conferenze presso Autorità di Sistema Portuale (Brindisi)

Talk S1 - Black Hole Accretion and Outflows: Focusing on the physics of accretion disks, the mechanisms driving high-velocity winds, and the geometry of circumnuclear regions

Speaker

Prof. Claudio Ricci (University of Geneva)

Description

X-ray-emitting plasma is a ubiquitous feature of accreting massive black holes, but several of its properties and the mechanisms that power it remain unknown. In my talk, I will give an overview of recent findings on the properties of X-ray coronae and how they change with the Eddington ratio, including results from large studies of extremely variable AGN. I will also review recent millimeter studies carried out with ALMA that have identified a population of non-thermal electrons, possibly associated with the corona, that produce self-absorbed synchrotron radiation detected at 100-200 GHz.