# Broad Iron-Kα Emission Lines as a Diagnostic of Black Hole Spin

@article{Reynolds2008BroadIE,
title={Broad Iron-K$\alpha$ Emission Lines as a Diagnostic of Black Hole Spin},
author={Christopher S. Reynolds and Andrew C. Fabian},
journal={The Astrophysical Journal},
year={2008},
volume={675},
pages={1048-1056}
}
• Published 27 November 2007
• Physics
• The Astrophysical Journal
We address the ability of broad iron emission lines from black hole accretion disks to diagnose the spin of the black hole. Using a high-resolution three-dimensional MHD simulation of a geometrically thin accretion disk in a pseudo-Newtonian potential, we show that both the mid-plane density and the vertical column density of the accretion flow drop dramatically over a narrow range of radii close to the innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO). We argue that this drop of density is accompanied by…
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