X-raying Low-Luminosity Accretion Flows

Andy Young, Bristol University

Abstract
Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), found at the dynamical centers of about 10% of all galaxies, are among the most energetic phenomena in the Universe. AGN are extremely compact, comparable in size to our solar system, yet they can produce more radiation than all of the stars in a galaxy. The power source for AGN is accretion of gas onto a super- massive black hole, which efficiently converts a significant fraction of the rest mass energy of accreting gas into radiation. Not all accreting super-massive black holes are so energetic, however, and those that do not produce much radiation are called Low-Luminosity AGN (LLAGN). I will discuss the properties of LLAGN, paying particular attention to those objects that are much fainter than simple accretion models would predict. I will present X-ray observations of a number of LLAGN, including high resolution X-ray spectroscopy of M81, and show how these observations can be used to uniquely study the hot accretion flow close to the black hole. Furthermore, combining the X- ray data with multi-wavelength observations provides a powerful tool to study the accretion physics. We certainly don't have a complete understanding of LLAGN at present, and I conclude by presenting some of the challenges that lie ahead.