Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
1768294 | Advances in Space Research | 2006 | 5 Pages |
Short-term variability of X-ray spectra has been reported for several Active Galactic Nuclei. Significant X-ray flux variations are observed within time scales down to 104–105 s. We discuss short variability time scales in the framework of the X-ray flare model, which assumes the release of a large hard X-ray flux above a small portion of the accretion disk. The resulting observed X-ray spectrum is composed of the primary radiation as well as a reprocessed/Compton reflection component that we model performing numerical radiative transfer simulations. We conduct Monte-Carlo simulations of large flare distributions across the disk including relativistic corrections of the observed radiation and discuss general implications on AGN spectra and their variability.