Quasar Structure Emerges from the Three Forms of Radiation Pressure

TL;DR

This paper proposes that the consistent atomic features in quasar spectra across cosmic time can be explained by gas driven by three types of radiation pressure from accretion disks, accounting for observed wind phenomena.

Contribution

It introduces a unified model where three forms of radiation pressure drive gas in quasars, explaining their spectral features and wind structures.

Findings

Atomic features explained by radiation-driven gas dynamics

Locations of successful and failed winds are key to spectral features

Unified model accounts for spectral uniformity across quasars

Abstract

All quasar spectra show the same atomic features in the optical, UV, near-IR and soft X-rays over all of cosmic time, luminosity black hole mass and accretion rate. This is a puzzle. Here I show that it is possible that all of these atomic features can be accounted for by gas from an accretion disk driven by the three forms of radiation pressure: electron scattering, line driving and dust driving. The locations where they successfully drive an escaping wind, and those where they produce only a failed wind are both needed to produce the observed features.