Line Profiles in Compact Supernova Remnants and Active Galactic Nuclei

Summary

This contribution summarises our studies on the emission line profiles from compact Supernova Remnant shells and how they might be related to the broad line profiles in active galaxies. The emphasis is on the theoretical problems associated with radiative transfer effects in spherical and irregularly shaped shells. Line profiles from systems containing many compact remnants are also calculated with the aim of comparing the results to luminous active nuclei, where several remnants are expected to coexist. The observed diversity of profile characteristics in QSOs and the consequences it has to the starburst model are discussed.

Introduction

Line profiles of any astrophysical object, from stellar atmospheres to the Broad Line Region of active galaxies, provide valuable information on the physical and dynamical conditions which may be used to constrain or even reject theoretical models for such objects. Our goal in this work is to develop models for the emission line profiles in compact Supernova Remnants (cSNR) and Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). The presence of both cSNR and AGN in the same title can only mean that we are talking about the starburst model for AGN of Roberto Terlevich and collaborators (see Terlevich et al. 1992 as well as Franco's, Plewa's and R. Terlevich's papers in this volume). Indeed, the main idea here is to see how well the starburst model does regarding the broad lines in active galaxies.