Can Quasars Really Emit Beyond Their Eddington Limit?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers on the phenomenon of quasars emitting above their Eddington limit, particularly in the context of higher redshift quasars. Participants explore the implications of this behavior and question the stability of the accretion disk under such conditions.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant notes that a study indicates higher redshift quasars emit increasingly above their Eddington limit and questions the physical implications of this, specifically whether it should cause the accretion disk to destabilize.
  • Another participant requests a link to the study mentioned, indicating interest in the source material.
  • A subsequent reply provides a link to the study, suggesting that it attempts to explain the phenomenon.
  • It is mentioned that the Eddington limit can be exceeded for periods of time, but this is based on the assumption that all material is ionized hydrogen and accreted uniformly, which may not hold in all cases.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express uncertainty regarding the implications of quasars exceeding the Eddington limit and whether the assumptions underlying the limit are valid in this context. There is no consensus on the stability of the accretion disk or the conditions under which the Eddington limit can be exceeded.

Contextual Notes

The discussion highlights limitations related to the assumptions about the nature of the material involved and the uniformity of accretion, which may affect interpretations of the Eddington limit.

Aziza
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A study is showing that higher redshift quasars emit more and more above their Eddington limit. How is this possible? Shouldnt this be causing the accretion disk to fly apart?
 
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Do you have a link to this study?
 
Drakkith said:
Do you have a link to this study?

yup here it is!

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:1XHScFrhhEYJ:symposia.obs.carnegiescience.edu/series/symposium1/ms/szuszkiewicz_ms.ps.gz+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
 
Last edited by a moderator:
the study tries to give an explantion .
it has been known for a while that the Eddington Limit(Le) can be exceeded for periods of time..
but recall that the Le is a hypthetical limit based on the presumption that all the material is ionized hydorgen and all the material is accreted uniformally.
 

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