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# The role of the central stellar cluster in active galactic nuclei.

## 1  Introduction

The idea of an important role of the compact stellar cluster (hereafter CSC) in creation and evolution of active galactic nuclei (hereafter AGN) was formulated at the very early stage of AGN investigation (e.g., Shklovskiy 1964), and the evolution of a gas sphere containing a CSC was first considered in the work of Unno (1971). The dissipative interaction of the compact stellar cluster with the massive central object in the form of a super-star was considered by Vilkoviskij (1975) and Hara (1978), and the tidal interaction of stars with the central object in the form of a massive black hole (hereafter MBH) - by Hills (1975). The evolution of the dense, non-rotating stellar cluster was discussed by Saslaw (1966), Bisnovatyi-Kogan (1978), and others. The interaction of stars with the accretion disk (hereafter AD) was considered in the works by Vilkoviskij and Bekbosarov (1981), Vilkoviskij (1983), Zentsova (1983), Syer et al. (1991). More detailed investigations of the evolution of the stellar orbits, crossing the AD were presented in Artymowicz et al., (1993), Karas and Vokrouhlicky (1993), Rauch (1995), Vokrouhlicky & Karas (1993, 1998), Subr & Karas (1999), and others. The role of the outer parts of AD (which can be gravitationally unstable) in the global evolution of AGNs through efficient star formation was discussed by Collin & Zahn (1999).

A general investigation of the problems of CSC structure and evolution, taking into account the interaction of the star cluster with the accretion disk, demands calculations of very complicated numerical models. In contrast, the main aim of the present paper is a preliminary analysis at a qualitative level, but including both star-star and star-disk interactions. The star-disk and the star-star interactions were not considered before as acting simultaneously. Rauch (1995, 1999) considered and numerically calculated the cases when either star-disk or star-star collisions dominate; we consider here a model which is very simple but includes the joint action of the star-disk and star-star interactions. This permits us to find the space distribution of the stars around ADs. As an application of this result, we consider star-related model of Broad Emission Line Regions (hereafter BELRs) and the possible role of the inelastic interactions of stars both with the disk and other stars in the variability of AGNs.

The plan of the paper is as follows. In Sect. 2 we consider the stellar dynamics in the central part of CSC in AGNs. In Sect. 3 we derive the structure of the stellar cluster in the AD region, including the role of contact stellar collisions and some effects of the mass loss of the stars. The application of the results to modeling BELR and variability are discussed in Sects. 4 and 5, correspondingly. The discussion of the results and conclusions are given in Sect. 6.

## 2 Stellar dynamics in the central part of CSC

### 2.1 The star-disk interaction

We assume that there are massive and compact stellar clusters in the centers of AGNs. Observations of the nearest galaxies show clearly that dense stellar clusters do exist in their centers, with sizes close to a parsec, with masses $`10^710^8M_{}`$, and central stellar densities $`10^610^7\mathrm{pc}^3`$. It is reasonable to suppose that in AGNs the density in CSCs is increased, and in the case of the more powerful AGNs the central stellar density can reach values of up to $`10^810^9\mathrm{pc}^3`$, as follows in particular from the gas-dynamic solutions for the broad absorption line QSOs (hereafter BAL QSO, see Vilkoviskij et al. 1999). In contrast to the case of close galaxies with low activity, the observational data about CSCs in luminous AGNs are very poor; we will assume that those CSCs are massive, rotate, and consist predominantly of low-mass stars.

For the sake of qualitative analysis, we introduce several simplifications in our consideration: (1) we consider equal stellar masses, (2) we assume that all stellar orbits are almost circular, which is a good approximation in the internal part of the CSC only (see below), (3) we introduce some effective values of the main physical parameters – the inclination angle of stellar orbits to the plane of AD, and the stellar density (see the next subsection), and we investigate the radial dependence of these parameters.

The star-disk (hereafter also s-d) interactions were considered in a series of studies. The main, and quite obvious result of s-d interaction is that the orbits of stars that have been captured into bound orbits crossing the accretion disk evolve from eccentric to almost circular, with diminishing radius and inclination angle (e.g., Syer et al. 1991). The planes of the orbits approach the plane of the AD in the process of the orbit evolution. As a result, the stars on these evolved orbits move mostly in the direction of the AD rotation, due to the dissipative interaction of the stars with the disk. For a single star, this process leads finally to the incorporation of the stellar orbit into the disk plane, and the further fate of such stars is undefined (Artymowicz et al. 1993). In the next sections we will show that consideration of the collective star inflow through the disk instead of the single stellar orbit evolution change the result: due to high stellar density, the star-star interaction scatters stellar orbits, thus counteracting the capture of stars by the disk. This effect allows the CSC to reach some equilibrium, with fluctuating but non-vanishing inclination angle of the orbits, and the dissipative inflow of the stars continues to the center of the AD.

In the present section we will shortly summarize the properties of the individual star-disk interaction. For simplicity we will take into account two above-mentioned basic theoretically deduced properties of the orbits, crossing the disk: we assume that all orbits are close to the circular shape, and that the inclination angles of the orbits to the disk are small.

Let us consider a star in an orbit, crossing the AD in the zone where the gravity of the MBH dominates. The velocity of a star, crossing the AD at a distance $`R`$ is

$$V_\mathrm{s}=qc(R_\mathrm{g}/R)^{1/2}=qc(10^3m_8/r_2)^{1/2},$$
(1)
where $`c`$ is the velocity of light, $`R_\mathrm{g}=2GM_{\mathrm{BH}}/c^2`$ is the gravitation radius of MBH, $`m_8=M_{\mathrm{BH}}/10^8M_{}`$ is the MBH mass, $`r_2=R/(0.01\mathrm{pc})`$ is the distance from the MBH in units of $`0.01`$ pc, and $`1>q1/\sqrt{2}`$ is the coefficient for the Keplerian orbits: $`q`$ is close to 1 for the very stretched orbits, and $`q=1/\sqrt{2}`$ for the circular ones. In our approximation of almost circular orbits we take $`q=1/\sqrt{2}`$, and $`V_\mathrm{s}\sqrt{GM/R}`$. So in convenient units $`v_{\mathrm{s9}}=V_\mathrm{s}/(10^9\mathrm{cm}\mathrm{s}^1)`$,

$$v_{\mathrm{s9}}0.67(m_8/r_2)^{1/2}.$$
(2)
The normal and tangential velocity components with respect to the thin disk are $`V_\mathrm{n}=V_\mathrm{s}\mathrm{sin}i`$ and $`V_\mathrm{t}=V_\mathrm{s}\mathrm{cos}i`$, where $`i`$ is the orbit-to-disk inclination angle. The gas motion in the disk is also close to the circular one, $`V_\mathrm{d}V_\mathrm{s}`$; so, the relative velocity of the star and gas in the Keplerian disk is $`V_{\mathrm{re}}=[V_\mathrm{n}^2+(V_\mathrm{d}V_\mathrm{t})^2]^{1/2}`$, and we obtain $`v_{\mathrm{re9}}v_{\mathrm{s9}}2^{1/2}(1\mathrm{cos}i)^{1/2}`$. Note that this velocity is supersonic in the disk with $`T_\mathrm{d}10^4`$ K even if the inclination angle is very small, down to $`i0.1^{}`$.

It is obvious that the drag force acting at the star in the disk is proportional to the cross-section of the star, the disk density, and the square of the relative star-disk velocity, but the coefficient of the proportionality is known with an accuracy of a factor of a few; hereafter we will denote it with $`Q`$. Several attempts to estimate $`Q`$ (Zentsova 1983, Ostriker 1983, $`\dot{Z}`$urek et al.1994) gave slightly different results. We will use for the energy loss of the star crossing thin AD the expression

$$\mathrm{\Delta }E=Q\pi R_\mathrm{s}^2\mathrm{\Sigma }_\mathrm{d}(V_\mathrm{s})^2\varphi (i),$$
(3)
where $`R_\mathrm{s}`$ is the radius of the star, $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_\mathrm{d}`$ is the surface mass density of the AD, and $`\varphi (i)`$ is the function of the inclination angle. Within our approximations, one has $`\varphi (i)[(V_\mathrm{n})^2(V_\mathrm{d}V_\mathrm{t})^2]/(V_\mathrm{s})^2=2\mathrm{cos}i(1\mathrm{cos}i)=2\mathrm{sin}i^2\mathrm{cos}i/(1+\mathrm{cos}i)`$.

Physically this means that the star gives its velocity (in the system co-rotating with disk) to the column of the disk matter with cross-section close to that of the star, and with height equal to the disk thickness. This brakes the normal component of the star velocity, but accelerates the star in the direction of the disk rotation.

The energy generated by the drag force is

$$E_{\mathrm{diss}}Q\pi R_\mathrm{s}^2\mathrm{\Sigma }_\mathrm{d}(V_{\mathrm{re}})^2=Q\pi R_\mathrm{s}^2\mathrm{\Sigma }_\mathrm{d}(V_\mathrm{s})^22(1\mathrm{cos}i)$$
(4)
which differs from $`\mathrm{\Delta }E`$ with $`1/\mathrm{cos}i`$; we will denote $`2(1\mathrm{cos}i)=\varphi _1(i)=\varphi (i)/\mathrm{cos}i`$.

Hereafter we will use the Solar units $`r_\mathrm{s}=R_\mathrm{s}/R_{}`$; $`m_\mathrm{s}=M_\mathrm{s}/M_{}`$; so, the cross section of a star is $`\pi R_\mathrm{s}^21.5410^{22}r_\mathrm{s}^2\mathrm{cm}^2`$. We also define the usual values $`m_8=M_{\mathrm{BH}}/10^8M_{}`$, $`\dot{m}=(dM/dt)/\dot{M}_{\mathrm{Ed}}`$, $`\dot{M}_{\mathrm{Ed}}m_8M_{}\mathrm{yr}^1`$.

Supposing that the stellar orbits are close to circular, we can approximate the time interval between two crossings of the disk by a star as $`\mathrm{\Delta }T=\pi R/V_\mathrm{s}1.410^8m_8^{1/2}r_2^{3/2}\mathrm{s}`$.

Denoting $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_\mathrm{d}=10^4\mathrm{\Sigma }_4\mathrm{g}\mathrm{cm}^2`$, one can define the energy dissipated per crossing

$$\mathrm{\Delta }E0.710^{44}Qr_\mathrm{s}^2\mathrm{\Sigma }_4m_8r_2^1\varphi _1(i)\mathrm{erg},$$
(5)
and the averaged rate of the energy change of a star, $`\mathrm{\Delta }E/\mathrm{\Delta }T`$ is

$$dE/dt0.510^{36}Qr_\mathrm{s}^2\mathrm{\Sigma }_4m_8^{3/2}r_2^{5/2}\varphi (i)\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}^1.$$
(6)
The commonly accepted models for the AD are so-called $`\alpha `$-disks, the Shakura-Sunyaev model (Shakura & Sunyaev 1973, hereafter SS), and the Novikov & Thorne (1973) model (hereafter NT); the last was used in Rauch (1995). On the other hand, physical assumptions of the models, the geometrically thin and optically thick of the $`\alpha `$-disks theory, are not universal. Other processes like energy advection, temperature instability, self-gravity and the CSC gravity are essential in different cases (see the recent review of Park & Ostriker, 2001).

We will use mostly the NT model, as it contains a simple radial dependence of the surface density of the AD; according to Rauch (1995) the surface density of the AD is

$$\mathrm{\Sigma }_42.710^2m_8^{1/4}\alpha _2^{4/5}(\underset{1}{\overset{}{m}})^{7/10}r_2^{3/4}.$$
(7)
Then the energy dissipation per crossing is

$$\mathrm{\Delta }E1.910^{46}Qr_\mathrm{s}^2m_8^{5/4}\alpha _2^{4/5}\dot{m}_1^{7/10}r_2^{7/4}\varphi _1(i)\mathrm{erg},$$
(8)
and the average rate of the energy change of a star is

$$dE/dt1.3510^{38}Qr_\mathrm{s}^2m_8^{7/4}r_2^{13/4}\varphi (i)\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}^1.$$
(9)
According to the SS model, the parameters of the accretion disk behave differently in three regions (a, b, c), and we have from SS the positions of a/b and b/c borders: $`r_{\mathrm{ab}2}=2.6m_8^{23/21}\alpha ^{2/21}(\dot{m}\phi _{\mathrm{ab}})^{16/21}`$; $`r_{\mathrm{bc}2}=18.9m_8(\dot{m}\phi _{\mathrm{bc}})^{2/3}`$; where $`r_{\mathrm{ab}2}=R_{\mathrm{ab}}/10^2`$ pc, $`\phi =1r^{1/2}`$.

The surface density and the height scale in the three zones may be written as

$`a)\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ $``$ $`2.810^4(\alpha \stackrel{}{m}\phi )^1m_8^{3/2}r_2^{3/2}\mathrm{g}\mathrm{cm}^2,`$
$`z`$ $``$ $`3.210^{14}mm_8\phi \mathrm{cm},`$ (10)
$`b)\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ $``$ $`2.110^5\alpha ^{4/5}m_8^{4/5}(\stackrel{}{m}\phi )^{3/5}r_2^{3/5},`$
$`z`$ $``$ $`0.8510^{14}\alpha ^{1/10}m_8^{39/20}(\stackrel{}{m})^{2/5}\phi ^{1/5}r_2^{21/20},`$
$`c)\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ $``$ $`3.1110^5\alpha ^{4/5}(\stackrel{}{m}\phi )^{7/10}m_8^{19/20}r_2^{3/4},`$ (11)
$`z`$ $``$ $`0.6710^{14}\alpha ^{1/5}m_8^{1/10}(\stackrel{}{m}\phi )^{3/20}r_2^{9/8}`$
With these relations, the energy dissipation per crossing in the a, b,and c zones of the disk are (in $`10^{45}`$ erg):

$`a)\mathrm{\Delta }E0.2Qr_\mathrm{s}^2(\alpha \stackrel{}{m})^1m_8^{1/2}r_2^{1/2}\varphi _1(i),`$
$`b)\mathrm{\Delta }E1.47Qr_\mathrm{s}^2\alpha ^{4/5}(\stackrel{}{m})^{3/5}m_8^{9/5}r_2^{8/5}\varphi _1(i)`$ , (12)
$`c)\mathrm{\Delta }E2.18Qr_\mathrm{s}^2\alpha ^{4/5}(\stackrel{}{m})^{7/10}m_8^{39/20}r_2^{7/4}\varphi _1(i).`$
The average energy losses of a star for the three zones are (in $`10^{37}`$erg s-1):

$`a)dE/dt`$ $`=`$ $`0.14Qr_\mathrm{s}^2(\alpha \stackrel{}{m})^1r_2^1\varphi (i)`$
$`b)dE/dt`$ $`=`$ $`1.1Qr_\mathrm{s}^2\alpha ^{4/5}(\stackrel{}{m})^{3/5}m_8^{23/10}r_2^{21/10}\varphi (i)`$ (13)
$`c)dE/dt`$ $`=`$ $`1.6Qr_\mathrm{s}^2\alpha ^{4/5}(\stackrel{}{m})^{7/10}m_8^{49/20}r_2^{3/4}\varphi (i).`$
### 2.2 The star-star interactions and the inflow of stars

In spherically symmetrical conditions, the influence of the central massive black hole on the stellar cluster structure and the inflow of stars into the MBH was considered by Peebles (1972) and solved by Bahcall & Wolf (1976) (hereafter BW). BW showed that the presence of a MBH in a dense stellar cluster typically leads to the creation of a central stellar cusp with a density profile $`n(R)=n_0(R/R_\mathrm{a})^q`$, with $`q7/4`$ and $`R_\mathrm{a}R_{\mathrm{ss}}M_{\mathrm{BH}}/M_{\mathrm{SS}}`$. The stellar distribution function depends on the stellar energy as $`f(E)E^{1/4}`$, where $`E=GM_{\mathrm{BH}}/r1/2V_\mathrm{s}^2`$ and $`V_\mathrm{s}`$ is the stellar velocity. Both the creation of the cusp and the inflow of the stars into the MBH are due to star-star gravitational interaction. The result was obtained for an isotropic stellar distribution function, but BW showed that it is valid if we use anisotropic distribution functions as well. However, in the case of AGNs with accretion disks, the interactions of the stars with the disk in the central part of the stellar system are inevitable, and the influence of the interaction on the stellar dynamics have to be taken into account.

Let us compare the rate of the energy changes of a typical star (let it be the solar-type star) for the cases of star-star (hereafter s-s) interaction and star-disk interaction. For the former case one has

$$dE^{(\mathrm{ss})}/dt4\pi G^2M_\mathrm{s}^3V_{\mathrm{sr}}^1n_\mathrm{s}\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{\Lambda },$$
(14)
where $`V_{\mathrm{sr}}`$ is the effective relative velocity of the stars, $`n_\mathrm{s}`$ is the stellar density and $`\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ is the Coulomb logarithm; for the latter case Eq. (6) applies.

It is essential to note that in the present work we will use some effective values of physical variables. In principle these variables show a certain distribution at each radius: stars at each radius have various inclinations, velocities relative to the disk etc. A complex numerical approach would be necessary in order to model the distributions of these quantities. Knowing the distributions we would be able to compute accurately the mean or median values of the parameters. However, such a program is far beyond the scope of the present paper. Instead, we reduce the dimension of the problem by introducing a priori some effective values at each radius, with values following from processes we consider. It permits us to determine physically reasonable radial trends; but it is obvious that the obtained results are true only in a qualitative sense.

If the mass of the CSC is larger than the mass of MBH, the effective velocity of the stars in the outer parts of the CSC is close to the virial velocity $`V_\mathrm{s}(GM_{\mathrm{sc}}/R_{\mathrm{sc}})^{1/2}`$, where $`M_{\mathrm{sc}}`$ and $`R_{\mathrm{sc}}`$ are the mass and radius of the CSC. In the inner part of the AD the velocity at the almost circular orbits is close to $`V_\mathrm{s}(GM/R)^{1/2}`$, where $`M(R)=M_{\mathrm{BH}}+M_{\mathrm{sc}}(R)+M_{\mathrm{AD}}(R)`$ is the total mass within the radius $`R`$.

Rauch (1995) has shown that close to a black hole the characteristic two-body relaxation time $`t_{\mathrm{ss}}v^3/(\pi G^2M_\mathrm{s}^2n_\mathrm{s})10^{12}(n_\mathrm{s}/10^7\mathrm{pc}^3)`$ is much longer than the characteristic time of the stellar orbit alignment with the disk, $`t_\mathrm{i}t_{\mathrm{orb}}M_\mathrm{s}/(\pi R_\mathrm{s}^2)/\mathrm{\Sigma }_\mathrm{d}`$. This is still true in our case of more dense CSC if it is spherically symmetric, which can be seen from the numerical estimates of the correspondent energy-loss rates (in erg s-1):

$`dE^{(\mathrm{ss})}/dt`$ $``$ $`5.910^{32}m_\mathrm{s}^3m_8^{1/2}r_2^{1/2}n_{10}(\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{\Lambda })_1,`$
$`dE^{(\mathrm{sd})}/dt`$ $``$ $`510^{35}Q\mathrm{\Sigma }_4r_\mathrm{s}^2m_8^{3/2}r_2^{5/2},`$ (15)
where $`m_8=M(R)/10^8M_{}`$, $`n_{10}=n_\mathrm{s}/(10^{10}\mathrm{pc}^3)`$.

One can see that the star-disk interaction is relatively strong even in the outer parts of the AD. We can estimate the critical outer radius of the region where the two interactions became comparable, if the inclination of the orbits is negligible \[$`\mathrm{sin}(i_{\mathrm{ef}})1`$\] in this outer region:

$$r_2^{\mathrm{crit}}9.5\mathrm{\Sigma }_4^{1/3}r_\mathrm{s}^{2/3}m_\mathrm{s}^1m_8^{2/3}[n_{10}(\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{\Lambda })_1]^{1/3},$$
(16)
that is $`R^{\mathrm{crit}}0.1`$ pc (if $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_4=m_8=n_{10}=1`$).

At smaller radii the inelastic star-disk collisions become important, and the stellar orbits incline to the disk. If the orbit evolution starts from a non-inclined orbit, the orbit will quickly decline to the disk plane (as was shown by Rauch 1995). But when the inclination angle becomes small, the situation can change due to the increased stellar density. The reason is that the inclination of the orbits influences the relative velocities, and consequently the relaxation times of the star-disk and star-star collisions.

We will assume that the inclination angles of the orbits are smoothly distributed above the disk, and the distribution can be characterized by some effective inclination angle $`i_{\mathrm{ef}}`$. The characteristic relative velocities of stars in the co-rotating (with the disk) coordinate system are then close to $`V_{\mathrm{sr}}V_\mathrm{s}\mathrm{sin}i_{\mathrm{ef}}`$, that is close to the average velocity component normal to the disk. Introducing the effective inclination angle into the expressions of the energy changes due to the star-star and star-disk interactions, we have from Eqs. (6) and (14) numerically (in erg s-1):

$$dE^{(\mathrm{ss})}/dt5.910^{32}m_\mathrm{s}^3m_8^{1/2}r_2^{1/2}n_{10}(\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{\Lambda })_1/\mathrm{sin}(i_{\mathrm{ef}}),$$
(17)
$$dE^{(\mathrm{sd})}/dt510^{35}Q\mathrm{\Sigma }_4r_\mathrm{s}^2m_8^{3/2}r_2^{5/2}\varphi (i_{\mathrm{ef}}).$$
(18)
The important point is that the s-s interaction behaves as $`1/\mathrm{sin}(i_{\mathrm{ef}})`$ and the s-d interaction is proportional to $`[\mathrm{sin}(i_{\mathrm{ef}})]^2`$, so both interactions may be comparable at small angles. It is intuitively clear, that an equilibrium situation exists when $`dE^{(\mathrm{ss})}/dtdE^{(\mathrm{sd})}/dt`$. The process is similar to the Brownian motion of the normal velocity component $`V\mathrm{sin}i`$, and the equilibrium velocity dispersion corresponds to an equilibrium of braking and fluctuation forces in the Langevin equation.

As the characteristic time of approaching the equilibrium is relatively short (close to the characteristic time of orbit inclination, $`t_\mathrm{i}t_{\mathrm{dyn}}(M_\mathrm{s}/\pi R_\mathrm{s}^2)/\mathrm{\Sigma }_\mathrm{d}`$), we will suppose further that the equilibrium condition $`dE^{(\mathrm{ss})}/dtdE^{(\mathrm{sd})}/dt`$ is realized at any distance $`R<R^{\mathrm{crit}}`$. This equilibrium means that in a dense enough CSC the stars will never be completely incorporated into the disk plane: when orbits are inclined too much, the pair stellar interactions will come into play, and they will scatter the stars to less inclined orbits (the eccentricities of the orbits will also be scattered to the same order of magnitude $`e_{\mathrm{ef}}\mathrm{sin}i`$). The immediate consequence of this property, which leads to the fluctuation of the inclination angle around some effective value, is that the fluctuating drag force maintains some constant dissipative flow of the stars to the center of the disk. The rate of the inflow is

$$V_\mathrm{R}=dR/dt=dR/dE(dE/dt),$$
(19)
where $`dE/dR=GM_{\mathrm{BH}}M_\mathrm{s}/R^2\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{cm}^1`$, that is $`dR/dE3.3710^{35}m_\mathrm{s}^1m_8^1r_2^2`$ cm erg-1, and $`dE/dt`$ is the averaged dissipative energy loss of the star. We therefore obtain

$$V_\mathrm{R}17Q\mathrm{\Sigma }_4r_\mathrm{s}^2m_\mathrm{s}^1m_8^{1/2}r_2^{1/2}\varphi (i)\mathrm{cm}\mathrm{s}^1.$$
(20)
In stationary conditions, the flow of the stars is

$$dn_\mathrm{s}/dt=\dot{n}4\pi n_\mathrm{s}V_\mathrm{R}R^2\mathrm{sin}(i_{\mathrm{ef}}),$$
(21)
where $`n_\mathrm{s}`$ is the stellar density at the AD plane and $`i_{\mathrm{ef}}(R)`$ is the effective inclination angle of stellar orbits, which means also the part of the solid angle where the inflow is concentrated.

Numerically, this formula gives the flow:

$$\dot{n}_\mathrm{y}210^3n_{10}Q\mathrm{\Sigma }_4r_\mathrm{s}^2m_\mathrm{s}^1m_8^{1/2}r_2^{3/2}\mathrm{sin}i_{\mathrm{ef}}\varphi (i_{\mathrm{ef}})\mathrm{yr}^1$$
(22)
in units of stars/year, where $`n_{10}`$ is the stellar density in units $`10^{10}\mathrm{pc}^3`$.

## 3 The distribution of stars in the central part of CSC

### 3.1 Constant stellar masses and inflow of the stars

As was shown in the previous section, the stellar orbits tend to decline to the disk and to shrink due to the energy loss of the stars crossing the disk, but the inclination of the orbits is limited by the scattering due to the gravitational star-star interaction. In the stationary case both processes are in equilibrium, which defines the inflow of the stars to the center.

This process can be described with a system of two equations, which permit us to find the distribution of the stars. The first equation is the star inflow Eq. (22), and the second is the condition of equilibrium of the inelastic (star-disk) and elastic (star-star) collisions,

$$dE^{(\mathrm{sd})}/dt=dE^{(\mathrm{ss})}/dt.$$
(23)
Eq. (22) can be written in the form

$$\mathrm{sin}(i_{\mathrm{ef}})\varphi (i_{\mathrm{ef}})n_{10}510^2\dot{n}_\mathrm{y}/(Q\mathrm{\Sigma }_4)m_\mathrm{s}r_\mathrm{s}^2m_8^{1/2}r_2^{3/2}$$
(24)
where $`\dot{n}_\mathrm{y}`$ is the stellar inflow in the units 1/year, $`n_{10}`$ is the stellar density in $`10^{10}\mathrm{pc}^3`$. On the other hand, from Eq. (23), using Eqs. (17) and (18) one obtains:

$`\mathrm{sin}(i_{\mathrm{ef}})\varphi (i_{\mathrm{ef}})/n_{10}`$ (25)
$`1.210^3(Q\mathrm{\Sigma }_4)^1m_\mathrm{s}^3r_\mathrm{s}^2m_8^2r_2^3(\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{\Lambda })_1.`$
Eqs. (24) and (25) form a system of equations for two variables: $`n_{10}(r)`$ and $`i_{\mathrm{ef}}(r)`$. Dividing Eq. (24) by (25) one has

$$n_{10}(r)0.610^3[\dot{n}_\mathrm{y}/(\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{\Lambda })_1]^{1/2}m_\mathrm{s}{}_{}{}^{1}m_{8}^{3/4}r_2^{9/4}.$$
(26)
This distribution is independent of the disk parameters, paradoxically at first glance. The reason is the underlying assumption of the equilibrium of non-elastic (s-d) and elastic (s-s) processes, but this condition is satisfied only in dense enough disks, so it is not valid for low surface density disks.

Multiplying Eq. (24) by (25), and using (for $`i_{\mathrm{ef}}<\pi /3`$ ) the approximation $`\varphi (i)=2\mathrm{sin}^2i\mathrm{cos}i/(1+\mathrm{cos}i)\mathrm{sin}^2i`$, one has

$`\mathrm{sin}(i_{\mathrm{ef}})`$ (27)
$`0.9[\dot{n}_\mathrm{y}(\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{\Lambda })_1]^{1/6}(Q\mathrm{\Sigma }_4)^{1/3}(m_\mathrm{s}/r_\mathrm{s})^{2/3}m_8^{5/12}r_2^{1/4}`$
This solution is valid in the innermost parts of the CSC/AD system, where $`\mathrm{sin}(i_{\mathrm{ef}})<1;`$ in the outermost parts the orbits are non-circular and we pose $`\mathrm{sin}(i_{\mathrm{ef}})=1`$ there.

If we use the disk surface density $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ of the NT disk from Rauch (1995), then

$`\mathrm{sin}(i_{\mathrm{ef}})0.14[\dot{n}_\mathrm{y}(\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{\Lambda })_1]^{1/6}(Q)^{1/3}\times `$ (28)
$`(m_\mathrm{s}/r_\mathrm{s})^{2/3}m_8^{1/2}\alpha _2^{4/15}(\underset{1}{\overset{}{m}})^{7/30}r_2^{1/2}.`$
The dependences of $`\mathrm{sin}i_{\mathrm{ef}}`$ on $`r`$ for three zones of the SS accretion disk are:

$`\mathrm{sin}(i_{\mathrm{ef}})(r)`$
$`a)0.64Q^{1/3}(m_\mathrm{s}/r_\mathrm{s})^{2/3}(\alpha \stackrel{}{m})^{1/3}m_8^{1/12}[\dot{n}_\mathrm{y}(\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{\Lambda })_1]^{1/6}r_2^{1/4}`$
$`b)0.34Q^{1/3}(m_\mathrm{s}/r_\mathrm{s})^{2/3}(\alpha )^{4/15}(\stackrel{}{m})^{1/5}m_8^{41/60}\times `$
$`[\dot{n}_\mathrm{y}(\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{\Lambda })_1]^{1/6}r_2^{9/20}`$
$`c)0.3Q^{1/3}(m_\mathrm{s}/r_\mathrm{s})^{2/3}(\alpha )^{4/15}(\stackrel{}{m})^{7/30}m_8^{11/15}\times `$ (29)
$`[\dot{n}_\mathrm{y}(\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{\Lambda })_1]^{1/6}r_2^{1/2}.`$
The dependence of $`\mathrm{sin}(i_{\mathrm{ef}})`$ and $`n_{10}`$ on $`r_2`$ for different $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_4(r)`$ (the SS, NT and constant density disk cases) are shown in Fig. 1. We adopt $`M_{\mathrm{BH}}=10^8M_{}`$, $`\alpha =0.01`$ and $`\dot{m}=1`$. One can see that the stellar density rises quickly at small radii, while the effective inclination angle of the stellar orbits diminishes to the center. As can be seen from the picture, the difference in the behavior of $`\mathrm{sin}(i_{\mathrm{ef}})`$ for different disk models is not too large (though it has a wide minimum in the case of an SS disk), so further on we will use the NT model for our model calculations.

The inflow rate of the stars $`\dot{n}_\mathrm{y}`$ in this consideration (in the approximate model we investigate here) is assumed to be given by a constant, which is determined by the conditions at the outer border, $`R=R_{\mathrm{out}}.`$ This outer border is close to the above-estimated value $`R^{\mathrm{crit}}`$, determined by condition (16). Physically, the value $`\dot{n}(R_{\mathrm{out}})`$ is determined by the diffusion process, which depends on the properties of the compact stellar cluster, and which for the case of a non-rotating CSC was described by Bahcall & Wolf (1976). It is clear that in the central part of the CSC the stellar density can be so large that physical collisions of the stars can occur; besides, the stars can lose mass when they cross the disk. These processes have to be taken into account.

### 3.2 The contact stellar collisions

Let us consider the change of stellar flow due to the contact (sometimes it is called ‘physical’) collisions of the stars; this is the non-elastic s-s process. The collision velocities are about $`V_\mathrm{c}V\mathrm{sin}i`$ and the escape velocity from the surface of a star can be estimated as $`v_{}610^7[m_\mathrm{s}/r_\mathrm{s}]^{1/2}\mathrm{cm}\mathrm{s}^1`$. If $`V_\mathrm{c}>v_{}`$, the averaged mass loss per collision is large (Murphy et al. 1991), and stars are completely disrupted if the impact parameter is less than some value. In the opposite case $`V_\mathrm{c}<v_{}`$ (if, say, $`\mathrm{sin}(i_{\mathrm{ef}})<<1`$), the collisions can produce binary stars, or stars can be merged. Within the framework of the present paper we adopt equal masses of stars (which itself is far enough from reality!). In contact collisions a fraction of mass is always lost, but merging can increase stellar mass. Therefore, we will assume that both processes somehow compensate, and consider unchanged stellar masses, but take into account a decrease of the stellar density $`n_\mathrm{s}`$ and the stellar inflow $`\dot{n}_\mathrm{y}`$ as a result of the direct s-s collisions.

In Sect. 3.1 we have obtained formulae for the stellar density $`n_\mathrm{s}`$ and $`\mathrm{sin}(i_{\mathrm{ef}})`$, depending on the inflow of stars $`\dot{n}_\mathrm{y}`$. These formulae are valid also for the case $`\dot{n}_\mathrm{y}=\dot{n}_\mathrm{y}(R)`$. The frequency of the physical collisions of a given star with another stars (all stars have stellar radii $`R_\mathrm{s}`$) is

$$\nu _{\mathrm{ss}}^1=4\pi n_\mathrm{s}R_\mathrm{s}^2V_\mathrm{s}\mathrm{sin}(i_{\mathrm{ef}}),$$
(30)
and numerically:

$`\nu _{\mathrm{ss}}^10.410^{12}[\dot{n}_\mathrm{y}(\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{\Lambda })_1]^{1/2}\times `$ (31)
$`m_\mathrm{s}^1r_\mathrm{s}^2m_8^{5/4}r_2^{11/4}\mathrm{sin}(i_{\mathrm{ef}})\mathrm{s}^1.`$
The frequency of the star-star physical (contact) collisions in the spherical layer is

$$d\nu _{\mathrm{ss}}=16\pi ^2R_\mathrm{s}^2n_\mathrm{s}^2V_{\mathrm{sr}}^2[\mathrm{sin}(i_{\mathrm{ef}})]^2dR,$$
(32)
thus giving,

$`d\nu _{\mathrm{ss}}0.9510^4\times `$ (33)
$`r_\mathrm{s}^2m_\mathrm{s}^2m_8^2\dot{n}_\mathrm{y}(\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{\Lambda })_1^1r_2^3\mathrm{sin}^2(i_{\mathrm{ef}})dr_2\mathrm{s}^1.`$
The rate of the diminishing of the stellar inflow due to disruption of stars is $`d(\dot{n}_\mathrm{y})/dr=q_\mathrm{v}d\nu _{ss}(1/\mathrm{s})(310^7\mathrm{s}/\mathrm{yr})`$, where $`q_\mathrm{v}`$ is equal to $`2`$ or $`1`$, for the disruptive or merging case, depending on the $`V_\mathrm{r}/v_{}`$ relation. Besides, the cross-section of the stellar collisions depends on the relative stellar velocity $`V_\mathrm{r}/v_{}`$ due to gravitational focusing at small velocities. We use these dependences in the numerical calculations (see below). Here we will neglect them and obtain approximate solutions with $`q_\mathrm{v}=1.`$

In the spherical layer between $`R`$ and $`R+dR`$

$`d(\dot{n}_\mathrm{y})`$ (34)
$`2.910^3\dot{n}_\mathrm{y}(\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{\Lambda })_1^1m_\mathrm{s}{}_{}{}^{2}r_{\mathrm{s}}^{2}m_8^2\mathrm{sin}^2(i_{\mathrm{ef}})r_2^3dr_2.`$
Using $`\mathrm{sin}(i_{\mathrm{ef}})`$ from Eq. (27), one has ($`\dot{n}_\mathrm{y}`$ in units yr-1)

$`d(\dot{n}_\mathrm{y})1.2510^3\dot{n}_{\mathrm{y}}^{}{}_{}{}^{4/3}\times `$ (35)
$`(Q\mathrm{\Sigma }_4)^{2/3}(\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{\Lambda })_1^{2/3}m_\mathrm{s}{}_{}{}^{2/3}r_{\mathrm{s}}^{2/3}m_8^{7/6}r_2^{5/2}dr_2.`$
The solution of the differential equation can be obtained for different $`\mathrm{\Sigma }(r)=Ar^u`$. If we assume $`\mathrm{\Sigma }=const`$, the solution is

$`\dot{n}_\mathrm{y}(R)\{\dot{n}_{0\mathrm{y}}^{1/3}+0.2610^3(Q\mathrm{\Sigma }_4)^{2/3}\times `$ (36)
$`(\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{\Lambda })_1^{2/3}m_\mathrm{s}{}_{}{}^{2/3}r_{\mathrm{s}}^{2/3}m_8^{7/6}[r_2^{3/2}r_{02}^{3/2}]\}^3.`$
If we use $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ from the NT model, then

$`d[\dot{n}_\mathrm{y}(R)]0.510^2[\dot{n}_\mathrm{y}(R)]^{4/3}(Q)^{2/3}(\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{\Lambda })_1^{2/3}\times `$ (37)
$`m_\mathrm{s}^{2/3}r_\mathrm{s}^{2/3}m_8^{5/6}\alpha _2^{8/15}(\dot{m}_1)^{7/15}r_2^2dr_2,`$
and the approximate solution is

$`\dot{n}_\mathrm{y}(R)\{\dot{n}_{0\mathrm{y}}^{1/3}+3.4(Q)^{2/3}(\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{\Lambda })_1^{2/3}\times `$ (38)
$`m_\mathrm{s}{}_{}{}^{2/3}r_{\mathrm{s}}^{2/3}m_8^{5/6}\alpha _2^{8/15}(\dot{m})^{7/15}[r_2^1r_{02}^1]\}^3.`$
With these results and using Eqs. (26) and (27), we have the stellar density and the effective inclination angle of orbits

$`n_{10}(R)0.6710^3[\dot{n}_\mathrm{y}(R)/(\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{\Lambda })_1]^{1/2}m_8^{3/4}r_2^{9/4}m_\mathrm{s}^1,`$
$`\mathrm{sin}(i_{\mathrm{ef}})(R)0.93[\dot{n}_\mathrm{y}(R)(\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{\Lambda })_1]^{1/6}\times `$ (39)
$`(Q\mathrm{\Sigma }_4)^{1/3}(m_\mathrm{s}/r_\mathrm{s})^{2/3}m_8^{5/12}r_2^{1/4}.`$
A more precise result can be obtained numerically if we take into account the dependence of the cross-section of the stellar collisions on the relative stellar velocity due to gravitational focusing at small velocities $`V_{\mathrm{rel}}V_{\mathrm{esc}}610^7(m_\mathrm{s}/r_\mathrm{s})^{1/2}`$ cm s-1. These cases take place at small $`\mathrm{sin}i_{\mathrm{ef}}`$ and/or at large distances, where we have to use collision cross sections as $`\sigma _{\mathrm{ss}}=4\pi R_\mathrm{s}^2(1+`$ $`V_{\mathrm{esc}}/V_{\mathrm{rel}})^2`$.

### 3.3 Stellar mass loss due to s-d interactions

In the above considerations we neglected the change of the masses of stars due to s-s collisions, assuming that mass loss and stellar merging compensate and that stellar masses keep their initial values. This approximation is reasonable at large radii since the stellar density is small, and collisions of stars are rare. On the other hand, stars would systematically lose mass when crossing the disk, and this process is more intense at small radii.

The frequency of the star-disk interactions of a single star in a circular orbit with radius $`R`$ is inversely proportional to the half-period, $`\nu _{\mathrm{sd}}=1/\mathrm{\Delta }T(R)`$; numerically

$$\nu _{\mathrm{sd}}^10.7110^8m_8^{1/2}r_2^{3/2}\mathrm{s}^1.$$
(40)
The differential frequency of the star-disk crosses by stars from the volume of a spherical layer $`dV=4\pi R^2\mathrm{sin}(i_{\mathrm{ef}})dR`$ is

$$d\nu _{\mathrm{sd}}=4\pi n_\mathrm{s}\mathrm{\Delta }T^1R^2\mathrm{sin}(i_{\mathrm{ef}})dR,$$
(41)
and expressed in \[s-1\] gives

$$d\nu _{\mathrm{sd}}0.6m_\mathrm{s}^1m_8^{5/4}[\dot{n}_\mathrm{y}/(\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{\Lambda })_1]^{1/2}r_2^{7/4}\mathrm{sin}(i_{\mathrm{ef}})dr_2.$$
(42)
As the effective inclination angle is non-zero (and typically it is larger then several degrees), the star-disk velocities are supersonic and the stars lose their masses when crossing the disk. Let us suppose that the mass-loss rate is proportional to the dissipated energy

$$dM_\mathrm{s}/dt=q_\mathrm{m}(dE1/dt)(dM/dE),$$
(43)
where $`dE1/dt`$ is the rate of the energy dissipation in the disk and $`dM_\mathrm{s}/dE=R_\mathrm{s}/(GM_\mathrm{s})`$.

Obviously, the envelopes of the red giants will be blown off in the process of crossing the outermost parts of a typical accretion disk of the bright AGN, so further on we will consider only the main-sequence stars. Denoting $`q_\mathrm{m}10^2q_{\mathrm{m}2}`$, and using Eqs. (4) and (6) we have (in units of $`\mathrm{g}\mathrm{s}^1`$)

$$dM_\mathrm{s}/dt=2.610^{18}q_{\mathrm{m}2}r_\mathrm{s}^3m_\mathrm{s}^1Q\mathrm{\Sigma }_4m_8^{3/2}r_2^{5/2}\varphi _1(i_{\mathrm{ef}}).$$
(44)
We can deduce the radial dependence of $`m_\mathrm{s}`$ from $`dM_\mathrm{s}/dR=(dM_\mathrm{s}/dt)/V_\mathrm{r}`$. Assuming $`\mathrm{cos}i_{\mathrm{ef}}1`$) and $`r_\mathrm{s}m_\mathrm{s}`$ (appropriate for the main-sequence stars), one has

$$dm_\mathrm{s}/m_\mathrm{s}2.3q_{\mathrm{m}2}m_8(dr_2/r_2^2).$$
(45)
The solution of the equation is

$$m_\mathrm{s}m_{\mathrm{s0}}\mathrm{exp}\{K[1/r_21/r_2^{(0)}]\}.$$
(46)
where $`K=2.3q_{\mathrm{m}2}m_8`$, and $`r_2^{(0)}=r_2^{\mathrm{crit}}`$ is the outer (critical) radius of the stellar inflow. The peculiarity of the process is that (within our approximations!) it does not depend on the $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_4(r)`$ behavior.

In the region $`r_2<<r_2^{(0)}`$ the solution is $`m_\mathrm{s}m_{\mathrm{s0}}\mathrm{exp}\{K/r_2\}`$, and one can see that the mass of a star quickly goes to zero when $`r_2<K`$. Physically this means that at this distance the time scale of the mass loss becomes less than that of the radial drift (inflow), so the stars with diminished masses crowd close to $`r_2K`$. The distance $`R_\mathrm{m}0.01Kq_{\mathrm{m}2}\mathrm{pc}`$ is the radius of melting of the stars due to the star-disk crossings.

It can be noted that the time between consecutive crossings is several years at this distance ($`m_8=1`$), and the duration of crossing is about one day, so the stars really can be bloated due to deformation and heating of the surface, and this leads to even quicker melting of the stars.

Adopting a minimal stellar mass of $`0.01M_{}`$, one has $`(r_2)_{\mathrm{min}}K/\mathrm{ln}(m_{\mathrm{s0}}/m_\mathrm{s}),`$ that is $`(r_2)_{\mathrm{min}}0.5q_{\mathrm{m}2}m_8`$ for $`m_{\mathrm{s0}}=1`$, and $`(r_2)_{\mathrm{min}}q_{\mathrm{m}2}m_8`$ for $`m_{\mathrm{s0}}=0.1`$ .

As the stellar density drops quickly due to the melting of stars at $`r_2<(r_2)_{\mathrm{min}}`$, in the numerical calculation we used the approximation

$`n_{10}1.310^3[\dot{n}_\mathrm{y}/(\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{\Lambda })_1]^{1/2}\times `$ (47)
$`m_8^{3/4}r_2^{9/4}m_{\mathrm{s0}}^1\mathrm{exp}\{[K/r_2(10.5K/r_2]\},`$
that is the stellar density is enhanced close to $`r_22.3q_{\mathrm{m}2}m_8`$ and then drops at smaller radii. This means the appearance of some ‘stellar hoop’ with the radius $`r_2=2.3q_{\mathrm{m}2}m_8`$. The numerical calculations of the emission line profiles (see Sect. 4) give reasonable results with $`q_{\mathrm{m}2}1`$, which we accept below as the standard value.

The influence of the process of star melting at small radii was taken into account in the numerical calculations of the models, and the results are presented in Figs. 2 and 3.

Our approximation works for sufficiently dense disks, so we show the results of the numerical calculations for the case of NT disk with $`\alpha =0.01`$ and $`\dot{m}=1`$.

In Fig. 2 we show the radial dependences of stellar densities and stellar flows for the case of $`M_{\mathrm{BH}}=10^8M_{}`$ with different initial (at the outer border) values of the stellar flow $`\dot{n}_{\mathrm{y0}}=0.1,1,10\mathrm{yr}^1`$. One can see that at small distances all the flows $`\dot{n}_\mathrm{y}(R)`$ become almost the same and independent on the initial values of $`\dot{n}_{\mathrm{y0}}`$ at large radius. This result is notable, as it shows that in fact the accretion disk itself can be built with the gas resulting from the s-s disruptive collisions in the dense enough CSC.

We used this hypothesis for calculation of the reference models of different AGNs, assuming that the accretion rate onto the MBH is always equal to the initial mass inflow by stars at the outer border of the CSC/AD system, $`\dot{n}_\mathrm{y}m_\mathrm{s}=m_8\dot{m}`$. In Fig. 3 we show the radial dependences of stellar densities, inclination angles and stellar flows for the reference models with $`M_{\mathrm{BH}}=10^7M_{},10^8M_{},10^9M_{}`$; also cases without contact stellar collisions and mass loss due to the disk crossing are shown for comparison (thin lines), and the behavior of the stellar inflow $`\dot{n}_\mathrm{y}(R)`$ is marked (dashed lines).

## 4 Broad emission line region

There is still no commonly accepted physical idea about the nature of the broad emission line regions (BELR) of AGNs. The possible role of the accretion disk was stressed by Dumont & Collin-Souffrin (1990) and it was subsequently considered in a number of papers (e.g. Collin & Hure 2001). There were, however, also many attempts to involve stars (viz. excited, bloated or comet-like stars) in the explanation of problems of clouds, moving and emitting in BELRs (Edvards 1980; Shull 1983; Penston 1988; Scoville & Norman 1988, 1995; Kazans 1989; $`\dot{Z}`$urek et al. 1994). The most recent was the study by Alexander & Netzer (1994, 1997), where the authors considered emission from the outer envelopes of excited stars and used a spherically symmetric model of the structure and dynamics of the CSC in the vicinity of the MBH (Murphy et al. 1991). The application of a spherical model to the stellar dynamics in BELRs is questionable, because it completely ignores the interaction of stars with the AD. Our model of stellar dynamics includes both interactions which together determine the correct spatial and kinematical distribution of stars and we can now built a model of the BELR based on that knowledge.

To define the physical nature of the BELR clouds, and the model of the star-disk interaction in more details, we refer to the paper by $`\dot{Z}`$urek et al. (1994), where the structure of the plasma around the star moving through the disk is presented as a combination of a hot bow-shock filled with hot plasma, and a more dense and cold wake, or tail, behind the star. We suppose that when the star comes out from the disk surface, the appearance of the bow-shock from the surface of the disk can be treated as a fireball, and the stellar wakes can be identified with the clouds of the BELR.

$`\dot{Z}`$urek et al. (1994) assumed that the BELR clouds are actually wakes of matter, dragged by the stars from the disk. We accept this idea in a slightly changed variant, taking the view that the matter dragged from the disk creates a fireball, and the wakes contain the mass, lost by the stars when they cross the disk (both parts are the same to within an order of magnitude). As was described in the previous section, the fraction of mass lost by the star is proportional to the dissipated energy $`\mathrm{\Delta }E`$, that is $`\mathrm{\Delta }M_\mathrm{s}=0,01q_{\mathrm{m}2}\mathrm{\Delta }EdM/dE`$, where $`dM_\mathrm{s}/dE=R_\mathrm{s}/(GM_\mathrm{s})`$.

Taking $`\mathrm{\Delta }E`$ from Eq. (6), one has

$$M_\mathrm{t}\mathrm{\Delta }M_\mathrm{s}\text{ }3.510^{26}q_{\mathrm{m}2}Q\mathrm{\Sigma }_4r_\mathrm{s}^3m_\mathrm{s}^1m_8r_2^1\varphi _1\mathrm{g},$$
(48)
where $`q_{\mathrm{m}2}=1`$ means that we assume that $`1\%`$ of the star’s energy dissipated in the disk is used for the mass loss of the star.

As the balance of forces acting on the wakes depends on the parameters of AGNs and is model-dependent, we assume here the simplest case: the wakes follow the stars. Let the wakes be cylinders with lengths approximately equal to the height of the stellar orbit above the disk, $`l_\mathrm{t}R\mathrm{sin}(i_{\mathrm{ef}})`$, and let the radii of the cylinders be close to the stellar radius, $`r_\mathrm{t}r_\mathrm{s}R_{}`$ (this last suggestion may require the presence of a hot corona to provide the cold gas confinement). Then the mean particle density in the cylinder is

$$nM_\mathrm{t}/[l_\mathrm{t}\pi r_\mathrm{s}^2\mathrm{sin}(i_{\mathrm{ef}})m_\mathrm{p}],$$
(49)
or numerically

$$n3.810^{11}q_2Q\mathrm{\Sigma }_4r_\mathrm{s}m_\mathrm{s}^1m_8r_2^2\varphi _1/(\mathrm{sin}i_{\mathrm{ef}})\mathrm{cm}^3,$$
(50)
and the column density is

$$N6.510^{22}q_2Q\mathrm{\Sigma }_4r_\mathrm{s}m_\mathrm{s}^1m_8r_2^2\varphi _1/(\mathrm{sin}i_{\mathrm{ef}})\mathrm{cm}^2.$$
(51)
The covering factor (CF) of a single cloud (along the disk radius) is

$$\mathrm{\Omega }=2R_\mathrm{s}l_\mathrm{t}/4\pi R^23.710^7r_\mathrm{s}\mathrm{sin}i_{\mathrm{ef}}/r_2,$$
(52)
and the total covering factor of many clouds in a spherical layer from $`R`$ to $`R+dR`$ (the differential CF) is

$$CF=4\pi \mathrm{\Omega }n_\mathrm{s}R^2\mathrm{sin}i_{\mathrm{ef}}dR,$$
(53)
where $`n_\mathrm{s}`$ is the stellar density (the number of clouds per unit volume is close to the stellar number density because we assume the life-time of a cloud is close to half the orbital period of the star: one star – one cloud).

Taking into account that at small and intermediate inclination angles $`\varphi _1/(\mathrm{sin}i_{\mathrm{ef}})\mathrm{sin}i_{\mathrm{ef}}`$, and that the flow of the ionizing photons is proportional to $`\mathrm{\Phi }_\mathrm{i}10^{22}m_8\dot{m}r_2^2`$, one can see that the particle densities and the radiation flows are within the range of calculations of Korista et al. (1997) for the atlas of equivalent widths ($`EW`$) of quasar broad emission lines. These calculations give $`EW`$ as a function of two parameters, $`\mathrm{\Phi }_\mathrm{i}`$ and $`n`$, supposing that all the clouds have column densities $`N=10^{23}\mathrm{cm}^2`$ and the total covering factor of the clouds is $`CF=1`$. This permits us to calculate the profile of an emission line as

$`I(V)K{\displaystyle _{R_{\mathrm{min}}}^{R_{\mathrm{max}}}}EW(\mathrm{\Phi }_\mathrm{i},n)\mathrm{\Omega }n_\mathrm{s}R^2\mathrm{sin}i_{\mathrm{ef}}dR`$ (54)
$`{\displaystyle }{\displaystyle }\{C_\mathrm{r}(\phi ,\theta )/(v_\mathrm{r}\mathrm{cos}\phi )\pi ^{1/2}D^1\mathrm{exp}[(v_{\mathrm{ch}}/D)^2]`$
$`\delta (Vv_\mathrm{p}v_{\mathrm{ch}})\}d\phi dv_{\mathrm{ch}}`$
where $`V`$ is the velocity projection along the line of sight, $`K`$ is a constant for a specific line, $`EW(\mathrm{\Phi }_\mathrm{i},n)`$ is the $`EW`$ of the line calculated in Korista et al. (1997) as a function of $`\mathrm{\Phi }_\mathrm{i}`$ and $`n`$, $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is the coverage factor of a cloud at the distance $`R`$, $`n_\mathrm{s}`$ is the number density of stars (and so of the clouds), $`C_\mathrm{r}`$ is the relativistic correction, $`v_\mathrm{p}(\phi ,\theta )=v_\mathrm{r}\mathrm{cos}\phi \mathrm{sin}\theta `$ is the projection of the rotational velocity $`v_\mathrm{r}`$ onto the line of sight, ($`\phi `$ is the azimuth angle and $`\theta `$ is the angle between the line of sight and the axis of the disk), $`v_{\mathrm{ch}}`$ is the projection component of the chaotic velocity of stars with dispersion $`D(R)=0.6710^9(M_8/r_2)\mathrm{sin}i_{\mathrm{ef}}`$ cm s-1, where $`M(R)`$ is the total mass within radius $`R`$ and $`\delta ()`$ is the delta-function.

Note that the velocity dispersion $`D`$ of the chaotic motion contains $`\mathrm{sin}i_{\mathrm{ef}}`$, because the velocity dispersion is due to the distribution of the inclination angles and eccentricities around the effective values; we assume here that the distribution of the projection velocities is Gaussian in the coordinate system co-rotating with the AD.

We convolve the rotational velocity with the chaotic velocities of the stars; this means that the velocity of clouds contains both the rotational (disk) and chaotic velocity components of the stars. $`R_{\mathrm{min}}`$ and $`R_{\mathrm{max}}`$ in the integral limits are taken correspondingly as $`0.001\mathrm{pc}`$ and $`(m_8\dot{m})^{1/2}\mathrm{pc}`$, the last is approximately determined by the inner radius of the putative obscuring torus.

We performed the computations for the disk surface density profile of NT given by Eq. (7).

The results of the numerical calculations of the profiles of the $`H_\alpha `$ line, normalized to $`1`$ at the maximum, are presented in Fig. 4. Each panel contains three profiles, corresponding to different inclination angles of the line of sight to the axis of the AD: $`\theta =10^{},30^{}`$ and $`60^{}`$. The general shapes of the profiles are determined by the combination of a broad part, which depends mostly on the rotation of the inner region of the disk, and a more narrow central part, which is determined mostly by stellar chaotic motions in the outer parts of the system.

In Fig. 4(a-c) we show line profiles for the Eddington mass inflow ($`\dot{m}=1`$) and for different masses of the MBH, $`m_8=0.1,1,10`$, which would correspond to a Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 galaxy (NLS1), a Seyfert galaxy and a quasar, respectively. Our calculations support the idea that the narrow line Seyfert 1 galaxies are those with small MBH mass and almost Eddington mass inflow; or they can be objects with intermediate MBH mass and with a mass inflow less than the Eddington one, seen at an angle $`\theta <30^{}`$.

Our theoretical consideration of the stellar distribution above the AD gives reasonable line profiles, supporting the idea that the emitting clouds are somehow related to the stars. They can be the wakes, following the stars after crossing the disk, or/and some gas envelopes of the stars themselves, which are disturbed by disk-crossing and by close passages of other stars. The mean distance between the stars at stellar density $`n_\mathrm{s}10^9\mathrm{pc}^3`$ is $`dr10^3`$ pc, and many stars pass at even smaller distances, exciting each other by tidal forces and tangential collisions. However, in the present paper we used the specific model of clouds as the stellar wakes.

In our model the covering factor of the clouds along the AD plane became higher than $`1`$ at large radii, so the spectrum of ionizing radiation has to be changed in the outer parts of the BELR. Of course, our model calculations are preliminary and rough, and a more detailed model has to be considered for the sake of comparisons with the observed profiles. But the common property following from the physical sense of our approach, viz. that the wings of the profiles should be more variable than the central peaks, seems to be confirmed by reverberation investigations.

## 5 Variability

In the present section we will estimate the level of variability driven by the stars. Obviously, the interpretation of the variability demands the calculation of rather complicated models, but here we will make a simple analysis of the variability expected from the inelastic processes of star-disk and star-star interactions. We consider two types of processes, connected with the energetic events of s-d and s-s collisions: flashes of UV radiation and X-ray flares. We consider a very simple model: let every event produce a fireball, filled with matter dragged from the disk (s-d crossing) or from stars (s-s collision), and expanding in a hot coronal medium. When the fireball becomes Compton-transparent, it produces a UV flare. The radiation of the flare interacts with the hot electrons of the corona above the disk, thus producing a flare of the up-scattered X-radiation.

The real picture is of course much more complicated. The fireball radiation spectrum evolves; quickly expanding fireballs create blast waves in the environment, and the bow shock can be accelerated when propagating from the disk surface into the corona with diminishing density. It is possible also that the matter of the fireball is heated later on to the coronal temperature, thus creating a transient patchy corona. The undisturbed, steady-state corona (without any influence of stars) can extend up to $`R=300R_\mathrm{g}`$ (Kawaguchi et al. 2001); the patchy corona created by s-d interactions can extend to even larger distances.

All these processes require a more detailed description, but here we consider the simplest one, based on the simple picture of fireballs.

### 5.1 The star-disk events

When a star comes out of the disk, it is preceded by a bow-shock, accompanied by a fountain of the matter from the disk. The total amount of gas thrown out above the disk consist of two parts: $`\mathrm{\Delta }M_\mathrm{d}`$ is the mass dragged out from disk by the star, and $`\mathrm{\Delta }M_\mathrm{s}`$ is the mass lost by the star.

We assume that the fireball is created by the first mass, and that the second mass creates the wake, following the star and showing up as a BELR cloud, as was discussed in the previous section.

Then the mass of the fireball is $`M_\mathrm{f}=\mathrm{\Delta }M_\mathrm{d}=q_1\pi R_\mathrm{s}^2\mathrm{\Sigma }_\mathrm{d}`$, where $`q_11`$; numerically

$$M_\mathrm{f}1.610^{26}q_1r_\mathrm{s}^2\mathrm{\Sigma }_4\mathrm{g}.$$
(55)
Let the fireball contain the energy deposited by the star into the disk matter,

$$\mathrm{\Delta }E0.710^{44}Qr_\mathrm{s}^2\mathrm{\Sigma }_4m_8r_2^1\varphi (i)/(\mathrm{cos}i)\mathrm{erg}.$$
(56)
We assume that the fireball expands and produces the flare when it becomes transparent, that is optically thin relative to the electron scattering. At this moment its radius fits the relation $`R_\mathrm{f}\rho \sigma =1,`$ where $`\rho =M_\mathrm{f}/(4/3\pi R^3)`$ is the density of the fireball, and $`\sigma 0.4\mathrm{cm}^2\mathrm{g}^1`$ is the Thomson scattering cross section per gram of the ionized cosmic plasma. Then the radius of the fireball at the moment of the flare is

$$R_\mathrm{f}(M_\mathrm{f}\sigma _\mathrm{T}/4)^{1/2}.410^{13}(q_1\mathrm{\Sigma }_4)^{1/2}r_\mathrm{s}\mathrm{cm}.$$
(57)
The density at the moment of the flare is

$$\rho _\mathrm{f}M_\mathrm{f}/(4/3\pi R_\mathrm{f}^3)6.310^{13}q_1^{1/2}r_\mathrm{s}^1\mathrm{\Sigma }_4^{1/2},$$
(58)
so the particle density is

$$n=3.210^{11}q_1^{1/2}r_\mathrm{s}^1\mathrm{\Sigma }_4^{1/2}\mathrm{cm}^3,$$
(59)
and the column density is close to $`N_\mathrm{H}=10^{24}\mathrm{cm}^2.`$

The temperature in the fireball changes due to its expansion approximately as

$$T_\mathrm{f}[q_1\mathrm{\Delta }E/(4/3\pi aR^3)]^{1/4}\mathrm{K},$$
(60)
where $`a=7.610^{15}`$ erg cm-3 K-4, and $`R`$ is the radius of the expanding fireball.

At the moment of the flare, the temperature is therefore

$$T_\mathrm{f}.810^5Q_\mathrm{T}r_\mathrm{s}^1\mathrm{\Sigma }_4^{1/2}m_8^{1/4}r_2^{1/4}\varphi 1^{1/4}\mathrm{K},$$
(61)
where $`Q_\mathrm{T}=q_1{}_{}{}^{3/8}Q_{}^{1/4}`$, and the spectral maximum of the flare is in the far UV-band,

$$\nu 510^{15}\mathrm{Hz}.$$
(62)
The estimate of the minimum duration of the flare (assuming that the radiation leaves the fireball when the latter becomes Compton-thin) is

$$\mathrm{\Delta }t_\mathrm{f}2R_\mathrm{f}/c.310^3q_1\mathrm{\Sigma }_4^{1/2}r_\mathrm{s}\mathrm{s},$$
(63)
and the average luminosity during the flare is

$$L_\mathrm{f}=\mathrm{\Delta }E_\mathrm{f}/\mathrm{\Delta }t_\mathrm{f}3.10^{41}qr_\mathrm{s}\mathrm{\Sigma }_4^{1/2}m_8r_2^1\varphi _1\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}^1,$$
(64)
where $`q=q_1Q`$.

In the NT disk we have

$$L_\mathrm{f}0.510^{43}qr_\mathrm{s}m_8^{9/8}\alpha _2^{2/5}(\dot{m}_1)^{7/20}r_2^{11/8}\varphi _1\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}^1.$$
(65)
The real duration of the flare is rather longer, and the luminosity is less than in these estimates. When the temperature of the fireball becomes lower than $`10^5`$ K, the plasma in the fireball partly recombines, which increases the opacity to above its Thomson value. Besides, if the fireball expands with a velocity close to the sound velocity $`V_\mathrm{f}(k_\mathrm{B}/m_\mathrm{p}T_\mathrm{f})^{1/2}310^6`$ cm s-1, the time of expansion is $`t_{\mathrm{ex}}R_\mathrm{f}/V_\mathrm{f}10^6`$ s. So, rough estimates show that the characteristic duration of the flare is in between the two limits

$$310^2q_1\mathrm{\Sigma }_4^{1/2}r_\mathrm{s}<\mathrm{\Delta }t_\mathrm{f}(\mathrm{s})<10^6\mathrm{q}_1\mathrm{\Sigma }_4^{1/2}\mathrm{r}_\mathrm{s}/(\mathrm{T}_{\mathrm{f5}})^{1/2}.$$
(66)
Now we estimate the combined effect of all star-disk events.

It has to be noted here that the results of model calculations of luminosity and variability, connected with the star-disk interaction, depend strongly on the values of the rates of energy change, estimated by Eqs. (14) and (6). In principle, these estimates can be increased, because the coefficient Q in $`dE^{(\mathrm{sd})}/dt`$ is unspecified, and $`dE^{(\mathrm{ss})}/dt`$ can be increased, e.g. due to collective processes in the flat distribution of stars. The same effect of increasing luminosity is expected if the equilibrium $`dE^{(\mathrm{sd})}/dt=dE^{(\mathrm{ss})}/dt`$ is not reached, due to larger values of $`\mathrm{sin}(i_{\mathrm{ef}})`$. Because of this, we calculated all quantities of interest (see below) for our reference models with $`m_8=0.1,1,10`$ for two cases: 1) energy change rates given by Eqs. (14) and (6); 2) energy change rates increased by a factor of 5.

The mean luminosity provided by star-disk interaction in the ring between $`R`$ and $`R+dR`$ is $`dL=\mathrm{\Delta }E_\mathrm{f}d\nu _{\mathrm{sd}}`$, with $`d\nu _{\mathrm{sd}}`$ from Eq. (42):

$`dL210^{43}Q\mathrm{\Sigma }_4[\dot{n}_\mathrm{y}^r/(\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{\Lambda })_1]^{1/2}\times `$ (67)
$`r_\mathrm{s}^2m_\mathrm{s}^1m_8^{9/4}r_2^{11/4}\varphi (i)\mathrm{sin}(i_{\mathrm{ef}})dr_2,`$
and the total luminosity of the flares is

$$L_{\mathrm{fT}}=L_\mathrm{f}\mathrm{\Delta }t_\mathrm{f}𝑑\nu _{\mathrm{sd}}=\mathrm{\Delta }E_\mathrm{f}𝑑\nu _{\mathrm{sd}}.$$
(68)
From calculations of the reference models with $`m_8=0.1,1,10`$, we have the total UV-flare luminosities (in units of $`10^{43}\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}^1`$) in the first case $`L_{\mathrm{fT}}0.02,0.07,0.39`$, and for the second case ($`dE/dt`$ 5 times larger): $`L_{\mathrm{fT}}2.2,29,7.4`$.

One can see that in the second case the total luminosity of flares resulting in the s-d interactions is comparable to the variable fraction of the UV luminosity.

The average number of the simultaneous flares in every $`dr`$ –ring is $`dL/L_\mathrm{f},`$ so the total number of coexisting flares is

$$N=\mathrm{\Delta }t_\mathrm{f}𝑑\nu _{\mathrm{sd}}.$$
(69)
For the three MBH masses ($`m_8=0.1,1,10`$), we have (with $`\mathrm{\Delta }t^{min}`$) in the first case $`N3.6,5.7,100`$, and in the second case $`N17,73,300`$.

The weighted luminosity of a flare is $`\stackrel{~}{F}_\mathrm{f}=L_{\mathrm{fT}}/N`$, and the mean-square deviation of the luminosity due to chaotic variability is

$$DL_{\mathrm{sd}}=\stackrel{~}{F}_\mathrm{f}N^{1/2}=L_{\mathrm{fT}}/N^{1/2}.$$
(70)
Corresponding values for the three MBH masses are in the first case $`DL/L_\mathrm{f}=1/N^{1/2}0.5,0.4,0.1`$, and in the second case $`DL/L_\mathrm{f}0.24,0.12,0.06`$; so, the variability amplitude diminishes with increasing luminosity of AGNs.

### 5.2 The star-star events

Similarly we can estimate the variability connected with the star-star contact collisions. We assume that the average mass-loss per collision is
$`M_\mathrm{f}0.1\zeta _1M_\mathrm{s}=210^{32}\zeta _1m_\mathrm{s}\mathrm{g}`$.

The parameters of the s-s fireballs (the total energy, the radius of the fireball, the temperature of UV radiation, the minimum and maximum duration of the UV flare are:

$`\mathrm{\Delta }E`$ $`=`$ $`0.4510^{50}\zeta _1m_\mathrm{s}m_8r_2^1\mathrm{sin}^2(i_{\mathrm{ef}})\mathrm{erg},`$
$`R_\mathrm{f}`$ $``$ $`(M_\mathrm{f}\sigma _\mathrm{T}/4)^{1/2}1.110^{16}m_\mathrm{s}^{1/2}\zeta _1^{1/2}\mathrm{cm},`$
$`T_\mathrm{f}`$ $``$ $`3.610^4\zeta _1^{1/4}m_\mathrm{s}^{1/4}m_8^{1/4}r^{1/4}\mathrm{sin}^2i_{\mathrm{ef}}\mathrm{K},`$ (71)
$`\mathrm{\Delta }t_\mathrm{f}^{\mathrm{min}}`$ $``$ $`2R_\mathrm{f}/c=0.710^6m_\mathrm{s}^{1/2}\zeta _1^{1/2}\mathrm{s},`$
$`\mathrm{\Delta }t_\mathrm{f}^{\mathrm{max}}`$ $``$ $`2R_\mathrm{f}/V_{\mathrm{sound}}310^9\mathrm{s}.`$
The corresponding average luminosity is given by

$$L_\mathrm{f}^{\mathrm{max}}.6410^{44}\zeta _1^{1/2}m_\mathrm{s}^{1/2}m_8r^1\mathrm{sin}^2i_{\mathrm{ef}}\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}^1,$$
(72)
$$L_\mathrm{f}^{\mathrm{min}}210^{41}\zeta _1^{1/2}m_\mathrm{s}^{1/2}m_8r^1\mathrm{sin}^2i_{\mathrm{ef}}\mathrm{ergs}^1.$$
(73)
By definition, the column density of the fireball at the moment of the flare is $`N=Rn10^{24}\mathrm{cm}^3`$, so $`n10^9\mathrm{cm}^3`$.

Taking $`d\nu _{\mathrm{ss}}`$ from Eq. (31), we have a number of simultaneous flares $`N=\mathrm{\Delta }t_\mathrm{f}𝑑\nu _{\mathrm{ss}}`$, which is typically less than 1. This means that s-s events lead to even lower average luminosity than s-d ones, though the amplitude of the s-s flares are larger.

### 5.3 The relation of the UV and X-ray events and the frequency dependence

Of course, the variability connected with stars may not be the only mechanism operating in AGN. Their variability can be mostly driven by the variable (unstable) accretion rate onto the MBH. The process of accretion itself is rather complicated, and the theory develops quickly (see the recent review in Park & Ostriker, 2001). The variability observations show some common properties of the variability of the AGNs and the stellar-mass Galactic black hole candidates (Utley & McHardy 2001, Chiang et all. 2000), and for that class of objects the model of distributed flares has been considered (Galeev et al. 1979, Czerny & Lehto 1997, Poutanen & Fabian 1999). On the other hand, it has been shown that UV and X-ray variability of AGNs cannot be explained with models assuming simple reprocessing of the X-ray emission of a variable point source placed at the symmetry axis above AD. Is it possible that s-d collisions can work in AGNs instead of the magnetic flares supposed to exist in the Galactic black holes?

From the rough estimates provided in the previous subsection one can conclude that the s-d interaction can lead to a noticeable variability amplitude only if both rates of energy dissipation – due to s-d and s-s interactions – are enhanced several times in comparison to our basic estimates. This can possibly be achieved with a more realistic distribution of stellar masses. An increase might also come due to unusual properties of the stars in the very compact stellar clusters. Deviations from the equilibrium conditions (which was assumed by us for the approximate solutions) also promote larger values of $`\mathrm{sin}(i_{\mathrm{ef}})`$ and, as a consequence, lead to more power radiated from s-d interactions.

Obviously, the UV events are divided into two types: those connected with s-d and with s-s interactions. The relations of the two types of interactions to the X-ray events are different.

In the s-d case, the UV flares occur at relatively small heights above the AD, which are close to the fireball size, $`h0.3910^{13}(q_1\mathrm{\Sigma }_4)^{1/2}r_\mathrm{s}`$ cm. The time for reaching this distance is $`tR_\mathrm{f}/V_\mathrm{f}`$, where $`R_\mathrm{f}`$ and $`V_\mathrm{f}`$ are the size of the fireball and the velocity of its expansion, and the time from the appearance of the blast wave to the maximum of the UV luminosity is $`t0.3910^4(q_1\mathrm{\Sigma }_4)^{1/2}r_\mathrm{s}`$ s. The size of the region of up-scattering is about the coronal scale height, around $`10^{13}10^{14}`$ cm, which leads to a time-lag between UV and X-ray flares of about $`\mathrm{\Delta }t_\mathrm{f}10^310^4`$ s.

In the s-s case, most events occur at large heights above the disk, so the fraction of photons reflected by the corona is small, and the duration of Compton-scattered X-ray events, as well as the time-lag, are much longer than in the case of the s-d event.

Using the estimates from the previous section, we can consider the amplitude-frequency relations following from star-disk and star-star dissipative interactions. In Fig. 5 we plot the dependences of the UV flare luminosity $`L_\mathrm{f}=\mathrm{\Delta }E_\mathrm{f}(R)/\mathrm{\Delta }t_\mathrm{f}(R)`$, divided by frequency $`d\nu (R)`$ on the frequency. We plot both $`L_{\mathrm{fss}}/d\nu _{\mathrm{ss}}`$ and $`L_{\mathrm{fsd}}/d\nu _{\mathrm{sd}}`$ in the same figure using the above-defined dependence of both values on radius and replacing the radial coordinate with the frequency coordinate where the frequency-radius relation is taken from the determined characteristic frequency of events at a given radius. Let us call the dependence “frequency-amplitude dependence” (FAD). Note that the FAD cannot be strictly compared to the power density spectrum (PDS), observed in the UV and X-ray bands (e.g. McHardy & Czerny 1987, Chiang et all. 2000). These PDS are obtained by Fourier transformation of the light curves, which are usually measured in frequency bands about $`10^710^4`$ Hz and show a sort of red noise, that is $`PDS\nu ^\mathrm{p}`$ with $`p12`$; sometimes $`p0`$ is found at the low-frequency limit. The FAD spectrum shown in Fig. 5 has a different meaning: it is just the dependence of the flare luminosity per frequency interval on the frequency of the events. Besides, we recall that we use the equal stellar mass and other approximations, so the real slopes of the curves could be steeper and the curves could cover a broader frequency range. Nevertheless, some general prediction about PDS can be derived from our calculations:

i) the PDS of AGNs can be divided into two parts: fast variability (on time scales from hundreds of seconds to about a year, which is connected with the s-d processes) and slow variability (on time scales from several years to thousands of years, connected with the s-s collisions).

ii) the PDS slope can change abruptly somewhere in between the fast and slow part, and the slow variability part of the PDS has a larger amplitude. This conclusion seems to be in agreement with the results of long-time observations in X-ray band (Markowitz & Edelson 2001), and it is definitely supported by long-time observations in the optical band (Czerny et al. 1999, Czerny et al. 2001).

iii) the differences of PDS between the slow and fast parts may depend on the AGN luminosity and other parameters.

Our preliminary conclusions are that the presence of a CSC in AGNs does not contradict the observations, the CSC can contribute to AGN variability in some cases, and further comparison of variability of AGNs and Galactic black holes is needed.

## 6 Discussion and conclusions

The role of the compact stellar cluster in the creation and evolution of AGN is still poorly understood. We suppose that this role is very important, so that the AGN phenomenon can be considered as a result of interactions of three main physical subsystems: the CSC, MBH and gas subsystem. We call this approach the interacting subsystems theory (Vilkoviskij et al. 1999).

Our model of the CSC-disk interaction, though very approximate, is the first one which treats star-star and star-disk interactions jointly, so it can serve as a starting point for considering some new physics in AGN problems.

We showed that the star-disk interaction tends to order stellar orbits, dragging them to the disk plane and making them circular, but the star-star gravitational interaction scatters these orbits and prevents them from being incorporated into the disk. We assume equilibrium of the two processes and use a simple inflow model instead of analyzing the kinetic equations. The other simplification was the assumption of the equal stellar masses, which is acceptable as a first step only.

Our results can be compared with the results of Rauch (1995, 1999). In the last work he calculated numerically the evolution of the spherically-symmetric stellar cluster with stellar collisions, but without s-d interactions. He finds that the internal stellar density distribution achieves a quasi-stationary state in the late stages. Our calculations of the radial stellar density distribution with direct stellar collisions and s-d interactions are in qualitative agreement with those of Rauch (1999).

On the other hand, our calculations of the shape of the stellar density distributions in the central parts of AGNs, are naturally different to the results of Rauch (1995), where he considered the evolution of individual stellar orbits crossing the disk (without s-s interaction). He calculated the evolution of the stellar system, which surrounds the AD in the first moment, and showed that the evolution leads to the completely flat system, incorporated into the disk plane in the final stage. In contrast, we take into account (besides the s-d interaction) both elastic and non-elastic star-star interactions. This leads to a quasi-stationary distribution of stars, which is flat only in the central part of the disk.

The determination of a more realistic stellar distribution in the innermost part of the central cluster allowed us to consider some consequences of the complex system of AGN, containing MBH, AD and CSC.

We showed that the simple model of stellar wakes accompanying the s-d interactions gives profiles of broad emission lines similar to those observed, providing a reasonable solution for the puzzles of both generation and dynamics of the BELR clouds. We used even further simplified models for estimates of the variability connected with s-d and s-s interactions, and we come to the preliminary conclusion that a noticeable role of the stars in the variability is possible, but only if both dissipative and scattering interactions of stars are enhanced relative to our preliminary estimates. The variability produced by stars is naturally divided into a fast and a slow parts, corresponding to s-d and s-s processes.

Of course, the main questions remains whether the stellar density of CSC in AGNs is large enough for all the effects discussed to proceed efficiently. Here we assumed that the masses of CSC in the bright AGNs are about an order of magnitude larger than the MBH mass.

The real stellar density and masses of the CSC in AGNs are still unknown. In the paper of Schinnerer et al. (2001) the near-infrared high angular resolution speckle imaging of the central region of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 3227 was performed. The authors showed that the CSC do exist in the inner $`300`$ pc, and that in the innermost (unresolved, $`<70`$ pc) part there is the even more dense core of the stellar cluster, which contributes less to the luminosity, but contains 85% of the mass of the cluster. This result supports our leading idea of large enough masses of CSCs in AGNs. A fuller investigation of 112 Seyfert galaxies in $`1.6\mu `$m with the Hubble Space Telescope was performed by Quillen et al. (2001). They showed that there are unresolved sources in all Seyfert galaxies with luminosities $`L(1.6\mu \mathrm{m})(10^{41}10^{42})\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}^1`$ correlating with O\[III\] $`\lambda 5007`$ and with hard X-ray luminosities for Seyfert 1.0-1.9 sources. The luminosities are much lower in Seyfert 2.0 sources. Due to this trends the authors concluded that the unresolved sources are mostly of non-stellar (hot dust) origin; but we note that in our model the correlation of the AGN luminosity with the mass of the CSC is expected. More detailed observations are needed for solving the question about CSC masses in AGNs.

It follows from our models that the accretion disk itself can be created as the result of mass loss due to contact stellar collisions in the rotating, compact and massive CSC. In this case the collision disruptions of stars can partly feed the accretion disk flow, and another part of this gas (the hot part) can support the outflow of the hot gas from AGNs, as was supposed by Vilkoviskij et al. (1999). This opens new possibilities for the more self-consistent models of the AGN structure, where the accretion disk, obscuring torus and polar outflow are created (partly at least) due to stellar collisions in the rotating CSC. The transfer of angular momentum from AD to the CSC also has to be taken into account.

One can imagine the following general picture of the AGN’s duty cycle:

The bright phase of AGNs should be relatively short, about several times $`10^8`$ years, and usually the activity cycle consists of three phases. It starts with creating a new CSC in the dense gas cocoon around the MBH (say, generated by a galactic merger), which corresponds to the IR-bright IRAS galaxies (the first phase). In this phase a new CSC is formed due to the powerful star-burst in the galactic center, which leads to the creation of a new AD, thus initiating the star-disk dynamics, similar to what was considered by Rauch (1995).

The subsequent growth of the AD luminosity, the creation of the central flat stellar distribution, and the appearance of the polar jets and the hot-gas outflows make polar holes in the cocoon, and the second phase of activity sets in; the AGN looks like a typical QSO or Seyfert galaxy with an obscuring torus. Now in this phase most of the stars in the polar regions of the rotating CSC are exhausted, and stars cross mostly the periphery of the AD due to the diffusion into an effective loss-cone. The AD itself can be supported by stellar collisions in the rotating CSC, and our solutions approximate stellar dynamics in this phase. During approximately $`10^8`$ years the mass of the CSC and the stellar inflow will gradually decrease, thus leading to the third phase with diminished activity, corresponding to the weak Seyferts and LINERs (galaxies with Low Ionization Narrow Emission Region).

Therefore, the results of our paper correspond to the second phase, the ‘adult and strong’ age of an AGN.

It is clear that more detailed model calculations are required. Our description of star-star interaction in the non-spherical, flat stellar system is very rough and the results should be verified with n-body simulations. Advanced models should also take into account the distribution of stellar masses and a more accurate description of the accretion disk. New achievements in theory and observations of AGN show that the accretion flow is possibly a combination of a geometrically thin cold disk in the outer part, and an advection-dominated accretion flow (ADAF) in the central part of the disk in some cases (Ichimaru 1977; Rees et al. 1982; Narayan & Yee 1994; Abramowicz et al. 1995, Loska & Czerny 1997), with the hot corona still present above the cold disk (Esin et al. 1997; Esin et al. 1998, Witt et al. 1997).

However, even the approximate results presented here show that compact and massive stellar clusters in the centers of AGNs can play an important role in the creation and physical properties of the AGN engine.

###### Acknowledgements.

E.Y.V. is grateful to Suzy Collin for many discussions, initiating this work, and to CAMK for the kind hospitality permitting to write this work. The work was supported by grant N 2P03D01816 of the Polish State Committee for Scientific Research, and partly by the INTAS grant No 96-0328.


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# The origin of the strings in the outer regions of 𝜂 Carinae

## 1 Introduction

A recent addition to the wealth of physical features associated with the Luminous Blue Variable star $`\eta `$ Carinae are the remarkable high speed filaments protruding radially from the Homunculus and visible in deep $`\mathrm{H}\alpha `$ and \[N ii$`\lambda `$6584 Å imagery (Meaburn, Wolstencroft & Walsh 1987, ?). These features (which are variously referred to as ‘spikes’ - Meaburn et al. 1996; ‘whiskers’ - Morse et al. 1998; or ‘strings’ - Weis, Duschl & Chu (1999); we will use strings) are observed to extend out into the surrounding nebulosity.

Weis et al. (1999) have summarised the known properties of these strings, of which 5 are visible in HST images. They are typically $`25\times 10^{17}\mathrm{cm}`$ long and $`6\times 10^{15}\mathrm{cm}`$ wide, tapering somewhat towards the tip. This length to width ratio of between 30-100 marks them as highly collimated structures. The strings point directly back to $`\eta `$ Carinae. They are not perfectly straight however as some localised kinks and brightness knots are seen in some of the strings.

The velocity structures of the strings are no less remarkable than their optical morphologies. ? using the EMMI spectrometer on the New Technology Telescope (La Silla) found that, along the length of the most prominent string (String 1), the radial velocity changes from $`630\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ to up to $`850\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ at the discernable tip of the string (the systemic heliocentric radial velocity of $`\eta `$ Carinae $`V_{\mathrm{sys}}=7\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$). Weis et al. (1999) were subsequently able to show that this velocity change is in fact linear with distance.

In this paper, new line profiles from the most prominent string are presented and compared with a previously published position-velocity array of line profiles from the area where the string emerges from the Homunculus. Various possible explanations are considered for the strings and a model of the strings based upon a dense bullet of material ploughing through the circumstellar environment of $`\eta `$ Carinae is developed.

## 2 Observations

The HST archive \[N ii$`\lambda `$6584 Å image of String 1 in Fig. 1 is one where the HST diffraction spikes generated by $`\eta `$ Carinae are conveniently displaced so that the string is clearly visible. Note, however, that due to the extreme radial velocities of the strings some emission can be lost due to the narrow bandwidth of some of the HST filters (see Meaburn et al. 1996 and Weis et al. 1999 for a full discussion and complete set of images of the strings). The position/velocity (pv) array of \[N ii$`\lambda `$6584 Å line profiles (see Meaburn et al. 1987 for details) in Fig. 2 is from the east/west slit length intersecting position A 12″ south of $`\eta `$ Carinae, where String 1 emerges from the inner circumstellar shell that surrounds the Homunculus. The \[N ii$`\lambda `$6584 Å and H$`\alpha `$ line profiles in Figs. 3 a & b are from positions B and C respectively (see Fig. 1) along String 1 (see Meaburn et al. 1996 for the technical details). These have been extracted from the longslit pv arrays and corrected for the emission from adjacent regions along the slit length. The very high radial velocities of these features can cause contamination from nearby spectral lines. The different spectral lines displayed for the two positions were chosen to avoid this.

It can be seen in the pv array in Fig. 2 that the base of String 1 at A coincides closely with a remarkable spatially localised velocity feature that extends from $`V_{\mathrm{hel}}=800\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ (at the bottom of the figure) to $`V_{\mathrm{sys}}`$. This large range of velocities over indicates that the region at which the string emerges from the inner shell of $`\eta `$ Carinae is highly disturbed.

The profiles from String 1 at positions C and B (Fig. 3 a & b) are easier to interpret. Profile C is clearly split by $``$ 48 km s-1 while profile B seems to consist of two blended components of comparable separation. These imply that the string is expanding at 24 km s-1 perpendicularly to the length of the string. However, the centroid of the split from position B is shifted by –600 km s-1 from $`V_{\mathrm{sys}}`$ while that from position C is shifted by –860 km s-1. Positions B and C are at 21″ and 27″ from $`\eta `$ Carinae respectively so a reasonably linear change of radial velocity along the length of String 1 is indicated. Even with such large shifts in radial velocity the widths (FWHM) of the individual velocity components (corrected for the 12 km s-1 instrumental resolution) are only $`40\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$.

Note that there is an unresolved stellar-like feature (at D in Fig. 1) and, although somewhat detached, it is in line with String 1 and $`\eta `$ Carinae. Currie et al. (2000b) have used proper motion measurements to show that this is a bullet travelling at a higher velocity than the rest of the string and is likely to be physically associated with the string. Their astrometric measurements suggest that the bullets are travelling at up to $`3000\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ i.e. around $`1\%`$ of the speed of light. The angle of the string to the plane of sky is determined by comparison of the astrometric velocity measurements with radial velocity measurements to be 25o (Currie et al. 2000b). This angle agrees with that estimated by Weis et al. (1999).

## 3 Possible explanations

In this section, various possible explanations for the origin of the strings are considered in turn. ? have shown that, for a planetary nebula medium in which the magnetic pressure dominates the gas pressure, narrow collimated jet like features with a velocity that increases along the jet can be produced. The calculations were two dimensional and they argued that when extended to 3D, pinching instabilities could lead to localised disturbances along the jet and possibly break up into clumps.

At first sight, this type of model, suitably adapted for the conditions in the $`\eta `$ Carinae nebulosity, appears promising. A major problem is that a bipolar axis is required along which these structures will form. In $`\eta `$ Carinae there are at least 5 strings. There are likely to be more since the observed strings happen to lie at fortuitous positions and face-on and obscured strings will not be detected. Some kind of precessing axis also appears unlikely since the dynamical times of the strings indicates that they were all ejected at the time of the great outburst of the 1840s although a rapidly precessing and tumbling axis cannot be ruled out.

The number of strings is also a problem for a hydrodynamical jet interpretation for similar reasons to those above. Several collimating sources with differing orientations are required and there is also the problem of the seemingly coincident temporal origin. Again, some kind of source that varied rapidly within $`\eta `$ Carinae remains a possibility. It is also worth noting that there is an episodic jet emerging from the Homunculus (?) but it bears little similarity to the strings (it is much broader and brighter and has a single velocity). Amongst a list of suggestions, Weis et al. (1999) suggest that the strings could result from projection effects from larger funnels but as discussed here, generating numerous such funnels would require a jet and the only certain jet feature is not attended by strings.

In favourable circumstances, one could envisige gaps in a circumstellar shell allowing beams of emission to be formed as the radiation scatters off dust in the beam. Indeed, the striking infrared image of the Homunculus by ? seems to show just this effect: the Homunculus appears covered in short spikes of emission. However, this is easily ruled out as a possible explanation for the optical strings here since the beams should be straight rather than kinked as observed.

The most likely explanation is one which involves the ejecta of the 1840s outburst (as concluded by Weis et al. 1999 and ?) since the ages of the strings and their distribution about the Homunculus is then accounted for. One of the possibilities listed by Weis et al. (1999) is that the strings could be a train of individual bullets following the same path. This cannot be firmly ruled out until higher resolution observations become available but there are problems with such an interpretation. The strings are of uniform kinematical age, so at an earlier time the bullets must have all been located at the same position and have been travelling in the same direction yet with a range of velocities. This could be the result if a large fragment of ejecta breaks up but the velocity and mass distribution of the resulting fragments must then be fairly uniform to allow the strings to remain coherent and recognisible. Furthermore, each fragment must retain the exact direction of motion of the original body as it breaks up. These constraints make it seem unlikely that the strings result from a train of bullets.

? has suggested that the strings are the result of ionization shadows behind dense clumps in the Homunculus. The surrounding gas is ionized and compresses the shadow gas which is then ionized sometime later, becoming visible as a string. The velocity structure of the strings is not accounted for by the model. The discovery of the high speed knots of emission beyond the tips of the strings (see Currie et al. 2000a) may cause problems for this model since this suggests that the strings may have been somehow generated behind a high velocity clump rather than through the more quiescent mechanism postulated by Soker (though the model may still be applicable to the filaments in NGC 5443).

? described a model for the strings in which the strings are generated by single bullets ploughing through the surrounding medium. The trails of material left behind as the bullet is disrupted are identified as the strings. We develop this model in the next section. Weis et al. (1999) included the possibility that the spikes could be generated by such a mechanism in their list of possible explanations.

## 4 A model for the strings

We suggest that the strings are simply the effects of the passage of dense fragments of ejecta interacting with the circumstellar environment. Knots of supernova ejecta travelling at higher speeds than the edge of the supernova remnant have been found to lie beyond the main remnant body (e.g. Braun et al 1987). We suggest that a similar process operates in $`\eta `$ Carinae so that the densest pieces of ejecta will be slowed negligibly and overrun the main Homunculus body. The visible string is the trail left behind by the passage of the ejected fragment. In ? and subsequent papers the problem of the tail shape that results from an interaction between a clump and a flow has been studied in detail. However, ? are concerned with quasi-steady flows that can occur after the initial stages of the interaction of the clump and flow have settled down and so their results are probably not applicable here. ? have carried out a detailed analytical and numerical study of the interaction between a small clump and a strong shock and they trace the evolution of the clump as it is hit by the shockwave, embedded in the post-shock flow and eventually destroyed. The timescale for the destruction of the clump is shorter than the time taken for a clump to sweep up a column density of material from the ISM because the knots are vulnerable to the growth of Kelvin-Helmholtz (K-H) instabilities when embedded in the post shock flow. Defining $`\chi n_\mathrm{c}/n_\mathrm{i}`$ as the density contrast between the clump and the ISM, with $`n_\mathrm{c}`$ and $`n_\mathrm{i}`$ being the clump and ISM densities respectively, the destruction time, $`t_\mathrm{d}`$, is then (?)

$$t_\mathrm{d}=\chi \frac{r_\mathrm{c}}{V_\mathrm{s}},$$
(1)
where $`V_\mathrm{s}`$ is the shock speed. Applying this cloud destruction equation to the bullets from $`\eta `$ Carinae, $`V_\mathrm{s}1000\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ is used as an upper limit to the shock speed (the deprojected velocity of the highest speed string material - Section 1). The bullet radius is $`r_\mathrm{c}3\times 10^{15}\mathrm{cm}`$ i.e. assuming the initial bullet radius to be approximately half that of the width of the trail (see below). Since the bullet appears to still survive, the destruction time $`t_\mathrm{d}`$ must be greater than 150 years. This gives that the density constrast between the clump and external medium should be $`\chi 100`$. Observationally, this requirement seems plausible. ? measured the density of the Carina nebula to be $`100\mathrm{cm}^3`$ towards the centre of the nebula. ? estimate that dusty clumps in the Homunculus have densities of $`10^510^6`$. They also measure the density of the strings to be $`400\mathrm{cm}^3`$. The strings have a length to width ratio of 30-100 so assuming the bullet to originally be comparable in diameter to the string, suggests an initial bullet density of a $`10^4\mathrm{cm}^3`$. It seems reasonable then to adopt a bullet density of $`10^4\mathrm{cm}^3`$ and an ambient density of $`10^2\mathrm{cm}^3`$.

That the trail of material ablated from the bullet has not appreciably expanded is easily verified because the dynamical age of the trail is $`t_{\mathrm{dyn}}150\mathrm{yr}`$ (similar to that of the Homunculus) and even if the oldest parts of the tail had been expanding at the thermal sound speed of ionized gas ($`c_\mathrm{i}=10\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$) for this time they would only have swelled to

$$c_\mathrm{i}t_{\mathrm{dyn}}4.5\times 10^{15}\mathrm{cm},$$
(2)
The distance to $`\eta `$ Carinae used is 2.3 kpc (this is an unambiguous distance measurement - see ?). The expansion is less than the thickness of the strings of $`6\times 10^{15}\mathrm{cm}`$ estimated by Weis et al. (1999), who also point out that there is little evidence that the string gets progressively thinner towards its tip. It is unlikely therefore that the clump had an initial diameter greater than the width of the string. Since the clump is detected in the HST images, it seems reasonable to adopt a clump diameter of the order of the thickness of the string.

Within the strings, localised knots of emission are seen in HST images. They do not appear to be any wider than the rest of the string. Weis et al. (1999) marginally resolve the velocity widths of the localised knots to be $`22\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ (in accord with our measurents in Section 2). If the clump is destroyed primarily by the development of K-H instabilities, the most disruptive modes are those with wavelengths of the order of the original clump radius. The embedded knots could then represent eddies in the tail generated by the K-H instability and the velocity widths would then be a measure of their internal turbulence. The slight deviations in the otherwise remarkably straight tails most likely result from the highly non-linear action of the disruption process.

The displacement of the bullet and strings (see Figure 1, and Currie et al. 2000b) has a straightforward explanation in terms of our simple model: the gas stripped from the ejecta fragment may be initially too hot to be optically visible and only once it has cooled somewhat downstream will it be detectable. The details of the shock-cloud interaction will be complicated but we envisage that a slow shock driving into the dense bullet gives rise to the optically visible \[N ii$`\lambda `$6584 Å emission at the bullet surface while a fast bow shock between the heated gas expanding from the bullet surface and the incoming medium would heat this material to a high temperature. Some of the gas will be heated to $`10^6\mathrm{K}`$ as it is exposed to a $`1000\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ shock but some portions of the shock surface will be oblique to the incoming flow, giving a range of post-shock temperatures.

The detailed formation of the string itself may be as follows. Hot postshock gas is stripped from the fast moving clump/bullet. The temperature of this gas depends on the very uncertain shock strength. It is likely to be in the range $`10^510^6\mathrm{K}`$. In order to produce optical emission, this gas must cool through UV resonance lines. The detection of O vi resonance lines would be a simple test that this cooling is occuring since this UV line indicates the presence of gas with a temperature of $`10^5\mathrm{K}`$. Unfortunately, the ejecta is of low O abundance so this observation is unfeasible at present. The cooling rate of gas in the temperature range $`5\times 10^4\mathrm{K}5\times 10^7\mathrm{K}`$ can be well approximated by (?)

$$\mathrm{\Lambda }=1.33\times 10^{19}T^{1/2}\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{cm}^3\mathrm{s}^1.$$
(3)
Once the lower end of this temperature range is reached, the gas will primarily cool through optical forbidden lines. The narrow velocity widths of $`24\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ (Section 2) for the strings are indicitive of a local sound speed of ionized gas at a temperature of $`10^4\mathrm{K}`$.

If the standard shock results apply for the post shock density and pressure ($`P_\mathrm{s}=3/4\rho _0V_\mathrm{s}`$; $`\rho _\mathrm{s}=4\rho _0`$) the cooling time of the shocked bullet gas is (?)

$$t_{\mathrm{cool}}=\frac{P_\mathrm{s}^{3/2}}{q\rho _\mathrm{s}^{5/2}}=\left(\frac{3}{4}\right)^{3/2}\left(\frac{1}{32}\right)q^1\rho _0^1V_\mathrm{s}^3,$$
(4)
where $`\rho _0`$ is the pre-shock density and $`q`$ is a constant (see Kahn 1998).

Using the following illustrative values $`V_\mathrm{s}1000\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ (and this is an upper limit, as described above); $`q4\times 10^{32}\mathrm{cm}^6\mathrm{gm}^1\mathrm{s}^4`$ and $`\rho _010^4\times 2\times 10^{24}\mathrm{gm}\mathrm{cm}^3`$ the cooling time is then

$$t_{\mathrm{cool}}80\mathrm{yrs}.$$
(5)
The displacement between the string and bullet is roughly 5 percent of the length of the string (see Fig 1). Since the string is 150 years old, a cooling time of $`10\mathrm{yrs}`$ is required. Note that the shock velocity used is an estimated upper limit. The medium into which the strings are moving is likely to be flowing away from the star, which will reduce the velocity difference and hence shock strength (halving the shock velocity to $`500\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ is required to give a cooling time of $`t_{\mathrm{cool}}10\mathrm{yrs}`$). Given the highly uncertain shock speeds and densities this very simple model gives a very reasonable quantative agreement with the available observations.

Finally, the velocity structure of the strings may be accounted for as follows. Away from the head of the string, the material in the string will be moving at a different velocity than that of the neighbouring medium. There will be a gradual slowing of the edges of the string at the interface between the string gas and external medium. If this is a steady deceleration process, then clearly the older parts of the string will have been slowed more than those recently stripped from the bullet and the velocity along the string will therefore change in a linear fashion. The disturbed part of the inner shell at the base of the string (Fig 2, Section 2) may represent the effects of the bullet breaking through the inner regions of the nebula.

In the absence of measured values for many of the physical quantities, the model cannot be developed much further. Given the uncertainties, we suggest that our very simple model is a plausible explanation for the origin and structure of the strings.

## 5 Conclusions

We have suggested that the narrow, collimated strings emerging from the inner shell of $`\eta `$ Carinae are due to the passage of dense fragments of ejecta through the circumstellar environment. We have argued that this very simple model is capable of broadly accounting for most of the observed features of the strings. The clump that formed the string is visble beyond the end of the string; the collimation of the string is due to both the high density contrast ($`100`$) between the clump and the circumstellar environment and the high speed of the clump - the string has not had time to expand appreciably; the distance between the observed clump and string is due to the time required for the newly shocked ablated gas from the clump to cool and become optically visible; the linear change in velocity along the string is due simply to the gas in the string being further decelerated by the external environment.

This model could be developed further using the latest numerical hydrodynamic codes to model the complicated physics involved in the destruction of the ejecta fragments. While the $`\eta `$ Carinae strings are presently unusual enough to warrant special explanation, it is entirely possible that they may turn out to be a common feature of new explosively generated circumstellar nebulosity.

## Acknowledgements

We thank the referee for a prompt and constructive report. We also thank Robin Williams for useful discussions and suggestions and Jeremy Yates for a critical reading of the manuscript. MPR is supported by PPARC.