Relativistic blue- and red-shifted absorption lines in AGNs

Abstract

Current, accumulating evidence for (mildly) relativistic blue- and red-shifted absorption lines in AGNs is reviewed. XMM-Newton and Chandra sensitive X-ray observations are starting to probe not only the kinematics (velocity) but also the dynamics (accelerations) of highly ionized gas flowing in-and-out from, likely, a few gravitational radii from the black hole. It is thus emphasized that X-ray absorption-line spectroscopy provides new potential to map the accretion flows near black holes, to probe the launching regions of relativistic jets/outflows, and to quantify the cosmological feedback of AGNs. Prospects to tackle these issues with future high energy missions are briefly addressed.

8 pages and 9 figures, to appear in Astronomical Notes (Astron. Nachr.), issue number 2006/10