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Table of Contents
Supervisor's Foreword; Abstract; Acknowledgements; Declaration of Authorship; Contents; Abbreviations; Physical Constants; List of Figures; List of Tables; 1 Introduction; 1.1 The Physics of Accretion; 1.1.1 Spherical Accretion and the Eddington Limit; 1.1.2 Accretion Discs; 1.1.3 Boundary Layers, Black Hole Spin and the ISCO; 1.1.4 The Emergent Spectrum; 1.2 Accreting Compact Binaries; 1.2.1 Roche Lobe-Overflow; 1.2.2 Cataclysmic Variables; 1.2.3 Low Mass X-Ray Binaries; 1.3 Quasars and Active Galactic Nuclei; 1.3.1 AGN Unification and the Dusty Torus; 1.3.2 X-Ray Properties of AGN
1.3.3 The Broad Line Region: Connection to Winds and Unification1.4 The Current Understanding of the Disc Continuum; 1.4.1 The Spectral Shape of CV Discs; 1.4.2 The Big Blue Bump in AGN; 1.5 The Universality of Accretion; 1.5.1 The RMS-Flux Relation; 1.5.2 Accretion States and Disc-Jet Coupling; 1.5.3 A Global Picture; References; 2 Accretion Disc Winds; 2.1 Observational Evidence; 2.1.1 Cataclysmic Variables; 2.1.2 X-Ray Binaries; 2.1.3 AGN and Quasars; 2.1.4 Stellar Winds; 2.1.5 Outflow Physics; 2.2 Driving Mechanisms; 2.2.1 Thermal Winds; 2.2.2 Radiatively Driven Winds
2.2.3 Line-Driven Winds2.2.4 Magnetic Winds; 2.3 Accretion Disc Wind Models; 2.3.1 MCGV95: A Line-Driven Wind Model for AGN; 2.3.2 De Kool and Begelman: A Radiatively Driven, Magnetically Confined Wind; 2.3.3 Elvis 2000: A Structure for Quasars; 2.3.4 Proga et al.: Line-Driven Hydrodynamic Models for AGN and CVs; 2.4 A Kinematic Prescription for a Biconical Wind; 2.5 The Big Picture: AGN Feedback; 2.5.1 Observational Evidence for Feedback; 2.5.2 Alternative Explanations; References; 3 Monte Carlo Radiative Transfer and Ionization; 3.1 Fundamentals of Radiative Transfer
3.1.1 Spectral Line Formation3.1.2 Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium; 3.1.3 The Two Level Atom; 3.1.4 The Sobolev Approximation; 3.1.5 Monte Carlo Approaches; 3.2 Python: A Monte Carlo Ionization and Radiative Transfer Code; 3.2.1 Basics; 3.2.2 Radiation Packets; 3.2.3 Radiative Transfer Procedure; 3.3 Macro-Atoms; 3.3.1 Transition Probabilities; 3.3.2 Rate Equations; 3.3.3 Macro-Atom Estimators; 3.3.4 k-Packets; 3.3.5 Putting It All Together; 3.3.6 Ionization Fractions and Level Populations; 3.3.7 Numerical Issues and Population Inversions
3.4 A Hybrid Line Transfer Scheme: Including Simple-Atoms3.4.1 Line Transfer; 3.4.2 Heating and Cooling Estimators; 3.5 Heating and Cooling Balance; 3.5.1 Convergence; 3.6 Spectral Cycles; 3.6.1 Macro-Atom Emissivity Calculation; 3.7 Atomic Data; 3.7.1 Macro-Atom Level and Line Data; 3.7.2 Photoionization Cross-Sections; 3.8 Code Validation; 3.8.1 Testing Against Cloudy; 3.8.2 Macro-Atom Testing Against Tardis and Theory; 3.8.3 Testing Line Transfer Modes; 3.9 Code Maintenance and Version Control; 3.9.1 Parallelisation; References
1.3.3 The Broad Line Region: Connection to Winds and Unification1.4 The Current Understanding of the Disc Continuum; 1.4.1 The Spectral Shape of CV Discs; 1.4.2 The Big Blue Bump in AGN; 1.5 The Universality of Accretion; 1.5.1 The RMS-Flux Relation; 1.5.2 Accretion States and Disc-Jet Coupling; 1.5.3 A Global Picture; References; 2 Accretion Disc Winds; 2.1 Observational Evidence; 2.1.1 Cataclysmic Variables; 2.1.2 X-Ray Binaries; 2.1.3 AGN and Quasars; 2.1.4 Stellar Winds; 2.1.5 Outflow Physics; 2.2 Driving Mechanisms; 2.2.1 Thermal Winds; 2.2.2 Radiatively Driven Winds
2.2.3 Line-Driven Winds2.2.4 Magnetic Winds; 2.3 Accretion Disc Wind Models; 2.3.1 MCGV95: A Line-Driven Wind Model for AGN; 2.3.2 De Kool and Begelman: A Radiatively Driven, Magnetically Confined Wind; 2.3.3 Elvis 2000: A Structure for Quasars; 2.3.4 Proga et al.: Line-Driven Hydrodynamic Models for AGN and CVs; 2.4 A Kinematic Prescription for a Biconical Wind; 2.5 The Big Picture: AGN Feedback; 2.5.1 Observational Evidence for Feedback; 2.5.2 Alternative Explanations; References; 3 Monte Carlo Radiative Transfer and Ionization; 3.1 Fundamentals of Radiative Transfer
3.1.1 Spectral Line Formation3.1.2 Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium; 3.1.3 The Two Level Atom; 3.1.4 The Sobolev Approximation; 3.1.5 Monte Carlo Approaches; 3.2 Python: A Monte Carlo Ionization and Radiative Transfer Code; 3.2.1 Basics; 3.2.2 Radiation Packets; 3.2.3 Radiative Transfer Procedure; 3.3 Macro-Atoms; 3.3.1 Transition Probabilities; 3.3.2 Rate Equations; 3.3.3 Macro-Atom Estimators; 3.3.4 k-Packets; 3.3.5 Putting It All Together; 3.3.6 Ionization Fractions and Level Populations; 3.3.7 Numerical Issues and Population Inversions
3.4 A Hybrid Line Transfer Scheme: Including Simple-Atoms3.4.1 Line Transfer; 3.4.2 Heating and Cooling Estimators; 3.5 Heating and Cooling Balance; 3.5.1 Convergence; 3.6 Spectral Cycles; 3.6.1 Macro-Atom Emissivity Calculation; 3.7 Atomic Data; 3.7.1 Macro-Atom Level and Line Data; 3.7.2 Photoionization Cross-Sections; 3.8 Code Validation; 3.8.1 Testing Against Cloudy; 3.8.2 Macro-Atom Testing Against Tardis and Theory; 3.8.3 Testing Line Transfer Modes; 3.9 Code Maintenance and Version Control; 3.9.1 Parallelisation; References