Model of a `Warm Corona' as the Origin of the Soft X-ray Excess of Active Galactic Nuclei

Abstract: The soft X-ray excess in the spectra of active galactic nuclei is characterized by similar electron temperatures of 0.1 -- 0.3 keV and similar photon indices around 2.2 -- 3, if fitted with inverse Comptonization. It remains a puzzle why both values are not sensitive to the black hole mass nor accretion rate. Supposing that the scattering-dominated surface layer of an accretion disk can act as a warm corona, we construct a vertically one-zone model to understand what determines its temperature By solving the equations of (1) the condition for the effective optical depth, (2) the energy balance, and (3) dominance of the Compton cooling over the bound-free cooling, we could reproduce the basic observational features of the soft excess, provided that anomalous heating (excess heating other than what is expected by local energy dissipation) takes place in the warm corona. The similar temperatures can be understood, since both of the anomalous heating and Compton cooling rates are proportional to the dissipation rate of the accretion energy, while similar photon indices are a natural consequence of the fact that observed photons are finally emitted from the layer of Compton $y\sim 1$. The soft excess is not observed in black hole binaries, since disk temperatures are too high for the Compton scattering to work as cooling. The derived temperatures are somewhat underestimation, however. This may indicate a necessity of multi-zone corona structure. The stability of the warm corona and its consequences are briefly discussed.