Eccentric Accretion Disks in Active Galactic Nuclei

Active galactic nuclei (AGNs), among the universe's most luminous objects, radiate across the entire electromagnetic spectrum. They are powered by gravitational energy released from material feeding central supermassive black holes (SMBHs). However, current AGN theory remains largely phenomenological, relying on envisioned structures beyond accretion disks to produce broad optical emission lines (broad line regions, BLRs) and X-ray emission (corona). It struggles to explain accretion disk sizes, optical line diversity, BLR radial inflows/outflows, and crucially, rapid X-ray and optical variability (line width, line shape, inflow/outflow switch, emitting region) on timescales significantly shorter than disk accretion. Here we show that moderately eccentric flows around SMBHs-formed via circumnuclear gas accretion or tidal disruption events-generate eccentricity cascades in the BLRs (from 0.8 to 0.2 outwards), explaining multi-wavelength emission and variability. The flows' non-axisymmetric temperature structures explain dust sublimation asymmetries, different BLR components and their radial motions. The innermost BLR links to the SMBH vicinity through highly eccentric streams producing soft X-rays at periapsis. General relativistic precession further compresses these flows, generating a hard X-ray continuum near the SMBHs. Precession of the eccentric flow drives optical/X-ray variability, reproducing the observed X-ray power spectral density and occasional X-ray quasi-periodic eruptions. We thus propose eccentric accretion disks as a physical AGN model unifying the elusive BLRs and X-ray corona. This model enables detailed anatomy of AGNs and maximises their potential as cosmological standard candles.