A new model for the width of the broad emission lines in AGN - The role of the accretion rate

We present a model which relates the Broad Emission Line Regions of AGN to the accretion mechanism. Based on the Keplerian assumption for the high velocity clouds of the gas responsible for the production of the Broad Emission Lines, we identify that gas with an outflowing disk/coronal wind from a stabilized Shakura-Sunyaev accretion disk. We show that in the framework of this picture the observed range of H beta FWHM from Broad Line to Narrow Line type 1 AGN, is well reproduced as a function of the accretion rate. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.