aDepartment of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Peyton Hall-Ivy Lane, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
bDepartment of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
Abstract:
Turbulent Comptonization, a potentially important damping and radiation mechanism in relativistic accretion flows, is discussed. Particular emphasis is placed on the physical basis, relative importance, and thermodynamics of turbulent Comptonization. The effects of metal absorption opacity on the spectral component resulting from turbulent Comptonization is considered as well.