The dense ISM which is the fuel for both nuclear starbursts is believed to be accreted to the nucleus by stellar bars and galactic interactions. In this contribution, I summarize the observational results for two galactic nuclei at the extreme ends of starburst/AGN activity – our own Galactic nucleus with SgrA and the ULIRG Arp 220. I discuss theoretical considerations for the properties of the...

We present a unified picture of active galactic nuclei which we construct from a detailed model of line emission in the active source in NGC 4151. This source provides us with an opportunity to explore the variation of structure with luminosity in an object which, in the model, derives its unusual properties as a consequence of the angle of the accretion disc to the line of sight. The key featu...

The bimodality of the AGN radio loudness distribution, and the relation of radio loudness and black hole mass were recently disputed. A closer look at the existing data suggests possible resolutions of these disputes, as further described below.1

In this letter I present further data that show the remarkable evidence for the existence of an α-cluster stucture in the ground states of even-even N = Z nuclei. Such a remarkable systematic was observed 20 years ago in [1] for these nuclei at A ≤ 72 and is extended here up to A = 100.

Determining the masses of the central compact object believed to power all active galactic nuclei is relevant to our understanding of their evolution and of their inner workings. Keys to present-day mass estimates are: (1) the assumption of line broadening due to virial motion of the emitting gas, (2) an estimate of the distance of broad-line emitting gas from the central compact object, and (3...