THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS ON THE VARIABILITY OF ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI

Variability of active galactic nuclei is now a well-known phenomenon. This remains to be fully explained by a theoretical model of the central engine. Time scales of AGN variability seem to range continuously from hours up to months. The short time scale variability must be related to the phenomena on the event horizon of the black hole, while the long one to those in the accretion disk or surrounding matter. Based on the axisymmetric, nonstationary model of the central engine, we discuss theoretical considerations on the variability of active galactic nucleus.