Abstract
The degree of polarization of the radiation in broad emission lines can be used for a unique determination of the dimensionless radius of the broad line emission region, i.e., the ratio of this radius to the gravitational radius. A comparison of the results of this method with others for determining the radius of broad line emission regions yields strong limits on the physical mechanism for the formation of emission line regions in the immediate neighborhood of supermassive black holes. The method developed here offers the prospect of obtaining strong limits on the mass of supermassive black holes in active galactic nuclei.
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