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    "story_id": "mp-2026-10-10-007",
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    "headline": "One Side of an Accretion Disk Kept Time Differently",
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    "dek": "A three-dimensional radiation simulation links disk thickness to longer optical lags and weaker correlation with X-rays.",
    "summary": "A three-dimensional radiation simulation links disk thickness to longer optical lags and weaker correlation with X-rays.",
    "body_text": "A 3D multi-frequency radiation-magnetohydrodynamic simulation produced an active-galactic-nucleus disk that was thinner above its midplane and thicker below. Light from the thin side broadly followed traditional X-ray reprocessing expectations. The thicker side absorbed more X-rays, showed stronger intrinsic variability and produced continuum lags three to five times longer than light-travel time—features closer to several recent observations. The authors argue that disk structure could help explain the long-standing apparent disk-size problem without requiring the broad-line region to dominate the lag. This is a simulation-based interpretation, not a direct measurement of a particular galaxy.",
    "why_it_matters": "A three-dimensional radiation simulation links disk thickness to longer optical lags and weaker correlation with X-rays.",
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      "This is a simulation-based interpretation, not a direct measurement of a particular galaxy."
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    "first_published_at": "2026-10-10T09:00:00.000-04:00",
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        "qualification": "This is a simulation-based interpretation, not a direct measurement of a particular galaxy."
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    "tags": [
      "active galactic nuclei",
      "accretion disks",
      "radiation simulation"
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  "sources": [
    {
      "source_id": "source-2026-10-10-007",
      "title": "arXiv preprint 2610.12462, original v1",
      "publisher": "arXiv / submitting research authors",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.12462v1",
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      "published_at": "2026-10-08T13:59:49.000-04:00",
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    "title": "One Side of an Accretion Disk Kept Time Differently",
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