Constraints on active galactic nucleus accretion disc viscosity derived from continuum variability

We estimate a value of the viscosity parameter in active galactic nucleus (AGN) accretion discs for the Palomar-Green quasar sample. We assume that optical variability on time-scales of months to years is caused by local instabilities in the inner accretion disc. Comparing the observed variability time-scales to the thermal time-scales of alpha-disc models, we obtain constraints on the viscosity parameter for the sample. We find that, at a given L/LEdd, the entire sample is consistent with a single value of the viscosity parameter, alpha. We obtain constraints of 0.01 Edd