The stability of large-scale magnetic fields in rotating stars is explored, using 3D numerical hydrodynamics to follow the evolution of an initial poloidal field. It is found that the field is subject to an instability, located initially on the magnetic equator, whereby the gas is displaced in a direction parallel to the magnetic axis. If the magnetic axis is parallel to the rotation axis, the rotation does not affect the initial linear growth of the instability, but does restrict the growth of the instability outside of the equatorial zone. The magnetic energy decays on a timescale which is a function of the Alfvén crossing time and the rotation speed, but short compared to any evolutionary timescale. No evidence is found for a possible stable end state to evolve from an initial axisymmetric poloidal field. The field of an oblique rotator is similarly unstable, in both cases regardless of the rotation speed.
The theory of waves and instabilities in a differentially rotating disc containing a poloidal magnetic field is developed within the framework of ideal magnetohydrodynamics. A continuous spectrum, for which the eigenfunctions are localized on individual magnetic surfaces, is identified but is found not to contain any instabilities associated with differential rotation. The normal modes of a weakly magnetized thin disc are studied by extending the asymptotic methods used previously to describe the equilibria. Waves propagate radially in the disc according to a dispersion relation which is deter…
We carry out the self-similar solutions of viscous-resistive accretion flows around a magnetized compact object. We consider an axisymmetric, rotating, isotheral steady accretion flow which contains a poloidal magnetic field of the central star. The dominant mechanism of energy dissipation is assumed to be the turbulence viscosity and magnetic diffusivity due to magnetic field of the central star. We explore the effect of viscosity on a rotating disk in the presence of constant magnetic diffusivity. We show that the dynamical quantities of ADAFs are sensitive to the advection and viscosity par…
In this third paper in a series on stable magnetic equilibria in stars, I look at the stability of axisymmetric field configurations and in particular at the relative strengths of the toroidal and poloidal components. Both toroidal and poloidal fields are unstable on their own, and stability is achieved by adding the two together in some ratio. I use Tayler's (1973) stability conditions for toroidal fields and other analytic tools to predict the range of stable ratios and then check these predictions by running numerical simulations. It is found that while the poloidal field can account for no…
We initiate numerical studies of differentially rotating magnetised (proto) neutron stars by studying - through construction from first principles - the coupling between an assumed differential rotation and an impressed magnetic field. For a perfect incompressible, homogeneous, non-dissipative fluid sphere immersed in an ambient plasma, we solve the (coupled) azimuthal components of the Navier-Stokes equation and the Maxwell induction equation. The assumed time--independent poloidal field lines get dragged by the rotating fluid and produce toroidal magnetic fields. Surface magnetic fields take…
We investigate shear and buoyancy instabilities in radially stratified, magnetized, cylindrical flows, for application to magnetocentrifugally driven winds and to magnetized accretion disks. We identify and study nine principal types of instabilities/overstabilities. When magnetic fields are predominantly toroidal, as in protostellar winds, the system exhibits axisymmetric fundamental (FM) and toroidal resonance modes, axisymmetric and non-axisymmetric toroidal buoyancy (TB) modes, and non-axisymmetric magnetorotational instability (MRI) modes. Winds with sufficiently steep field gradients are…
We study a white dwarf with differential rotation and magnetic field, for which the symmetry axis of the toroidal field, the magnetic axis of the poloidal field, and the principal axis I_3 coincide permanently. This common axis, so-called "magnetic symmetry axis", inclines at a small angle relative to the spin axis of the model, the so-called "turn-over angle". Such an almost axisymmetric model undergoes an early evolutionary phase of secular timescale, with moment of inertia along the spin axis, I_{zz}=I_{33}, greater than the moments of inertia along the equatorial axes, I_{11}=I_{22}, since…
We evaluate the generation of magnetosonic waves in differentially rotating magnetized plasma. Differential rotation leads to an increase of the azimuthal field by winding up the poloidal field lines into the toroidal field lines. An amplification of weak seed perturbations is considered in this time-dependent background state. It is shown that seed perturbations can be amplified by several orders of magnitude in a differentially rotating flow. The only necessary condition for this amplification is the presence of a non-vanishing component of the magnetic field in the direction of the angular …
We examine the MHD instabilities arising in the radiation zone of a differentially rotating star, in which a poloidal field of fossil origin is sheared into a toroidal field. We focus on the non-axisymmetric instability that affects the toroidal magnetic field in a rotating star, which was first studied by Pitts and Tayler in the non-dissipative limit. According to Spruit, it could also drive a dynamo. The Pitts & Tayler instability is manifestly present in our simulations, with its conspicuous m=1 dependence in azimuth. But its analytic treatment used so far is too simplified to be applied to…
This paper presents a survey of a set of simulations of accretion disks orbiting a rapidly rotating Kerr black hole and embedded in a large-scale initial magnetic field. Each simulation uses a common state for the initial torus, including an MRI seed-field consisting of poloidal loops along isodensity contours, and differ only in the strength of the initial large-scale magnetic field in relation to these poloidal loops. Simulations with a weak large-scale initial field differ little from simulations that evolve from only the poloidal field. Simulations where the large-scale initial field disto…
We analyze the temporal evolution of accretion onto rotating black holes subject to large-scale magnetic torques. Wind torques alone drive a disk towards collapse in a finite time $\sim t_{ff} E_k/E_B$, where $t_{ff}$ is the initial free-fall time and $E_k/E_B$ is the ratio of kinetic-to-poloidal magnetic energy. Additional spin-up torques from a rapidly rotating black hole can arrest the disk's inflow. We associate short/long gamma-ray bursts with hyperaccretion/suspended-accretion onto slowly/rapidly spinning black holes. This model predicts afterglow emission from short bursts, and may be t…
A four-parameter class of exact asymptotically flat solutions of the Einstein-Maxwell equations involving only rational functions is presented. It is able to describe the exterior field of a slowly or rapidly rotating neutron star with poloidal magnetic field.
Rather weak fossil magnetic fields in the radiative core can produce the solar tachocline if the field is poloidal and almost horizontal in the tachocline region, i.e. if the field is confined within the core. This particular field geometry is shown to result from a shallow (<~1Mm) penetration of the meridional flow existing in the convection zone into the radiative core. I.e., two conditions are crucial for a magnetic tachocline theory: (i) the presence of meridional flow of a few meters per second at the base of the convection zone, and (ii) a magnetic diffusivity inside the tachocline small…
Ordinary differential equations describing the self-similar collapse of a rotating, magnetized, self-gravitating and isothermal filament are derived. Explicit homologous solutions are studied with special emphasis on the bifurcation that occurs at the magnetosonic critical point. It is shown that there is a critical value for the toroidal magnetic field slope at the origin above which no bifurcation occurs, the solution remains homologous, and below which the density and the poloidal magnetic field tend to zero at large radius (envelope) whereas the toroidal magnetic field and azimuthal veloci…
We investigate stationary axisymmetric configurations of magnetized stars in the framework of general relativistic ideal magnetohydrodynamics. Our relativistic stellar model incorporates a toroidal magnetic field and meridional flow in addition to a poloidal magnetic field for the first time. The magnetic field and meridional flow are treated as perturbations, but no other approximation is made. We find that the stellar shape can be prolate rather than oblate when a toroidal field exists. We also find that, for fixed baryonic mass and total magnetic helicity, more spherical the star is, lower …
The kinematic evolution of axisymmetric magnetic fields in rotating magnetospheres of relativistic compact objects is analytically studied, based on relativistic Ohm's law in stationary axisymmetric geometry. By neglecting the poloidal flows of plasma in simplified magnetospheric models, we discuss self-excited dynamos due to the frame-dragging effect (originally pointed out by Khanna & Camenzind), and we propose alternative processes to generate axisymmetric magnetic fields against ohmic dissipation. The first process (which may be called induced excitation) is caused by the help of a backgro…
The structure and magnitude of the electromagnetic field produced by a rotating accretion disk around a black hole were determined. The disk matter is assumed to be a magnetized plasma with a frozenin poloidal magnetic field. The vacuum approximation is used outside the disk.
We have performed 2.5-dimensional general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of the gravitational collapse of a magnetized rotating massive star as a model of gamma ray bursts (GRBs). This simulation showed the formation of a disk-like structure and the generation of a jet-like outflow inside the shock wave launched at the core bounce. We have found the jet is accelerated by the magnetic pressure and the centrifugal force and is collimated by the pinching force of the toroidal magnetic field amplified by the rotation and the effect of geometry of the poloidal magnetic field. Th…
Screw instability of the magnetic field connecting a rotating black hole (BH) with its surrounding disk is discussed based on the model of the coexistence of the Blandford-Znajek (BZ) process and the magnetic coupling (MC) process (CEBZMC). A criterion for the screw instability with the state of CEBZMC is derived based on the calculations of the poloidal and toroidal components of the magnetic field on the disk. It is shown by the criterion that the screw instability will occur, if the BH spin and the power-law index for the variation of the magnetic field on the disk are greater than some cri…
In Paper I (Fiege & Pudritz, 1999), we constructed models of filamentary molecular clouds that are truncated by a realistic external pressure and contain a rather general helical magnetic field. We address the stability of our models to gravitational fragmentation and axisymmetric MHD-driven instabilities. By calculating the dominant modes of axisymmetric instability, we determine the dominant length scales and growth rates for fragmentation. We find that the role of pressure truncation is to decrease the growth rate of gravitational instabilities by decreasing the self-gravitating mass per un…
Stability of supermassive stars embedded in hot dark matter is investigated on the base of the energetic method. Stability effect of dark mater is compared with rotational stabilization and preference of the last factor is advocated.
We have studied non-stationary and non-axisymmetric perturbations of a magnetohydrodynamic accretion onto a rotating (Kerr) black hole. Assuming that the magnetic field dominates the plasma accretion, we find that the accretion suffers a large radial acceleration resulting from the Lorentz force, and becomes highly variable compared with the electromagnetic field there. In fact, we further find an interesting perturbed structure of the plasma velocity with a large peak in some narrow region located slightly inside of the fast-magnetosonic surface. This is due to the concentrated propagation of…
We present three-dimensional MHD simulations of rotating radiatively inefficient accretion flows onto black holes. In the simulations, we continuously inject magnetized matter into the computational domain near the outer boundary, and we run the calculations long enough for the resulting accretion flow to reach a quasi-steady state. We have studied two limiting cases for the geometry of the injected magnetic field: pure toroidal field and pure poloidal field. In the case of toroidal field injection, the accreting matter forms a nearly axisymmetric, geometrically-thick, turbulent accretion disk…
We study the magnetic braking and viscous damping of differential rotation in incompressible, uniform density stars in general relativity. Differentially rotating stars can support significantly more mass in equilibrium than nonrotating or uniformly rotating stars. The remnant of a binary neutron star merger or supernova core collapse may produce such a "hypermassive" neutron star. Although a hypermassive neutron star may be stable on a dynamical timescale, magnetic braking and viscous damping of differential rotation will ultimately alter the equilibrium structure, possibly leading to delayed…
We study the stability of rotating collisionless self-gravitating spherical systems by using high resolution N-body experiments on a Connection Machine CM-5. We added rotation to Ossipkov-Merritt (hereafter OM) anisotropic spherical systems by using two methods. The first method conserves the anisotropy of the distribution function defined in the OM algorithm. The second method distorts the systems in velocity space. We then show that the stability of systems depends both on their anisotropy and on the value of the ratio between the total kinetic energy and the rotational kinetic energy. We al…
We consider stability of differentially rotating non-magnetic proto-neutron stars. When neutrino transport is efficient, the star can be subject to a diffusive instability that can occur even in the convectively stable region. The instability arises on the time-scale comparable to the time-scale of thermal diffusion. Hydrodynamic motions driven by the instability can lead to anisotropy in the neutrino flux since the instability is suppressed near the equator and rotation axis.
The propeller regime of disk accretion to a rapidly rotating magnetized star is investigated here for the first time by axisymmetric 2.5D magnetohydrodynamic simulations. An expanded, closed magnetosphere forms in which the magnetic field is predominantly toroidal. A smaller fraction of the star's poloidal magnetic flux inflates vertically, forming a magnetically dominated tower. Matter accumulates in the equatorial region outside magnetosphere and accretes to the star quasi-periodically through elongated funnel streams which cause the magnetic field to reconnect. The star spins-down owing to …
The stability of rotating isotropic spherical stellar systems is investigated by using N-body simulations. Four spherical models with realistic density profiles are studied: one of them fits the luminosity profile of globular clusters, while the remaining three models provide good approximations to the surface brightness of elliptical galaxies. The phase-space distribution function f(E) of each one of these non-rotating models satisfies the sufficient condition for stability df/dE < 0. Different amounts of rotation are introduced in these models by changing the sign of the z-component of the a…
A magnetic dynamo experiment is under construction at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. The experiment is designed to demonstrate in the laboratory the alpha-omega magnetic dynamo, which is believed to operate in many rotating and conducting astrophysical objects. The experiment uses the Couette flow of liquid sodium between two cylinders rotating with different angular velocities to model the omega-effect. The alpha-effect is created by the rising and expanding jets of liquid sodium driven through a pair of orifices in the end plates of the cylindrical vessel, presumably simu…
A variety of magnetohydrodynamic mechanisms that may play a role in magnetic, chemically peculiar (mCP) stars is reviewed. These involve dynamo mechanisms in laminar flows as well as turbulent environments, and magnetic instabilities of poloidal and toroidal fields as well as combinations of the two. While the proto-stellar phase makes the survival of primordial fields difficult, the variety of magnetic field configurations on mCP stars may be an indication for that they are instability remnants, but there is no process which is clearly superior in explaining the strong fields.
The back-bending phenomenon for compact stars is studied by means of analytical equations of state, for both constant-pressure phase transitions and the transitions through the mixed-phase region. We restrict ourselves to the case of normal rotating configurations, with baryon mass below the maximum allowable baryon mass for non-rotating stars. We use high-precision 2-D multi-domain spectral code LORENE to search the parameter space for possible instability regions, and possible changes in the stability character of rotating stars with phase transitions in their cores. Conditions on the densit…
When a differentially rotating magnetic star undergoes ``turn-over'', i.e., its magnetic symmetry axis is inclining at a gradually increasing angle with respect to its invariant angular momentum axis up to the perpendicular position (situation known as ``perpendicular rotator''), the poloidal magnetic field causes interchange of angular momentum via hydromagnetic Alfven waves propagating along the poloidal magnetic field lines and, accordingly, the resulting perpendicular rotator obtains uniform rotation. This dissipative mechanism is represented by the so-called ``turn-over viscosity''. For s…
We study the stability of poloidal magnetic fields anchored in a thin accretion disc. The two-dimensional hydrodynamics in the disc plane is followed by a grid-based numerical simulation including the vertically integrated magnetic forces. The 3--dimensional magnetic field outside the disc is calculated in a potential field approximation from the magnetic flux density distribution in the disc. For uniformly rotating discs we confirm numerically the existence of the interchange instability as predicted by Spruit, Stehle & Papaloizou (1995). In agreement with predictions from the shearing sheet …
When magnetic field lines thread a rotating black hole's horizon and connect with remote astrophysical loads, the rotational energy of the black hole can be extracted through the Blandford-Znajek mechanism. Due to the rotation of the black hole, the magnetic field lines are twisted and toroidal components are generated. So poloidal electric currents are induced and the black hole's rotational energy is transported to the astrophysical loads through Poynting flux. The Blandford-Znajek mechanism has been considered to be a possible process for powering extragalactic jets. In this paper we show t…
We consider the power of a relativistic jet accelerated by the magnetic field of an accretion disc. It is found that the power extracted from the disc is mainly determined by the field strength and configuration of the field far from the disc. Comparing with the power extracted from a rotating black hole, we find that the jet power extracted from a disc can dominate over that from the rotating black hole. But in some cases, the jet power extracted from a rapidly rotating hole can be more important than that from the disc even if the poloidal field threading the hole is not significantly larger…
We study secular stability against a quasi-radial oscillation for rigidly rotating stars with soft equations of state in general relativity. The polytropic equations of state with polytropic index $n$ between 3 and 3.05 are adopted for modeling the rotating stars. The stability is determined in terms of the turning-point method. It is found that (i) for $n \agt 3.04$, all the rigidly rotating stars are unstable against the quasi-radial oscillation and (ii) for $n \agt 3.01$, the nondimensional angular momentum parameter $q \equiv cJ/GM^2$ (where $J$, $M$, $G$, and $c$ denote the angular moment…
We derive new stability criteria for purely MHD instabilities in rotating jets, in the framework of the ballooning ordering expansion. Quite unexpectedly, they involve a term which is linear in the magnetic shear. This implies that cylindrical configurations can be destabilized by a negative magnetic shear as well as by a favorable equilibrium pressure gradient, in distinction with the predictions of Suydam's stability criterion, which suggests on the contrary that the shear is always stabilizing. We have used these criteria to establish sufficient conditions for instability. In particular, th…
A magnetic field connecting a Kerr black hole to a disk rotating around it can extract energy and angular momentum from the black hole and transfer them to the disk if the black hole rotates faster than the disk. The energy can be dissipated and radiated away by the disk, which makes the disk shine without the need of accretion. In this paper we present a toy model for the magnetic connection: a single electric current flowing around a Kerr black hole in the equatorial plane generates a poloidal magnetic field which connects the black hole to the disk. The rotation of the black hole relative t…
The relation between rotating plane Couette and Taylor-Couette flows is clarified. The identity of their linear stability limits is explained by considering the effect of the Coriolis force in the rotating frame. Experimental data are used to quantify the behavior of the minimum Reynolds number for subcritical turbulence as a function of rotation and curvature. This last dependence is understood through a phenomenological analysis, which also implies that the Coriolis force reduces the efficiency of subcritical turbulent transport with respect to nonrotating flows, as observed numerically.
We perform 3D numerical simulations in full general relativity to study the stability of rapidly rotating, supramassive neutron stars at the mass-shedding limit to dynamical collapse. We adopt an adiabatic equation of state with $Γ= 2$ and focus on uniformly rotating stars. We find that the onset of dynamical instability along mass-shedding sequences nearly coincides with the onset of secular instability. Unstable stars collapse to rotating black holes within about one rotation period. We also study the collapse of stable stars which have been destabilized by pressure depletion (e.g. via a pha…
I discuss the stability of accretion disks when the black hole is considered to be rotating. I show, how the fluid properties get changed for different choices of angular momentum of black holes. I treat the problem in pseudo-Newtonian approach with a suitable potential from Kerr geometry. When the angular momentum of a black hole is considered to be significant, the valid disk parameter region affects and a disk may become unstable. Also the possibility of shock in an accretion disk around rotating black holes is checked. When the black hole is chosen to be rotating, the sonic locations of th…
An understanding of the dynamics of differentially rotating systems is key to many areas of astrophysics. We investigate the oscillations of a simple system exhibiting differential rotation, and discuss issues concerning the role of corotation points and the emergence of dynamical instabilities. This problem is of particular relevance to the emission of gravitational waves from oscillating neutron stars, which are expected to possess significant differential rotation immediately after birth or binary merger.
We have studied the $f$-mode oscillations of differentially rotating polytropes by making use of the linear stability analysis. We found that the critical values of $T/|W|$ where the dynamical instability against the $m = 2$ $f$-mode oscillations sets in decrease down to $T/|W| \sim 0.20$ as the degree of differential rotation becomes higher. Here $m$ is an azimuthal mode number and $T$ and $W$ are the rotational energy and the gravitational potential energy, respectively. This tendency is almost independent of the compressibility of the polytropes. These are the {\it first exact results} of t…
We study magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) effects arising in the collapse of magnetized, rotating, massive stellar cores to proto-neutron stars (PNSs). We perform axisymmetric numerical simulations in full general relativity with a hybrid equation of state. The formation and early evolution of a PNS are followed with a grid of 2500 x 2500 zones, which provides better resolution than in previous (Newtonian) studies. We confirm that significant differential rotation results even when the rotation of the progenitor is initially uniform. Consequently, the magnetic field is amplified both by magnetic wind…
We have computed the eigenfrequencies of f-modes for a constant-rest-mass sequences of rapidly rotating relativistic inviscid stars in differential rotation. The frequencies have been calculated neglecting the metric perturbations (the relativistic Cowling approximation) and expressed as a function of the ratio between the rotational kinetic energy and the absolute value of the gravitational energy of the stellar model beta=T/|W|. The zeros and the end-points of these sequences mark respectively the onset of the secular instability driven by gravitational radiation-reaction and the maximum val…
The generation of magnetic fields by a battery, operating in an ion-electron plasma around a Kerr black hole, is studied in the 3+1 split of the Kerr metric. It is found that the gravitomagnetic contributions to the electron partial pressure are able to drive currents. The strength of the equilibrium magnetic field should be higher than for the classical Biermann battery, which is found to operate in this relativistic context as well, since the gravitomagnetic driving terms can less easily be quenched than the classical ones. In axisymmetry the battery can induce only toroidal magnetic fields.…
We prove existence of rotating star solutions which are steady-state solutions of the compressible isentropic Euler-Poisson (EP) equations in 3 spatial dimensions, with prescribed angular momentum and total mass. This problem can be formulated as a variational problem of finding a minimizer of an energy functional in a broader class of functions having less symmetry than those functions considered in the classical Auchmuty-Beals paper. We prove the nonlinear dynamical stability of these solutions with perturbations having the same total mass and symmetry as the rotating star solution. We also …
We investigate the influence of magnetic fields upon the dynamics of and resulting gravitational waves from a binary neutron star merger in full general relativity coupled to ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). We consider two merger scenarios, one where the stars begin with initially aligned poloidal magnetic fields and one with no magnetic field. Both mergers result in a strongly differentially rotating object. In comparison to the non-magnetized scenario, the aligned magnetic fields delay the final merger of the two stars. During and after merger we observe phenomena driven by the magnetic fi…
The study of the quasinormal modes (QNMs) of the 2+1 dimensional rotating draining bathtub acoustic black hole, the closest analogue found so far to the Kerr black hole, is performed. Both the real and imaginary parts of the quasinormal (QN) frequencies as a function of the rotation parameter B are found through a full non-linear numerical analysis. Since there is no change in sign in the imaginary part of the frequency as B is increased we conclude that the 2+1 dimensional rotating draining bathtub acoustic black hole is stable against small perturbations.
The paper provides a new framework for the description of linearized adiabatic lagrangian perturbations and stability of differentially rotating newtonian stars. In doing so it overcomes problems in a previous framework by Dyson and Schutz and provides the basis of a rigorous analysis of the stability of such stars. For this the governing equation of the oscillations is written as a first order system in time. From that system the generator of time evolution is read off and a Hilbert space is given where it generates a strongly continuous group. As a consequence the governing equation has a we…
