The distribution function describing the acceleration of relativistic particles in an advection-dominated accretion disk is analyzed using a transport formalism that includes first-order Fermi acceleration, advection, spatial diffusion, and the escape of particles through the upper and lower surfaces of the disk. When a centrifugally-supported shock is present in the disk, the concentrated particle acceleration occurring in the vicinity of the shock channels a significant fraction of the binding energy of the accreting gas into a population of relativistic particles. These high-energy particles diffuse vertically through the disk and escape, carrying away both energy and entropy and allowing the remaining gas to accrete. The dynamical structure of the disk/shock system is computed self-consistently using a model previously developed by the authors that successfully accounts for the production of the observed relativistic outflows (jets) in M87 and \SgrA. This ensures that the rate at which energy is carried away from the disk by the escaping relativistic particles is equal to the drop in the radial energy flux at the shock location, as required for energy conservation. We investigate the influence of advection, diffusion, and acceleration on the particle distribution by computing the nonthermal Green's function, which displays a relatively flat power-law tail at high energies. We also obtain the energy distribution for the particles escaping from the disk, and we conclude by discussing the spectrum of the observable secondary radiation produced by the escaping particles.
We investigate the dynamical behaviour of a magnetized, dissipative, accretion flow around a rapidly rotating black hole. We solve the magnetohydrodynamic equations and calculate the transonic accretion solutions which may contain discontinuous shock transitions. We investigate the effect of $ζ-$ parameter (parametrizing the radial variation of the toroidal magnetic flux advection rate) on the dynamical behaviour of shocks. For a rapidly rotating black hole and for fixed injection parameters at the outer edge, we show that stationary shocks are sustained in the global magnetized accretion solu…
We present the global structure of magnetized advective accretion flow around the rotating black holes in presence of dissipation. By considering accretion flow to be threaded by toroidal magnetic fields and by assuming synchrotron radiative mechanism to be the dominant cooling process, we obtain global transonic accretion solutions in terms of dissipation parameters, such as viscosity ($α_B$), accretion rate (${\dot m}$) and plasma-$β$, respectively. In the rotating magnetized accretion flow, centrifugal barrier is developed in the nearby region of the black hole that triggers the discontinuo…
Jet-plasmas emanating from the vicinity of relativistic objects and in gamma-ray bursts have been observed to propagate with Lorentz factors laying in the range between one and several hundreds. On the other hand, the numerical studies of such flows have been focussed so far mainly on the lowest possible range of Lorentz factors $Γ,$ specifically, on the regime $1\leq Γ\leq 5.$ Therefore, relativistic flows with high $Γ-$factors have poorly studied, as most numerical methods are found to encounter severe numerical difficulties or even become numerically unstable for $Γ\gg 1. In this paper we p…
Depending on the values of the energy and angular momentum per unit mass in the gas supplied at large radii, inviscid advection-dominated accretion flows can display velocity profiles with either preshock deceleration or preshock acceleration. Nakayama has shown that these two types of flow configurations are expected to have different stability properties. By employing the Chevalier \& Imamura linearization method and the Nakayama instability boundary conditions, we discover that there are regions of parameter space where disks/shocks with outflows can be stable or unstable. In regions of ins…
Hydrodynamical instabilities, such as the standing accretion-shock instability (SASI), play an essential role in the dynamics of core-collapse supernovae, with observable imprints in the neutrino and gravitational wave signals. Yet, the impact of stellar rotation on the development of SASI is poorly explored. We investigate the conditions favoring the growth of SASI in the presence of rotation through a perturbative analysis. The properties of SASI are compared in two stationary configurations, cylindrical and spherical equatorial, which mainly differ by their advection timescales from the sho…
We explore the global structure of the accretion flow around a Schwarzschild black hole where the accretion disc is threaded by toroidal magnetic fields. The accretion flow is optically thin and advection dominated. Synchrotron radiation is considered to be the active cooling mechanism in the flow. With this, we obtain the global transonic accretion solutions and show that centrifugal barrier in the rotating magnetized accretion flow causes a discontinuous transition of the flow variables in the form of shock waves. The shock properties and the dynamics of the post-shock corona are affected by…
Relativistic sources, e.g. gamma-ray bursts, pulsar wind nebulae and powerful active galactic nuclei produce relativistic outflows that lead to the formation of collisionless shock waves, where particle acceleration is thought to take place. Our understanding of relativistic shock acceleration has improved in the past decade, thanks to the combination of analytical studies and high level numerical simulations. In ultra-relativistic shocks, particle acceleration is made difficult by the generically transverse magnetic field and large advection speed of the shocked plasma. Fast growing microturb…
On the acceleration of cosmic rays at the post-adiabatic shocks of supernova remnants
INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo（意大利国家天体物理研究所巴勒莫天文台）；Institute for Applied Problems in Mechanics and Mathematics, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine（乌克兰国家科学院应用力学与数学问题研究所）；INAF - Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri（意大利国家天体物理研究所阿切特里天文台）；Institute of Physics and Astronomy, University of Potsdam（波茨坦大学物理与天文学研究所）；INAF - Osservatorio Astrofisico di Catania（意大利国家天体物理研究所卡塔尼亚天文台）
Diffusive shock acceleration is a prominent mechanism for producing energetic particles in space and in astrophysical systems. Such energetic particles have long been predicted to affect the hydrodynamic structure of the shock, in turn leading to CR spectra flatter than the test-particle prediction. However, in this work along with a companion paper, C. C. Haggerty and D. Caprioli, 2020, arXiv:2008.12308 [astro-ph.HE], we use self-consistent hybrid (kinetic ions-fluid electrons) simulations to show for the first time how CR-modified shocks actually produce steeper spectra. The steepening is dr…
Deciphering the "Green Monster" in Cassiopeia A: Puncturing and sculpting a heterogeneous circumstellar shell
INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo（意大利国家天体物理研究所巴勒莫天文台）；Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik（马克斯·普朗克天体物理学研究所）；Purdue University（普渡大学）；Ghent University（根特大学）；Princeton University（普林斯顿大学）；Dartmouth College（达特茅斯学院）；Seoul National University（首尔国立大学）；Università degli Studi di Palermo（巴勒莫大学）
We study the global structure of optically thin, advection dominated, magnetized accretion flow around black holes. We consider the magnetic field to be turbulent in nature and dominated by the toroidal component. With this, we obtain the complete set of accretion solutions for dissipative flows where bremsstrahlung process is regarded as the dominant cooling mechanism. We show that rotating magnetized accretion flow experiences virtual barrier around black hole due to centrifugal repulsion that can trigger the discontinuous transition of the flow variables in the form of shock waves. We exami…
We explore the physics of relativistic radiation mediated shocks (RRMSs) in the regime where photon advection dominates over photon generation. For this purpose, a novel iterative method for deriving a self-consistent steady-state structure of RRMS is developed, based on a Monte-Carlo code that solves the transfer of photons subject to Compton scattering and pair production/annihilation. Systematic study is performed by imposing various upstream conditions which are characterized by the following three parameters: the photon-to-baryon inertia ratio $ξ_{u *}$, the photon-to-baryon number ratio …
Although several theories for the origin of cosmic rays in the region between the spectral `knee' and `ankle' exist, this problem is still unsolved. A variety of observations suggest that the transition from Galactic to extragalactic sources occurs in this energy range. In this work we examine whether a Galactic wind which eventually forms a termination shock far outside the Galactic plane can contribute as a possible source to the observed flux in the region of interest. Previous work by Bustard et al. (2017) estimated that particles can be accelerated up to energies above the `knee' up to $R…
We review recent progress on collisionless relativistic shocks. Kinetic instability theory is briefed including its predictions and limitations. The main focus is on numerical experiments in (i) pair and (ii) electron-nucleon plasmas. The main results are: (i) confirmation of shock evolution in non-magnetised relativistic plasma in 3D due to either the lepton-Weibel instability or the ion-Weibel instability; (ii) sensitive dependence on upstream magnetisation ; (iii) the sensitive dependence of particle dynamics on the upstream magnetic inclination angle $\thetabn$, where particles of $\thetab…
We study the transport of high-energy particles in pulsar wind nebulae (PWN) using three-dimensional MHD (see Porth et al. (2014) for details) and test-particle simulations, as well as a Fokker-Planck particle transport model. The latter includes radiative and adiabatic losses, diffusion, and advection on the background flow of the simulated MHD nebula. By combining the models, the spatial evolution of flux and photon index of the X-ray synchrotron emission is modelled for the three nebulae G21.5-0.9, the inner regions of Vela, and 3C 58, thereby allowing us to derive governing parameters: the…
We investigate the global structure of the advection dominated accretion flow around a Schwarzschild black hole where the accretion disc is threaded by toroidal magnetic fields. We consider synchrotron radiative process as an effective cooling mechanism active in the flow. With this, we obtain the global transonic accretion solutions by exploring the variety of boundary conditions and dissipation parameters, namely accretion rate (${\dot m}$) and viscosity ($α_B$). The fact that depending on the initial parameters, steady state accretion flows can possess centrifugally supported shock waves. T…
Bondi accretion assumes that there is a sink of mass at the center -- which in case of a black hole (BH) corresponds to the advection of matter across the event horizon. Other stars, such as a neutron star (NS), have surfaces and hence the infalling matter has to slow down at the surface. We study the initial value problem in which the matter distribution is uniform and at rest at $t=0$. We consider different inner boundary conditions for BHs and NSs: outflow boundary condition (mimicking mass sink at the center) valid for BHs; and {\em reflective} and steady-shock (allowing gas to cross the i…
Context. Supernova remnants (SNRs) are thought to be the primary candidates for the sources of Galactic cosmic rays. According to the diffusive shock acceleration theory, SNR shocks produce a power-law spectrum with an index of s = 2, perhaps nonlinearly modified to harder spectra at high energy. Observations of SNRs often indicate particle spectra that are softer than that and show features not expected from classical theory. Known drawbacks of the standard approach are the assumption that SNRs evolve in a uniform environment, and that the reverse shock does not accelerate particles. Relaxing…
Hot, tenuous advection-dominated accretion flows around black holes are ideal sites for the Fermi acceleration of relativistic particles at standing shock waves in the accretion disc. Previous work has demonstrated that the shock-acceleration process can be efficient enough to power the observed, strong outflows in radio-loud active galaxies such as M87. However, the dynamical effect (back-reaction) on the flow, exerted by the pressure of the relativistic particles, has not been previously considered, and this effect can have a significant influence on the disc structure. We reexamine the prob…
A number of low-mass millisecond pulsar (MSP) binaries in their rotation-powered state exhibit double-peaked X-ray orbital modulation centered at inferior pulsar conjunction. This state, which has been known to persist for years, has recently been interpreted as emission from a shock that enshrouds the pulsar. However, the pressure balance for such a configuration is a crucial unresolved issue. We consider two scenarios for pressure balance: a companion magnetosphere and stellar mass loss with gas dominance. It is found that the magnetospheric scenario requires several kilogauss poloidal field…
We examine the conditions for the revival of the stalled accretion shock in core-collapse supernovae, in the context of the neutrino heating mechanism. We combine one dimensional simulations of the shock revival process with a derivation of a quasi-stationary approximation, which is both accurate and efficient in predicting the flow. In particular, this approach is used to explore how the evolution of the system depends on the shock radius, $R_S$, and velocity, $V_S$ (in addition to other global properties of the system). We do so through a phase space analysis of the shock acceleration, $a_S$…
We present and test a new, special-relativistic formulation of Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH). Our approach benefits from several improvements with respect to earlier relativistic SPH formulations. It is self-consistently derived from the Lagrangian of an ideal fluid and accounts for special-relativistic "grad-h terms". In our approach, we evolve the canonical momentum and the canonical energy per baryon and thus circumvent some of the problems that have plagued earlier formulations of relativistic SPH. We further use a much improved artificial viscosity prescription which uses the extr…
