We perform two- and three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations of reconnection in magnetically-dominated pair plasmas subject to strong Compton cooling. Reconnection under such conditions operates in accretion disk coronae around black holes, which produce hard X-rays through Comptonization. Our simulations show that most of the plasma in the reconnection layer is kept cold by Compton losses and locked in magnetically-dominated plasmoids with small thermal pressure. Compton drag clears cavities inside plasmoids and affects their bulk motions. These effects, however, weakly change the reconnection rate and the plasmoid size distribution from those in non-radiative reconnection. This demonstrates that the reconnection dynamics is governed by similar magnetic stresses in both cases and weakly affected by thermal pressure. We examine the energy distribution of particles energized by radiative reconnection and observe two components. (1) A mildly-relativistic peak, which results from bulk motions of cooled plasmoids. This component receives most of the dissipated reconnection power and dominates the output X-ray emission. The peak has a quasi-Maxwellian shape with an effective temperature of 100 keV. Thus, it mimics thermal Comptonization used previously to fit hard-state spectra of accreting black holes. (2) A high-energy tail, which receives 20% of dissipated reconnection power. It is populated by particles accelerated impulsively at X-points or "picked up" by fast outflows from X-points. The high-energy particles immediately cool, and their inverse Compton emission explains the MeV spectral tail detected in the hard state of Cyg X-1. Our first-principle simulations support reconnection as a mechanism powering hard X-ray emission from accreting black holes.
We perform two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations of reconnection in magnetically dominated electron-positron plasmas subject to strong Compton cooling. We vary the magnetization $σ\gg1$, defined as the ratio of magnetic tension to plasma inertia, and the strength of cooling losses. Magnetic reconnection under such conditions can operate in magnetically dominated coronae around accreting black holes, which produce hard X-rays through Comptonization of seed soft photons. We find that the particle energy spectrum is dominated by a peak at mildly relativistic energies, which results from bu…
High-energy Emission from Turbulent Electron-ion Coronae of Accreting Black Holes
Centre for mathematical Plasma Astrophysics, Department of Mathematics, KU Leuven（鲁汶大学数学系数学等离子体天体物理中心）；Department of Physics, University of Maryland（马里兰大学物理系）；Physics Department and Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University（哥伦比亚大学物理系和哥伦比亚天体物理实验室）；Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics（马克斯·普朗克天体物理研究所）；Department of Astronomy and Joint Space-Science Institute, University of Maryland（马里兰大学天文系和联合空间科学研究所）
We perform two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations of magnetic reconnection in electron-ion plasmas subject to strong Compton cooling and calculate the X-ray spectra produced by this process. The simulations are performed for trans-relativistic reconnection with magnetization $1\leq σ\leq 3$ (defined as the ratio of magnetic tension to plasma rest-mass density), which is expected in the coronae of accretion disks around black holes. We find that magnetic dissipation proceeds with inefficient energy exchange between the heated ions and the Compton-cooled electrons. As a result, most electr…
Diffuse neutrino flux from relativistic reconnection in AGN coronae
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens（雅典国立卡波帝斯特里安大学）；Institute of Accelerating Systems & Applications（加速系统与应用研究所）；Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Sezione di Napoli（意大利国家核物理研究所（INFN）那不勒斯分部）；National Observatory of Athens（雅典国家天文台）；Columbia University（哥伦比亚大学）；Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute（计算天体物理学中心，平顿研究所）
Can magnetic reconnection power neutrino emission from AGN coronae?
University of Colorado, Boulder（科罗拉多大学博尔德分校）；Center for Integrated Plasma Studies（综合等离子体研究中心）；JILA（JILA研究所）；National Institute of Standards and Technology（美国国家标准与技术研究院）；Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences（天体物理与行星科学系）
We present a model for neutrino flares in accreting black holes based on the injection of a non-thermal population of relativistic particles in a magnetized corona. The most important products of hadronic and photohadronic interactions at high energies are pions. Charged pions decay into muons and neutrinos; muons also decay yielding neutrinos. Taking into account these effects, coupled transport equations are solved for all species of particles and the neutrino production is estimated for the case of accreting galactic black holes.
Magnetic reconnection is commonly perceived to drive flow and particle acceleration in flares of solar, stellar, and astrophysical disk coronae but the relative roles of different acceleration mecha- nisms in a given reconnection environment are not well understood. We show via direct numerical simulations that reconnection outflows produce weak fast shocks, when conditions for fast recon- nection are met and the outflows encounter an obstacle. The associated compression ratios lead to a Fermi acceleration particle spectrum that is significantly steeper than the strong fast shocks commonly stu…
Relativistic magnetic reconnection is a powerful agent through which magnetic energy can be tapped in astrophysics, energizing particles that then produce observed radiation. In some systems, the highest energy photons come from particles Comptonizing an ambient radiation bath supplied by an external source. If the emitting particle energies are high enough, this inverse Compton (IC) scattering enters the Klein-Nishina regime, which differs from the low-energy Thomson IC limit in two significant ways. First, radiative losses become inherently discrete, with particles delivering an order-unity …
A radiative mechanism is proposed for magnetic flares near luminous accreting black holes. It is based on recent first-principle simulations of magnetic reconnection, which show a hierarchical chain of fast-moving plasmoids. The reconnection occurs in a compact region (comparable to the black hole radius), and the chain experiences fast Compton cooling accompanied by electron-positron pair creation. The distribution of plasmoid speeds is shaped by radiative losses, and the self-regulated chain radiates its energy in hard X-rays. The mechanism is illustrated by Monte-Carlo simulations of the tr…
The heating mechanism of a corona above an accretion disk in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is still unknown. One possible mechanism is magnetic reconnection heating requiring energy equipartition between magnetic energy and gas energy in the disk. Here, we investigate the expected observed properties in radio band from such a magnetized corona. A magnetized corona can generate synchrotron radiation since a huge amount of electrons exists. Although most of radiation would be absorbed by synchrotron self-absorption, high-frequency end of synchrotron emission can escape from a corona and appears …
Neutrino and pair creation in reconnection-powered coronae of accreting black holes
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens（雅典国立卡波迪斯特里安大学）；Institute of Accelerating Systems & Applications（加速系统与应用研究所）；Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY（德国电子同步加速器中心）；Columbia University（哥伦比亚大学）；Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute（纽约大学柯朗数学科学研究所计算天体物理中心）
We attempt to explain the observed radio and gamma-ray emission produced in the surrounds of black holes by employing a magnetically-dominated accretion flow (MDAF) model and fast magnetic reconnection triggered by turbulence. In earlier work, standard disk model was used and we refine the model by focussing on the sub-Eddington regime to address the fundamental plane of black hole activity. The results do not change substantially with regard to previous work ensuring that the details of the accretion physics are not relevant in the magnetic reconnection process occurring in the corona. Rather…
We present results of a study of non-thermal, time-dependent particle injection in a corona around an accreting black hole. We model the spectral energy distribution of high-energy flares in this scenario. We consider particle interactions with magnetic, photon and matter fields in the black hole magnetosphere. Transport equations are solved for all species of particles and the electromagnetic output is predicted. Photon annihilation is taken into account for the case of systems with early-type donor stars.
Magnetic reconnection, a fundamental plasma process associated with a rapid dissipation of magnetic energy, is believed to power many disruptive phenomena in laboratory plasma devices, the Earth magnetosphere, and the solar corona. Traditional reconnection research, geared towards these rather tenuous environments, has justifiably ignored the effects of radiation on the reconnection process. However, in many reconnecting systems in high-energy astrophysics (e.g., accretion-disk coronae, relativistic jets, magnetar flares) and, potentially, in powerful laser plasma and z-pinch experiments, the …
As a fundamental process converting magnetic to plasma energy in high-energy astrophysical plasmas, relativistic magnetic reconnection is a leading explanation for the acceleration of particles to the ultrarelativistic energies necessary to power nonthermal emission (especially X-rays and gamma-rays) in pulsar magnetospheres and pulsar wind nebulae, coronae and jets of accreting black holes, and gamma-ray bursts. An important objective of plasma astrophysics is therefore the characterization of nonthermal particle acceleration (NTPA) effected by reconnection. Reconnection-powered NTPA has been…
The observation of energetic X-ray emission from black holes, inconsistent with thermal emission from an accretion disk, has long indicated the presence of a "corona" around these objects. However, our knowledge of the geometry, composition, and processes within black hole coronae is severely lacking. Basic questions regarding their size and location are still a topic of debate. In this letter, we show that for black holes with luminosities $L\gtrsim10^{-2}L_{Edd}$ -- characteristic of many Seyferts, quasars, and stellar-mass black holes (in their brighter states) -- advanced imaging and timin…
Magnetic reconnection can power bright, rapid flares originating from the inner magnetosphere of accreting black holes. We conduct extremely high resolution ($5376\times2304\times2304$ cells) general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamics simulations, capturing plasmoid-mediated reconnection in a 3D magnetically arrested disk for the first time. We show that an equatorial, plasmoid-unstable current sheet forms in a transient, non-axisymmetric, low-density magnetosphere within the inner few Schwarzschild radii. Magnetic flux bundles escape from the event horizon through reconnection at the universal…
The corona is a key component of most luminous accreting black holes, carrying 5 - 30 % of the power and in non-jetted Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), creating all the X-ray emission above $\simeq 1-2$ keV. Its emission illuminates the inner accretion disc, creating the atomic line-rich reflection spectrum used to diagnose and map the accretion flow and measure black hole spin. The corona is likely powered magnetically by the strong differential rotation of the accretion disc and it may be intimately related to relativistic jets. Recent work shows that many black hole coronae may be dominated by…
We present a formulation for a local cooling function to be employed in the diffuse, hot corona region of 3D GRMHD simulations of accreting black holes. This new cooling function calculates the cooling rate due to inverse Compton scattering by considering the relevant microphysics in each cell in the corona and approximating the radiation energy density and Compton temperature there by integrating over the thermal seed photon flux from the disk surface. The method either assumes ion and electron temperatures are equal (1T), or calculates them separately (2T) using an instantaneous equilibrium …
Particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations have shown that relativistic collisionless magnetic reconnection drives nonthermal particle acceleration (NTPA), potentially explaining high-energy (X-ray/$γ$-ray) synchrotron and/or inverse Compton (IC) radiation observed from various astrophysical sources. The radiation back-reaction force on radiating particles has been neglected in most of these simulations, even though radiative cooling considerably alters particle dynamics in many astrophysical environments where reconnection may be important. We present a radiative PIC study examining the effects of ex…
I review a new rapidly growing area of high-energy plasma astrophysics --- radiative magnetic reconnection, i.e., a reconnection regime where radiation reaction influences reconnection dynamics, energetics, and nonthermal particle acceleration. This influence be may be manifested via a number of astrophysically important radiative effects, such as radiation-reaction limits on particle acceleration, radiative cooling, radiative resistivity, braking of reconnection outflows by radiation drag, radiation pressure, viscosity, and even pair creation at highest energy densities. Self-consistent inclu…
Observation of A Solar Like Magnetic Reconnection Event in an AGN Corona with XRISM
Technion（以色列理工学院）；SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research（荷兰空间研究所）；University of Leiden（莱顿大学）；European Space Agency (ESA), European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC)（欧洲航天局（ESA）欧洲空间研究与技术中心（ESTEC））；Space Telescope Science Institute（太空望远镜科学研究所）；James Madison University（詹姆斯麦迪逊大学）；University of Michigan（密歇根大学）；Massachusetts Institute of Technology（麻省理工学院）
We present an extension to the general relativistic radiation magnetohydrodynamic code HARMRAD to account for emission and absorption by thermal cyclo-synchrotron, double Compton, bremsstrahlung, low-temperature OPAL opacities as well as Thomson and Compton scattering. We approximate the radiation field as a Bose-Einstein distribution and evolve it using the radiation number-energy-momentum conservation equations in order to track photon hardening. We perform various simulations to study how these extensions affect the radiative properties of magnetically-arrested disks accreting at Eddington …
Many accreting black holes manifest time lags during outbursts, in which the hard Fourier component typically lags behind the soft component. Despite decades of observations of this phenomenon, the underlying physical explanation for the time lags has remained elusive, although there are suggestions that Compton reverberation plays an important role. However, the lack of analytical solutions has hindered the interpretation of the available data. In this paper, we investigate the generation of X-ray time lags in Compton scattering coronae using a new mathematical approach based on analysis of t…
One of the main dissipation processes acting on all scales in relativistic jets is thought to be governed by magnetic reconnection. Such dissipation processes have been studied in idealized environments, such as reconnection layers, which evolve in merging islands and lead to the production of plasmoids, ultimately resulting in efficient particle acceleration. In accretion flows onto black holes, reconnection layers can be developed and destroyed rapidly during the turbulent evolution of the flow. We present a series of two-dimensional general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations of to…
Our Galaxy harbours a large population of X-ray sources of intermediate to low X-ray luminosity (typically Lx from 10^27 to 10^34 erg/s). At energies below 2 keV, active coronae completely dominate the X-ray landscape. However, the nature and the properties of Galactic sources detected at energies > 2 keV is much less constrained. Optical follow-up spectroscopic observations show that in addition to cataclysmic variables (CVs) and very active stellar coronae, massive stars (colliding wind binaries, quiescent high-mass X-ray binaries and Gamma-Cas analogs) account for a sizable fraction of the …
We calculate the structure of a standard accretion disk with corona surrounding a massive Kerr black hole in general relativistic frame, in which the corona is assumed to be heated by the reconnection of the strongly buoyant magnetic fields generated in the cold accretion disk. The emergent spectra of the accretion disk-corona systems are calculated by using the relativistic ray-tracing method. We propose a new method to calculate the emergent Comptonized spectra from the coronae. The spectra of the disk-corona systems with a modified $α$-magnetic stress show that both the hard X-ray spectral …
We provide a semi-analytic comparison between the Blandford-Znajek (BZ) and the magnetic reconnection power for accreting black holes in the curved spacetime of a rotating black hole. Our main result is that for a realistic range of astrophysical parameters, the reconnection power may compete with the BZ power. The field lines anchored close to or on the black hole usually evolve to open field lines in general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations. The BZ power is dependent on the black hole spin while magnetic reconnection power is independent of it for the force-free magnetic …
Collisionless magnetic reconnection is a prime candidate to account for flare-like or steady emission, outflow launching, or plasma heating, in a variety of high-energy astrophysical objects, including ones with relativistic ion-electron plasmas. But the fate of the initial magnetic energy in a reconnection event remains poorly known: what is the amount given to kinetic energy, the ion/electron repartition, and the hardness of the particle distributions? We explore these questions with 2D particle-in-cell simulations of ion-electron plasmas. We find that 45 to 75% of the total initial magnetic…
High energy radiation from nonthermal particles accelerated in relativistic magnetic reconnection is thought to be important in many astrophysical systems, ranging from blazar jets and black hole accretion disk coronae to pulsars and magnetar flares. The presence of a substantial density of high energy photons ($>$MeV) in these systems can make two-photon pair production ($γγ\to e^-e^+$) an additional source of plasma particles and can affect the radiative properties of these objects. We present the results of novel particle-in-cell simulations that track both the radiated synchrotron photons …
We have performed a series of numerical experiments aimed at studying the activation of Kerr black holes (BHs) by advection of small scale magnetic fields. Such configurations may potentially give rise to the formation of quasi-striped Blandford-Znajek jets. It can also lead to enhanced dissipation and generation of plasmoids in current sheets formed in the vicinity of the BH horizon, which may constitute a mechanism to power the hard X-ray emission seen in many accreting BH systems (a la lamppost models). Our analysis suggests that formation of quasi-striped jets with significant power may be…
Galactic black hole coronae are composed of a hot, magnetized plasma. The spectral energy distribution produced in this component of X-ray binaries can be strongly affected by different interactions between locally injected relativistic particles and the matter, radiation and magnetic fields in the source. We study the non-thermal processes driven by the injection of relativistic particles into a strongly magnetized corona around an accreting black hole. We compute in a self-consistent way the effects of relativistic bremsstrahlung, inverse Compton scattering, synchrotron radiation, and the pa…
The Universe is filled with a diffuse background of MeV gamma-rays and PeV neutrinos, whose origins are unknown. Here, we propose a scenario that can account for both backgrounds simultaneously. Low-luminosity active galactic nuclei have hot accretion flows where thermal electrons naturally emit soft gamma rays via Comptonization of their synchrotron photons. Protons there can be accelerated via turbulence or reconnection, producing high-energy neutrinos via hadronic interactions. We demonstrate that our model can reproduce the gamma-ray and neutrino data. Combined with a contribution by hot c…
Accreting supermassive black holes can now be observed at the event-horizon scale at mm wavelengths. Current predictions for the image rely on hypotheses (fluid modeling, thermal electrons) which might not always hold in the vicinity of the black hole, so that a full kinetic treatment is in order. In this letter, we describe the first 3D global general-relativistic particle-in-cell simulation of a black-hole magnetosphere. The system displays a persistent equatorial current sheet. Synthetic images are computed by ray-tracing synchrotron emission from nonthermal particles accelerated in this cu…
Very high energy (VHE) emission has been detected from the radio galaxy NGC1275, establishing it as a potential cosmic-ray (CR) accelerator and a high energy neutrino source. We here study neutrino and $γ$-ray emission from the core of NGC1275 simulating the interactions of CRs assumed to be accelerated by magnetic reconnection, with the accreting plasma environment. To do this, we combine (i) numerical general relativistic (GR) magneto-hydrodynamics (MHD), (ii) Monte Carlo GR leptonic radiative transfer and, (iii) Monte Carlo interaction of CRs. A leptonic emission model that reproduces the S…
The quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) in black hole (BH) systems of different scales are interpreted based on the magnetic reconnection of the large-scale magnetic fields generated by the toroidal electric currents flowing in the inner region of accretion disk, where the current density is assumed to be proportional to the mass density of the accreting plasma. The magnetic connection (MC) is taken into account in resolving the dynamic equations of the accretion disk, in which the MC between the inner and outer disk regions, the MC between the plunging region and the disk, and the MC between t…
Accreting black holes in galactic X-ray sources are surrounded by hot plasma. The innermost part of these systems is likely a corona with different temperatures for ions and electrons. In the so-called low-hard state, hot electrons Comptonize soft X-ray photons from the disk that partially penetrates the corona, producing emission up to $\sim 150$ keV, well beyond the expectations for an optically thick disk of maximum temperature $\sim 10^{7}$ K. However, sources such as Cygnus X-1 produce steady emission up to a few MeV, which is indicative of a non-thermal contribution to the spectral energ…
Magnetically arrested accretion discs (MADs), where the magnetic pressure in the inner disc is dynamically important, provide an alternative mechanism for regulating accretion to what is commonly assumed in black hole systems. We show that a global magnetic field inversion in the MAD state can destroy the jet, significantly increase the accretion rate, and move the effective inner disc edge in to the marginally stable orbit. Reconnection of the MAD field in the inner radii launches a new type of transient outflow containing hot plasma generated by magnetic dissipation. This transient outflow c…
We report estimates of the X-ray coronal size of active galactic nuclei in the lamppost geometry. In this commonly adopted scenario, the corona is assumed for simplicity to be a point-like X-ray source located on the axis of the accretion disc. However, the corona must intercept a number of optical/UV seed photons from the disc consistent with the observed X-ray flux, which constrains its size. We employ a relativistic ray-tracing code, originally developed by Dovčiak & Done (2016), that calculates the size of a Comptonizing lamppost corona illuminated by a standard thin disc. We assume that t…
Diffuse neutrino flux from coronal magnetospheric current sheets of accreting black holes
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens（雅典国立卡波迪斯特里安大学）；Institute of Accelerating Systems and Applications（加速系统与应用研究所）；Columbia University（哥伦比亚大学）；Flatiron Institute（平顿研究所）
We investigate whether the hard X-ray photon index ($Γ$) versus accretion rate correlation for super-Eddington accreting quasars is different from that for sub-Eddington accreting quasars. We construct a sample of 113 bright quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 14 quasar catalog, including 38 quasars as the super-Eddington subsample and 75 quasars as the sub-Eddington subsample. We derive black-hole masses using a simple-epoch virial mass formula based on the ${\rm Hβ}$ lines, and we use the standard thin disk model to derive the dimensionless accretion rates ($\dot{\mathscr{…
Radial substructures in circumstellar disks are now routinely observed by ALMA. There is also growing evidence that disk winds drive accretion in such disks. We show through 2D (axisymmetric) simulations that rings and gaps develop naturally in magnetically coupled disk-wind systems on the scale of tens of au, where ambipolar diffusion (AD) is the dominant non-ideal MHD effect. In simulations where the magnetic field and matter are moderately coupled, the disk remains relatively laminar with the radial electric current steepened by AD into a thin layer near the midplane. The toroidal magnetic …
Nova explosions are caused by global thermonuclear runaways triggered in the surface layers of accreting white dwarfs. It has been predicted that localised thermonuclear bursts on white dwarfs can also take place, similar to Type I X-ray bursts observed in accreting neutron stars. Unexplained rapid bursts from the binary system TV Columbae, in which mass is accreted onto a moderately-strong magnetised white dwarf from a low-mass companion, have been observed on several occasions in the past $\approx40$ years. During these bursts the optical/UV luminosity increases by a factor of $>3$ in less t…
