Multi-wavelength observations suggest that the accretion disk in the hard and intermediate states of X-ray binaries (XRBs) and active galactic nuclei (AGN) transitions from a cold, thin disk at large distances into a hot, thick flow close to the black hole. However, the formation, structure and dynamics of such truncated disks are poorly constrained due to the complexity of the thermodynamic, magnetic, and radiative processes involved. We present the first radiation-transport two-temperature general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations of truncated disks radiating at ~35% of the Eddington luminosity with and without large-scale poloidal magnetic flux. We demonstrate that when a geometrically-thin accretion disk is threaded by large-scale net poloidal magnetic flux, it self-consistently transitions at small radii into a two-phase medium of cold gas clumps floating through a hot, magnetically dominated corona. This transition occurs at a well-defined truncation radius determined by the distance out to which the disk is saturated with magnetic flux. The average ion and electron temperatures in the semi-opaque corona reach, respectively, T_i ~ 10^10K and T_e ~ 5 10^8K. The system produces radiation, powerful collimated jets and broader winds at the total energy efficiency exceeding ~90%, the highest ever energy extraction efficiency from a spinning black hole by a radiatively efficient flow in a GRMHD simulation. This is consistent with jetted ejections observed during XRB outbursts. The two-phase medium may naturally lead to broadened iron line emission observed in the hard state.
We present 3D general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic(GRMHD) simulations of zero angular momentum accretion around a rapidly rotating black hole, modified by the presence of initially uniform magnetic fields. We consider serveral angles between the magnetic field direction and the black hole spin. In the resulting flows, the midplane dynamics are governed by magnetic reconnection-driven turbulence in a magnetically arrested (or a nearly arrested) state. Electromagnetic jets with outflow efficiencies ~10-200% occupy the polar regions, reaching several hundred gravitational radii before they di…
The remarkable results by the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration concerning the emission from M87* and, more recently, its polarization properties, require an increasingly accurate modeling of the plasma flows around the accreting black hole. Radiatively inefficient sources such as M87* and Sgr A* are typically modeled with the SANE (standard and normal evolution) paradigm, if the accretion dynamics is smooth, or with the MAD (magnetically arrested disk) paradigm, if the black hole's magnetosphere reacts by halting the accretion sporadically, resulting in a highly dynamical process. While t…
Radiation GRMHD Models of Accretion onto Stellar-Mass Black Holes: III. Near-Eddington Accretion
Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute（Flatiron Institute 计算天体物理中心）；School of Natural Sciences, Institute for Advanced Study（高等研究院自然科学学院）；Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia（弗吉尼亚大学天文系）；Virginia Institute for Theoretical Astronomy, University of Virginia（弗吉尼亚大学弗吉尼亚理论天文学研究所）；Michigan SPARC, Los Alamos National Laboratory（洛斯阿拉莫斯国家实验室密歇根SPARC）；Computational Physics and Methods, Los Alamos National Laboratory（洛斯阿拉莫斯国家实验室计算物理与方法部门）；Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University（普林斯顿大学天体物理科学系）
The Galactic center black hole candidate Sgr A* is the best target for studies of low-luminosity accretion physics, including with near-infrared and submillimeter wavelength long baseline interferometry experiments. Here we compare images and spectra generated from a parameter survey of general relativistic MHD simulations to a set of radio to near-infrared observations of Sgr A*. Our models span the limits of weak and strong magnetization and use a range of sub-grid prescriptions for electron heating. We find two classes of scenarios can explain the broad shape of the submillimeter spectral p…
GRMHD Simulations of Accreting Proto-Magnetars II. Implications for r-process Nucleosynthesis
Columbia University（哥伦比亚大学）；Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory（普林斯顿等离子体物理实验室）；Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute（计算天体物理学中心，富尔顿研究所）；Massachusetts Institute of Technology（麻省理工学院）；Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto（加拿大理论天体物理研究所，多伦多大学）
X-shaped radio galaxies (XRGs) produce misaligned X-shaped jet pairs and make up $\lesssim10\%$ of radio galaxies. XRGs are thought to emerge in galaxies featuring a binary supermassive black hole ($\rm SMBH$), $\rm SMBH$ merger, or large-scale ambient medium asymmetry. We demonstrate that XRG morphology can naturally form without such special, preexisting conditions. Our 3D general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulation for the first time follows magnetized rotating gas from outside the $\rm SMBH$ sphere of influence of radius $R_{\rm B}$ to the $\rm SMBH$ of gravitational radius…
A GRMHD-Calibrated Semi-Analytical Model for Hot Sub-Keplerian Accretion Flows in Kerr Spacetime
Central Department of Physics, Tribhuvan University（特里布万大学物理中央系）；Faculty of Physics and Applied Informatics, University of Łódź（罗兹大学物理与应用信息学院）；Department of Physics, Kennesaw State University（肯尼索州立大学物理系）
Accreting black holes (BHs) launch relativistic collimated jets, across many decades in luminosity and mass, suggesting the jet launching mechanism is universal, robust and scale-free. Theoretical models and general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations indicate that the key jet-making ingredient is large-scale poloidal magnetic flux. However, its origin is uncertain, and it is unknown if it can be generated in situ or dragged inward from the ambient medium. Here, we use the GPU-accelerated GRMHD code H-AMR to study global 3D BH accretion at unusually high resolutions more typic…
Non-ideal MHD effects may play a significant role in determining the dynamics, thermal properties, and observational signatures of radiatively inefficient accretion flows onto black holes. In particular, particle acceleration during magnetic reconnection events may influence black hole spectra and flaring properties. We use representative GRMHD simulations of black hole accretion flows to identify and explore the structures and properties of current sheets as potential sites of magnetic reconnection. In the case of standard and normal (SANE) disks, we find that, in the reconnection sites, the …
A Phase-resolved View of Millihertz Quasi-periodic Oscillations in the Ultraluminous X-ray Source M51 ULX-7: Evidence for a Magnetically Truncated Disk and Geometrical Beaming
Black Hole-Disk Interactions in Magnetically Arrested Active Galactic Nuclei: General Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations Using A Time-Dependent, Binary Metric
We evolve two high-resolution general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations of advection-dominated accretion flows around non-spinning black holes (BHs), each over a duration $\sim 3\times 10^5\,GM_{\rm BH}/c^3$. One model captures the evolution of a weakly magnetized (SANE) disk and the other a magnetically arrested disk (MAD). Magnetic flux eruptions in the MAD model push out gas from the disk and launch strong winds with outflow efficiencies at times reaching $10\%$ of the incoming accretion power. Despite the substantial power in these winds, average mass outflow rates remai…
Recent observations of SgrA* by the GRAVITY instrument have astrometrically tracked infrared flares (IR) at distances of $\sim 10$ gravitational radii ($r_g$). In this paper, we study a model for the flares based on 3D general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations of magnetically arrested accretion disks (MADs) which exhibit violent episodes of flux escape from the black hole magnetosphere. These events are attractive for flare modeling for several reasons: i) the magnetically dominant regions can resist being disrupted via magneto-rotational turbulence and shear, ii) the orient…
Modes in Transitional Millisecond Pulsars: Evidence of Pulsar Wind-Induced Disk Heating from GRMHD and Radiative Transfer
Norwegian University of Science and Technology（挪威科技大学）；University of Valladolid UVA（巴利亚多利德大学）；Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, CNES, LAM（艾克斯-马赛大学）；Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya（加泰罗尼亚理工大学）；Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory（普林斯顿等离子体物理实验室）；Northwestern University（西北大学）；University of Toronto（多伦多大学）
Inspiraling and merging binary neutron stars are not only important source of gravitational waves, but also promising candidates for coincident electromagnetic counterparts. These systems are thought to be progenitors of short gamma-ray bursts (sGRBs). We have shown previously that binary neutron star mergers that undergo {\it delayed} collapse to a black hole surrounded by a {\it weighty} magnetized accretion disk can drive magnetically-powered jets. We now perform magnetohydrodynamic simulations in full general relativity of binary neutron stars mergers that undergo {\it prompt} collapse to …
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration, an Earth-size sub-millimetre radio interferometer, recently captured the first images of the central supermassive black hole in M87. These images were interpreted as gravitationally-lensed synchrotron emission from hot plasma orbiting around the black hole. In the accretion flows around low-luminosity active galactic nuclei such as M87, electrons and ions are not in thermal equilibrium. Therefore, the electron temperature, which is important for the thermal synchrotron radiation at EHT frequencies of 230 GHz, is not independently determined. In …
GRMHD Simulations of Accreting Proto-Magnetars I. Implications for Gamma-Ray Burst Jets and Energetic Explosions
Columbia University（哥伦比亚大学）；Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory（普林斯顿等离子体物理实验室）；Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute（计算天体物理学中心，西蒙斯数据科学研究所）；Massachusetts Institute of Technology（麻省理工学院）；Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto（加拿大理论天体物理研究所，多伦多大学）
We present 3D general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations of the accretion flow surrounding Sagittarius A* that are initialized using larger-scale MHD simulations of the $\sim$ 30 Wolf--Rayet (WR) stellar winds in the Galactic center. The properties of the resulting accretion flow on horizon scales are set not by ad hoc initial conditions but by the observationally constrained properties of the WR winds with limited free parameters. For this initial study we assume a non-spinning black hole. Our simulations naturally produce a $\sim 10^{-8} M_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$ accretion rate, c…
Electron-positron Pair Production in Global GRMHD Simulations of Black Hole Accretion Flows
JILA, University of Colorado and National Institute of Standards and Technology（科罗拉多大学JILA与美国国家标准与技术研究院）；Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado（科罗拉多大学天体物理与行星科学系）
Magnetically-Driven Neutron-Rich Ejecta Unleashed: Global 3D Neutrino-General Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations of Collapsars Probe the Conditions for r-process Nucleosynthesis
The classical, relativistic thin-disk theory of Novikov and Thorne (NT) predicts a maximum accretion efficiency of 40% for an optically thick, radiatively efficient accretion disk around a maximally spinning black hole (BH). However, when a strong magnetic field is introduced to numerical simulations of thin disks, large deviations in efficiency are observed, in part due to mass and energy carried by jets and winds launched by the disk or BH spin. The total efficiency of accretion can be significantly enhanced beyond that predicted by NT but it has remained unclear how the radiative component …
Variable features in black hole X-ray Binaries (BH-XRBs) are observed in different energy ranges and time scales. The physical origin of different spectral states in BH-XRBs and their relations with the underlying accretion disc are still elusive. To investigate the intermediate state of BH-XRBs during outburst, we simulate a truncated accretion disc around a Kerr black hole using a general relativistic magneto-hydrodynamical (GRMHD) framework under axisymmetry with adaptively refined mesh. Additionally, we have also carried out radiative transfer calculations for understanding the implication…
GRMHD accretion beyond the black hole paradigm: Light from within the shadow
Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie（马克斯·普朗克射电天文研究所）；Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía-CSIC（安达卢西亚天体物理研究所-CSIC）；Instituto de Astronomia, Geofísica e Ciências Atmosféricas, Universidade de São Paulo（圣保罗大学天文、地球物理与大气科学研究所）；International Centre for Space and Cosmology, Ahmedabad University（艾哈迈达巴德大学国际空间与宇宙学中心）
Large-scale magnetic fields play a vital role in determining the angular momentum transport and generating jets/outflows in the accreting systems, yet their origin remains poorly understood. We focus on radiatively inefficient accretion flows (RIAFs) around the black holes (BHs), and conduct three-dimensional general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations using the Athena++ code. We first re-confirm that the MRI dynamo in the RIAF alone does not spontaneously form a magnetically arrested disk (MAD), conducive for strong jet formation. We next investigate the other possibility, wh…
For testing different electron temperature ($T_{\rm e}$) prescriptions in general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics (GRMHD) simulations through observations, we propose to utilize linear polarization (LP) and circular polarization (CP) images. We calculate the polarization images based on a semi-Magnetically Arrested Disk (MAD) GRMHD model for various $T_{\rm e}$ parameters, bearing M87 in mind. We find an LP-CP separation in the images of the low-$T_{\rm e}$ disk cases at 230 GHz; namely, the LP flux mainly originates from downstream of the jet and the CP flux comes from the counter-side jet,…
Relativistic jets and disc-winds are typically observed in BH-XRBs and AGNs. However, many physical details of jet launching and the driving of disc winds from the underlying accretion disc are still not fully understood. In this study, we further investigate the role of the magnetic field strength and structure in launching jets and disc winds. In particular, we explore the connection between jet, wind, and the accretion disc around the central black hole. We perform axisymmetric GRMHD simulations of the accretion-ejection system using adaptive mesh refinement. Essentially, our simulations ar…
The radiative and jet efficiencies of thin magnetized accretion disks around black holes (BHs) are affected by BH spin and the presence of a magnetic field that, when strong, could lead to large deviations from Novikov-Thorne (NT) thin disk theory. To seek the maximum deviations, we perform general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations of radiatively efficient thin (half-height $H$ to radius $R$ of $H/R\approx 0.10$) disks around moderately rotating BHs with $a/M=0.5$. First, our simulations, each evolved for more than $70,000r_g/c$ (gravitational radius $r_g$ and speed of light…
