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arXiv 2406.01211astro-ph.HE
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磁层电流片在M87*的正负电子对富集与超高能质子加速中的作用

The role of magnetospheric current sheets in pair enrichment and ultra-high energy proton acceleration in M87*

S. I. Stathopoulos, M. Petropoulou, L. Sironi, D. Giannios

AI总结:

本文研究超大质量黑洞M87*磁层电流片的动力学,构建解析模型描述重联区相对论性正负电子对种群,探讨其对MeV耀斑与X射线辐射的贡献,并揭示通过光子-光子对产生实现等离子体富集,同时论证质子可被加速至数EeV的超高能。

摘要:

针对超大质量黑洞磁捕获吸积的数值模拟近期取得进展,阐明了黑洞视界附近磁层电流片的形成与动力学。我们将上游区域的正负电子对磁化率$\sigma_{\rm e}$与质量吸积率$\dot{m}$(以Eddington质量吸积率为单位)作为自由参数,估算了磁场强度,并受近期三维粒子模拟启发,构建了解析模型来描述重联区域相对论性电子与正电子(正负电子对)的种群。将该模型应用于M87*,我们数值计算了不同$\sigma_e$值下的非热光子谱。结果表明,在电流片两侧游走并被加速至同步辐射极限能量的正负电子对,能够产生光度约$10^{41}$~erg s$^{-1}$的MeV耀斑——且与$\sigma_e$无关——前提是黑洞吸积率为$\dot{m}=10^{-5}$。被困在瞬态电流片中的正负电子对可产生伴随MeV耀斑的X射线对应体,对于长度为几个引力半径的电流片,其持续约一天。我们还证明,上游等离子体可因光子-光子对产生过程而富集,并推导出在$\dot{m}=10^{-6} - 10^{-5}$时新的平衡磁化率为$\sigma_e \sim 10^3-10^4$。此外,我们探讨了磁层电流片将质子加速至超高能的潜力,发现尽管加速至该能量受限于多种损失机制(如正负电子对非热辐射导致的同步辐射损失与光致π介子损失),但在亚Eddington吸积超大质量黑洞周围形成的磁层电流片中,质子最高能量仍可达数EeV范围。

英文摘要:

Recent advances in numerical simulations of magnetically arrested accretion onto supermassive black holes have shed light on the formation and dynamics of magnetospheric current sheets near the black hole horizon. By considering the pair magnetization $σ_{\rm e}$ in the upstream region and the mass accretion rate $\dot{m}$ (in units of the Eddington mass accretion rate) as free parameters we estimate the strength of the magnetic field and develop analytical models, motivated by recent three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, to describe the populations of relativistic electron and positrons (pairs) in the reconnection region. Applying our model to M87*, we numerically compute the non-thermal photon spectra for various values of $σ_e$. We show that pairs that are accelerated up to the synchrotron radiation-limited energy while meandering across both sides of the current sheet, can produce MeV flares with luminosity of $\sim 10^{41}$~erg s$^{-1}$ -- independent of $σ_e$ -- for a black hole accreting at $\dot{m}=10^{-5}$. Pairs that are trapped in the transient current sheet can produce X-ray counterparts to the MeV flares, lasting about a day for current sheets with length of a few gravitational radii. We also show that the upstream plasma can be enriched due to photon-photon pair creation, and derive a new equilibrium magnetization of $σ_e \sim 10^3-10^4$ for $\dot{m}=10^{-6} - 10^{-5}$. Additionally, we explore the potential of magnetospheric current sheets to accelerate protons to ultra-high energies, finding that while acceleration to such energies is limited by various loss mechanisms, such as synchrotron and photopion losses from the non-thermal emission from pairs, maximal proton energies in the range of a few EeV are attainable in magnetospheric sheets forming around supermassive sub-Eddington accreting black holes.

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