The Structure and Appearance of Winds from Supercritical Accretion Disks - Part Four - Analytic Results with Applications

Abstract

view Abstract Citations (24) References (25) Co-Reads Similar Papers Volume Content Graphics Metrics Export Citation NASA/ADS The structure and appearance of winds from supercritical accretion disks. IV. Analytic results with applications. Meier, D. L. Abstract The supercritical wind theory of Papers II and III is applied to winds driven by accretion phenomena. An expression for the total luminosity LT is derived in terms of the accretion rate dotMT and injection radius rι. When applied specifically to accretion disks, the theory becomes the supercritical counterpart to standard subcritical accretion disk theory. Useful models for various values of the central object mass M, heating parameter a", and dotMT are presented graphically. Supercritical wind theory is also applied to several phenomena in which spherical outflow driven by super-Eddington luminosities has been proposed as an explanation. Nova envelopes are analyzed, and it is found that LT ≫ LEd at maximum, inconsistent with supercritical accretion but consistent with thermonuclear runaway. Bath's suggestion that symbiotic stars are binary systems with a main sequence star accreting matter from a red giant is tested and found to work moderately well if the accreting object were a white dwarf instead. The theory is also applied to P Cygni. While this star has a velocity law similar to that of the supercritical wind (υ ∝ r), simple extended optically thick outflow is not acceptable for the object. Contrary to previous suggestions, supercritically accreting neutron stars and black holes can be X-ray sources for dotMT up to several hundred times dotMEd , depending on a". It is suggested that the galactic bulge Class 2 X-ray sources are the neutron star equivalents of the symbiotic stars. A supercritical accretion disk wind scenario for the SS 433 400 km s-1 absorption system is also discussed. Finally models with M = 108 Msun and a" = 1, proposed in Paper III for the central source of quasars, also produce the outflow velocities of 0.1c seen in PHL 5200 and other mass-losing quasars. Publication: The Astrophysical Journal Pub Date: May 1982 DOI: 10.1086/159944 Bibcode: 1982ApJ...256..706M full text sources ADS | data products SIMBAD (7)