Dominated Accretion Flow Research Articles

Critical luminosity of Super-Dddington accretion disks

Slim disk is a kind of optically thick, advection dominated accretion flow, in which the disk height can be comparable with the disk radius. The Slim disk has been widely used to explain the observation phenomena of various Super Eddington accretion disks. Outflows are always present in the numerical simulations of Super Eddington accretion disks, which implies that only a small fraction of gas in the disk is finally swallowed by the black hole. In the study of the Slim disk, we adopt an explicit vertical gravitational force in the thermal equilibrium solutions. The results of our calculation show that there is a maximum for the gravitational force of a black hole in the vertical direction of the accretion disk, and there exists a maximally possible accretion rate for each radius in the outer region of the slim disk. The existence of a maximally possible accretion rate in the case of Super-Eddington accretion implies that only the inner region of these flows can possibly take the form of Slim disk, and strong outflows from the outer region are required to reduce the accretion rate in order for Slim disks to be realized. This result is in agreement with the numerical simulation result. Finally, we fit the curve of the disk luminosity L disk/ L Edd with the dimensionless accretion rate m ˙ , and derive an analytic relation between the total luminosity and the mass accretion rate.

CONSTRAINING THE MAGNETIC FIELD IN THE ACCRETION FLOW OF LOW-LUMINOSITY ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI

Observations show that the accretion flows in low-luminosity active galactic nuclei (LLAGNs) probably have a two-component structure with an inner hot, optically thin, advection dominated accretion flow (ADAF) and an outer truncated cool, optically thick accretion disk. As shown by Taam et al. (2012), within the framework of the disk evaporation model, the truncation radius as a function of mass accretion rate is strongly affected by including the magnetic field. We define the parameter <TEX>${\beta}$</TEX> as <TEX>$p_m=B^2/8{\pi}=(1-{\beta})p_{tot}$</TEX>, (where <TEX>$p_{tot}=p_{gas}+p_m$</TEX>, <TEX>$p_{gas}$</TEX> is gas pressure and <TEX>$p_m$</TEX> is magnetic pressure) to describe the strength of the magnetic field in accretion flows. It is found that an increase of the magnetic field (decreasing the value of <TEX>${\beta}$</TEX>) results in a smaller truncation radius for the accretion disk. We calculate the emergent spectrum of an inner ADAF + an outer truncated accretion disk around a supermassive black hole by considering the effects of the magnetic field on the truncation radius of the accretion disk. By comparing with observations, we found that a weaker magnetic field (corresponding to a bigger value of <TEX>${\beta}$</TEX>) is required to match the observed correlation between <TEX>$L_{2-10keV}/L_{Edd}$</TEX> and the bolometric correction <TEX>$k_{2-10keV}$</TEX>, which is consistent with the physics of the accretion flow with a low mass accretion rate around a black hole.

VERTICAL STRUCTURE OF ADVECTION-DOMINATED ACCRETION FLOWS

We solve the set of hydrodynamic (HD) equations for optically thin Advection Dominated Accretion Flows (ADAFs) by assuming radially self-similar in spherical coordinate system $ (r, \theta, \phi) $. The disk is considered to be steady state and axi-symmetric. We define the boundary conditions at the pole and the equator of the disk and to avoid singularity at the rotation axis, the disk is taken to be symmetric with respect to this axis. Moreover, only the $ \tau_{r \phi} $ component of viscous stress tensor is assumed and we have set $ v_{\theta} = 0 $. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the variation of dynamical quantities of the flow in the vertical direction by finding an analytical solution. As a consequence, we found that the advection parameter, $ f^{adv} $, varies along the $ \theta $ direction and reaches to its maximum near the rotation axis. Our results also show that, in terms of no-outflow solution, thermal equilibrium still exists and consequently advection cooling can balance viscous heating.

ENERGETICS AND LIFETIMES OF LOCAL RADIO ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI

We present a model describing the evolution of Fanaroff-Riley type I and II radio AGN, and the transition between these classes. We quantify galaxy environments using a semi-analytic galaxy formation model, and apply our model to a volume-limited low redshift ($0.03 \leqslant z \leqslant 0.1$) sample of observed AGN to determine the distribution of jet powers and active lifetimes at the present epoch. Radio sources in massive galaxies are found to remain active for longer, spend less time in the quiescent phase, and inject more energy into their hosts than their less massive counterparts. The jet power is independent of the host stellar mass within uncertainties, consistent with maintenance-mode AGN feedback paradigm. The environments of these AGN are in or close to long-term heating-cooling balance. We also examine the properties of high- and low-excitation radio galaxy sub-populations. The HERGs are younger than LERGs by an order of magnitude, whilst their jet powers are greater by a factor of four. The Eddington-scaled accretion rates and jet production efficiencies of these populations are consistent with LERGs being powered by radiatively inefficient advection dominated accretion flows (ADAFs), while HERGs are fed by a radiatively efficient accretion mechanism.

Variation of the inner disk radius during the onset of the 2010 outburst of MAXI J1659–152

Low mass black hole binaries are generally transient sources and spend most of their time in the quiescent state. It is believed that the inner accretion flow in the quiescent state is in the form of advection dominated accretion flow and the cold outer accretion disk is truncated far away from the central black hole. During the onset of an outburst, the disk gradually extends towards the central black hole. However, the observational evidence for this general picture is indirect at best. Here we present the results of a study performed to understand the variation of the inner disk radius during the early phase of an outburst. We investigated the variation of the inner disk radius during the 2010 outburst of the black hole candidate MAXI J1659-152 using the method of simultaneous spectral fitting. We found that the inner edge of the disk is truncated at a large radius in the beginning of the outburst when the source was in the hard state. We found a systematic decrease in the inner disk radius as the outburst progressed. We also estimated an upper limit on the mass of the black hole to be 8.1 ± 2.9 M⊙ within the uncertainty of the distance and inclination angle.

COMPLETE MULTIWAVELENGTH EVOLUTION OF GALACTIC BLACK HOLE TRANSIENTS DURING OUTBURST DECAY. II. COMPACT JETS AND X-RAY VARIABILITY PROPERTIES

We investigated the relation between compact jet emission and X-ray variability properties of all black hole transients with multiwavelength coverage during their outburst decays. We studied the evolution of all power spectral components (including low frequency quasi-periodic oscillations), and related this evolution to changes in jet properties tracked by radio and infrared observations. We grouped sources according to their tracks in radio/X-ray luminosity relation, and show that the standards show stronger broadband X-ray variability than outliers at a given X-ray luminosity when the compact jet turned on. This trend is consistent with the internal shock model and can be important for the understanding of the presence of tracks in the radio/X-ray luminosity relation. We also observed that the total and the QPO rms amplitudes increase together during the earlier part of the outburst decay, but after the compact jet turns either the QPO disappears or its rms amplitude decreases significantly while the total rms amplitudes remain high. We discuss these results with a scenario including a variable corona and a non-variable disk with a mechanism for the QPO separate from the mechanism that create broad components. Finally, we evaluated the timing predictions of the magnetically dominated accretion flow model which can explain the presence of tracks in the radio/X-ray luminosity relation.

Jet Magnetically Accelerated from Advection Dominated Accretion Flow

A jet model for the jet power arising from a steady, optically thin, advection dominated accretion flow (ADAF) around a Kerr black hole (BH) is proposed. We investigate the typical numerical solutions of ADAF, and calculate the jet power from an ADAF using a general relativistic version of electronic circuit theory. It is shown that the jet power concentrates in the inner region of the accretion flow, and the higher the degree to which the flow advection-dominated is, the lower the jet power from the ADAF is.

DIFFERENT X-RAY SPECTRAL EVOLUTION FOR BLACK HOLE X-RAY BINARIES IN DUAL TRACKS OF RADIO-X-RAY CORRELATION

Recently an `outliers' track of radio-X-ray correlation was found, which is much steeper than the former universal correlation, where dual tracks were speculated to be triggered by different accretion processes. In this work, we test this issue by exploring hard X-ray spectral evolution in four black-hole X-ray binaries (XRBs) with multiple, quasi-simultaneous radio and X-ray observations. Firstly, we find that hard X-ray photon indices, $\Gamma$, are anti- and positively correlated to X-ray fluxes when the X-ray flux, $F_{\rm 3-9keV}$, is below and above a critical flux, $F_{\rm X,crit}$, which are consistent with prediction of advection dominated accretion flow (ADAF) and disk-corona model respectively. Secondly and most importantly, we find that the radio-X-ray correlations are also clearly different when the X-ray fluxes are higher and lower than the critical flux that defined by X-ray spectral evolution. The data points with $F_{\rm 3-9keV}\gtrsim F_{\rm X,crit}$ have a steeper radio-X-ray correlation ($F_{\rm X}\propto F_{\rm R}^{b}$ and $b\sim 1.1-1.4$), which roughly form the `outliers' track. However, the data points with anti-correlation of $\Gamma-F_{\rm 3-9keV}$ either stay in the universal track with $b\sim0.61$ or stay in transition track (from the universal to `outliers' tracks or vice versa). Therefore, our results support that the universal and `outliers' tracks of radio-X-ray correlations are regulated by radiatively inefficient and radiatively efficient accretion model respectively.

Modelling the ‘outliers’ track of the radio–X-ray correlation in X-ray binaries based on a disc–corona model

The universal radio--X-ray correlation (F_R \propto F_X^{b}, b~0.5-0.7) has been found for a sample of black-hole X-ray binaries (BHBs) in their low/hard states, which can roughly be explained by the coupled model of jet and radiatively inefficient advection dominated accretion flow. However, more and more `outliers' were found in last few years, which evidently deviate from the universal radio-X-ray correlation and usually show a much steeper correlation with an index of ~1.4. Based on simple physical assumptions, the radiatively efficient accretion flows are speculated to exist in these `outliers'. In this work, we test this issue by modelling the `outliers' track based on the radiatively efficient disc-corona model and the hybrid jet model. We find that our model predicts a steeper radio--X-ray correlation with slopes >~1.2 for the typical viscosity parameter of \alpha~0.05-0.2. In particular, the slope is ~1.4 for the case of \alpha~0.1, which is consistent with the observational results of H1743-322 very well. Our results suggest that the `outliers' track may be regulated by the disc-corona model.

MEASURING MASS ACCRETION RATE ONTO THE SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLE IN M87 USING FARADAY ROTATION MEASURE WITH THE SUBMILLIMETER ARRAY

We present the first constraint on Faraday rotation measure (RM) at submillimeter wavelengths for the nucleus of M 87. By fitting the polarization position angles ($\chi$) observed with the SMA at four independent frequencies around $\sim$230 GHz and interpreting the change in $\chi$ as a result of \emph{external} Faraday rotation associated with accretion flow, we determine the rotation measure of the M 87 core to be between $-$7.5$\times$10$^{5}$ and 3.4$\times$10$^{5}$ rad/m$^{2}$. Assuming a density profile of the accretion flow that follows a power-law distribution and a magnetic field that is ordered, radial, and has equipartition strength, the limit on the rotation measure constrains the mass accretion rate $\dot{M}$ to be below 9.2$\times$10$^{-4}$ M$_{\odot}$~yr$^{-1}$ at a distance of 21 Schwarzchild radii from the central black hole. This value is at least two orders of magnitude smaller than the Bondi accretion rate, suggesting significant suppression of the accretion rate in the inner region of the accretion flow. Consequently, our result disfavors the classical \emph{advection dominated accretion flow} (ADAF) and prefers the \emph{adiabatic inflow-outflow solution} (ADIOS) or \emph{convection-dominated accretion flow} (CDAF) for the hot accretion flow in M 87.

Dynamics of clumps embedded in a hot accretion flow with toroidal magnetic field

Dynamics of clumps within a magnetized advection dominated accretion flow is investigated by solving the collisionless Boltzmann equation and considering the drag force due to the relative velocity between the clumps and the gas. Toroidal component of the magnetic field is assumed to be dominant. Dynamical properties of the hot gaseous component such as the radial and the rotational velocities are affected by the magnetic effects, and so, drag force varies depending on the strength of magnetic field and the velocity dispersion of the clumps is then modified significantly. We show that when magnetic pressure is less than the gas pressure, the root of the averaged radial velocity square of the clumps decreases at the inner parts of the hot flow and increases slightly at its outer edge.

Constraints on supermassive black hole spins from observations of active galaxy jets

AbstractWe discuss the origin of the low‐energy cutoff, or LEC, seen in the radio spectra of many extragalactic jets and relate this to the spin of the supermassive black holes that presumably power them. Pion decay via proton‐proton collisions is a possible mechanism to supply a secondary positron population with a low energy limit. We expect that pion production would occur in advection dominated accretion flows or ADAFs. In radiatively inefficient ADAFs the heat energy of the accreting gas is unable to radiate in less than the accretion time and the particle temperature could be high enough so that thermal protons can yield such pion production. Strong starbursts are another option for the injection of a truncated particle population into the jet. The role of both mechanisms is discussed with respect to the black hole spin estimate. The energy demanded to produce the pion decay process involves a minimum threshold for kinetic energy of the interacting protons. Therefore the mean proton speed in the flow can determine whether a LEC is generated. In ADAFs the random velocity of the protons can exceed the minimum speed limit of pion production around the jet launching region in the innermost part of the flow. Finally we summarize the additional work needed to put the model assumptions on a more rigorous basis. (© 2013 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &amp; Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Neutrino Dominated Accretion Flow Around a Strange Star

The “strange star - NDAF” model (NDAF: Neutrino Dominated Accretion Flow) is proposed as an alternative central engine of gamma-ray bursts for unifying the interpretation of the prompt emission and postburst activities of gamma-ray bursts. The structure of NDAF around a strange star is calculated. Different from other central compact objects, the strange star will feed back the phase transition energy of strangization on the accretion flow, with neutrinos as energy carriers. The friction between NDAF and strange star is ignored in this paper. The results indicate: firstly, the structure of NDAF around a strange star is sensitive to accretion rate; secondly, if accretion rate is larger than 0.18 Mʘ s-1, the “strange star - NDAF” model can unify the explanation on the prompt emission and postburst activities of gamma-ray bursts, and the range of allowable accretion rates is wider than that in frictionless “neutron star - NDAF” models; thirdly, the range of annihilation energy of “strange star - NDAF” model is very wide, when the accretion rate is higher than 0.3 Mʘ s-1, the annihilation energy is greater than 1051 erg; finally, if the accretion rate is greater than 0.3 Mʘ s-1, the annihilation energy of “strange star - NDAF” model is larger than what of “black hole - NDAF” model at the same accretion rate by more than one order of magnitude, it is favorable to explaining some extremely energetic gamma-ray bursts.

X-ray spectral variability of seven LINER nuclei withXMM-NewtonandChandradata

One of the most important features in active galactic nuclei (AGN) is the variability of their emission. Variability has been discovered at X-ray, UV, and radio frequencies on time scales from hours to years. Among the AGN family and according to theoretical studies, Low-Ionization Nuclear Emission Line Region (LINER) nuclei would be variable objects on long time scales. Our purpose is to investigate spectral X-ray variability in LINERs and to understand the nature of these kinds of objects, as well as their accretion mechanism. Chandra and XMM-Newton public archives were used to compile X-ray spectra of seven LINER nuclei at different epochs with time scales of years. To search for variability we fit all the spectra from the same object with a set of models, in order to identify the parameters responsible for the variability pattern. We also analyzed the light curves in order to search for short time scale (from hours to days) variability. Whenever possible, UV variability was also studied. We found spectral variability in four objects, with variations mostly related to hard energies (2-10 keV). These variations are due to changes in the soft excess, and/or changes in the absorber, and/or intrinsic variations of the source. Another two galaxies seem not to vary. Short time scale variations during individual observations were not found. Our analysis confirms the previously reported anticorrelation between the X-ray spectral index and the Eddington ratio, and also the correlation between the X-ray to UV flux ratio and the Eddington ratio. These results support an Advection Dominated Accretion Flow (ADAF) as the accretion mechanism in LINERs.

CONSTRAINTS ON THE VISCOSITY AND MAGNETIC FIELD IN HOT ACCRETION FLOWS AROUND BLACK HOLES

The magnitude of the viscosity and magnetic field parameters in hot accretion flows is investigated in low luminosity active galactic nuclei (LLAGNs). Theoretical studies show that a geometrically thin, optically thick disk is truncated at mass accretion rates less than a critical value by mass evaporated vertically from the disk to the corona, with the truncated region replaced by an advection dominated accretion flow (ADAF). The critical accretion rate for such a truncation is a function of the viscosity and magnetic field. Observations of X-ray photon indices and spectral fits of a number of LLAGNs published in the literature provide an estimate of the critical rate of mass accretion and the truncation radius respectively. By comparing the observational results with theoretical predictions, the viscosity and magnetic field parameters in the hot accretion flow region are estimated. Specifically, the mass accretion rates inferred in different sources constrain the viscosity parameter, whereas the truncation radii of the disk, as inferred from spectral fits, further constrain the magnetic field parameter. It is found that the value of the viscosity parameter in the corona/ADAF ranges from 0.17 to 0.5, with values clustered about 0.2-0.3. Magnetic pressure is required by the relatively small truncation radii for some LLAGNs and is found to be as high as its equipartition value with the gas pressure. The inferred values of the viscosity parameter are in agreement with those obtained from the observations of non-stationary accretion in stellar mass black hole X-ray transients. This consistency provides support for the paradigm that a geometrically thin disk is truncated by means of a mass evaporation process from the disk to the corona at low mass accretion rates.

NUCLEAR DOMINATED ACCRETION FLOWS IN TWO DIMENSIONS. I. TORUS EVOLUTION WITH PARAMETRIC MICROPHYSICS

We explore the evolution of radiatively inefficient accretion disks in which nuclear reactions are dynamically important (`Nuclear Dominated Accretion Flows', or NuDAFs). Examples of such disks are those generated by the merger of a white dwarf with a neutron star or black hole, or by the collapse of a rotating star. Here we present two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations that systematically explore the effect of adding a single nuclear reaction to a viscous torus. The equation of state, anomalous shear stress, and nuclear reactions are given parametric forms. Our results point to the existence of two qualitatively different regimes of NuDAF evolution: (1) steady accretion with quiescent burning; or (2) detonation of the disk. These outcomes are controlled primarily by the ratio of the nuclear energy released to the enthalpy at the burning radius. Disks detonate if this ratio exceeds a critical value (~1), and if burning occurs in regions where neutrino cooling is unimportant. Thermonuclear runaways are seeded by the turbulent mixing of hot ash with cold fuel at the burning front. Subcritical disks do not explode, but instead power a persistent collimated outflow of unbound material composed primarily of ash, with a mass-loss rate that increases with the nuclear binding energy released. We discuss the implications of our results for supernova-like counterparts from astrophysical events in the NuDAF regime. In particular, detonations following a white dwarf - neutron star merger could account for some subluminous Type Ia supernovae, such as the class defined by SN 2002cx.

LUMINOUS HOT ACCRETION FLOW AND THE MODELING OF THE MULTI-BAND SPECTRUM OF IGR J17177-3656

A recently discovered transient X-ray source, IGR J17177-3656, has received many observations, including a quasi-simultaneous multi-waveband observations. The source is modeled with the coupled accretion-jet model around a black hole. It is found that the multi-waveband spectrum can be successfully modeled with the luminous hot accretion flow (LHAF) rather than advection dominated accretion flow (ADAF). The modeled luminosity is about 5% of the Eddington luminosity, and the source may be as far as 25 kpc. Our detailed modeling result confirms the point that LHAF can explain steep radio-X-ray correlation.

Radiative efficiency of hot accretion flows

Two significant progresses have been made in the past years on our understanding of hot accretion flows. One is that only a small fraction of accretion flow available at the outer boundary can finally falls onto the black hole while most of them is lost in outflow. Another one is that electrons may directly receive a large fraction of the viscously dissipated energy in the accretion flow, i.e, $\delta\sim 0.1-0.5$. The radiative efficiency of hot accretion flow when these two progresses are taken into account has not been systematically studied and is the subject of the present paper. We consider two regimes of hot accretion model. One is the advection dominated accretion flows (ADAFs) which lie on low accretion rate regime, $\la 10\alpha^2\ledd/c^2$; another being the luminous hot accretion flows (LHAFs) which lie above this accretion rate. For the latter, we assume that the accretion flow will has a two-phase structure above a certain accretion rate, and a simplification is adopted in our calculation of the dynamics. Our results indicate that the radiative efficiency of hot accretion flow increases with the accretion rate and is highly enhanced by the direct viscous heating to electrons compared to the previous case of $\delta\ll 1$. When the accretion rate is high, the radiative efficiency of hot accretion flow is comparable to that of the standard thin disk. Fitting formulae of radiative efficiency as a function of accretion rate for various $\delta$ values are presented.

The effect of wind on magnetized advection dominated accretion flows

We study the effects of winds on advection dominated accretion flows in the presence of a global magnetic field under a self-similar treatment. The disk gas is assumed to be isothermal. For a steady state structure of such accretion flows a set of self similar solutions are presented. We consider the wind in a general magnetic field with three components (r,φ,z) in advection-dominated accretion flows. The mass-accretion rate \(\dot{M}\) decreases with radius r as \(\dot{M}\propto r^{s+1/2}\), where s is an arbitrary constant. We will see, by increasing the wind parameter s, radial and rotational velocities increase.

Outflows from Accretion Disks around Compact Objects

AbstractWe solve the set of hydrodynamic equations for accretion disks in the spherical coordinates (rθφ) to obtain the explicit structure along the θ direction. The results display thinner, quasi-Keplerian disks for Shakura-Sunyaev Disks (SSDs) and thicker, sub-Keplerian disks for Advection Dominated Accretion Flows (ADAFs) and slim disks, which are consistent with previous popular analytical models, while an inflow region and an outflow region always exist, which supports the results of some recent numerical simulation works. Our results indicate that the outflows should be common in various accretion disks and stronger in slim disks and ADAFs.