Two-dimensional Radiation Hydrodynamic Simulations Research Articles

Space-time dependent non-local thermal transport effects on laser ablation dynamics in inertial confinement fusion

In inertial confinement fusion (ICF), electron thermal transport plays a key role in laser ablation and the subsequent implosion processes, which always exhibits intractable non-local effects. Simple modifications of the local Spitzer–Härm model with either an artificially-assumed constant flux limiter or a purely time-dependent one are applied to explain some experimental data, but fail to simultaneously reproduce the space-time evolution of the whole laser ablation process. Here, by carrying out a series of one-dimensional and two-dimensional radiation hydrodynamic simulations where the space-time-dependent non-local thermal transport model proposed by Schurt, Nicolaï and Busquet (the SNB model) are self-consistently included, we systematically study the non-local effects on the whole laser ablation dynamics including those occurring at the critical surface, the conduction zone and the ablation front. Different from those obtained previously, our results show that due to the non-local heat flow redistribution and redirection, at the critical surface the thermal flux is more inhibited, in the conduction zone the lateral thermal transport is suppressed, and ahead of the ablation front the plasma is preheated. When combined together they eventually result in significant improvement of the laser absorption efficiency, extension of the conduction zone, increase of both the mass ablation rate and shock velocity. Furthermore, the dependence of these laser ablation dynamics on different drive laser intensities is investigated, which provides beneficial enlightenments on potential laser pulse shaping and/or ignition scheme optimization in ICF.

Effects of Kelvin–Helmholtz instability on the material mixing in the double-cone ignition

The Kelvin–Helmholtz instability (KHI) occurs on the interface of gold cones and embedded fuels for fusion schemes with gold cones. The development of KHI on the inner surface of gold cones in the double-cone ignition scheme is investigated with two-dimensional radiation hydrodynamic simulations. It has been found that the colliding high-density fuel plasma between the tips of the two cones is spatiotemporally separated from the mixed gold ions from the inner surface of the gold cones due to the KHI. Furthermore, it is found that fuel layers coated on the inner surface of the cones can effectively mitigate the energy loss in the compression process. These results could provide a reference for fast ignition schemes with gold cones.

The effect of relativistic precession on light curves of tidal disruption events

ABSTRACT The disruption of a star by the tidal forces of a spinning black hole causes the stellar stream to precess, affecting the conditions for triggering the tidal disruption event (TDE). In this work, we study the effect that precession imprints on TDE light curves due to the interaction of the TDE wind and luminosity with the stream wrapped around the black hole. We perform two-dimensional radiation-hydrodynamic simulations using the moving-mesh hydrodynamic code jet with its radiation treatment module. We study the impact of black hole mass, accretion efficiency, and inclination between the orbital and spin planes. From our results, we identified two behaviours: (i) models with low-mass black holes (Mh ∼ 106 M⊙), low inclination (i ∼ 0), and low accretion efficiency (η ∼ 0.01) show light curves with a short early peak caused by the interaction of the wind with the inner edge of the stream. The line of sight has little effect on the light curve, since the stream covers a small fraction of the solid angle due to the precession occurring in the orbital plane; and (ii) models with high-mass black holes (Mh ≳ 107 M⊙), high inclination (i ∼ 90°), and high accretion efficiency (η ∼ 0.1) produce light curves with luminosity peaks that can be delayed by up to 50–100 d depending on the line of sight due to presence of the precessed stream blocking the radiation in the early phase of the event. Our results show that black hole spin and misalignment do not imprint recognizable features on the light curves but rather can add complications to their analysis.

Efficient photo-dissociation-induced production of hydrogen radicals using vacuum ultraviolet light from a laser-produced plasma

One of the critical issues in lithography using extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light is tin contamination of the EUV collector mirrors in the tin-based LPP-EUV light source. The contamination can be removed by the reaction of tin atoms with hydrogen radicals producing stannane (SnH4), which is gaseous at the normal temperature. Hydrogen radicals can be produced from hydrogen molecules through photo-dissociation and photo-ionization induced by broadband radiation emitted from the EUV light source. In this work, an efficient production of hydrogen radical using vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) light emitted from laser-produced high-Z plasma is experimentally demonstrated. A two-dimensional radiation hydrodynamic simulation, coupled with photoionization and photo-dissociation cross sections, also shows the efficient hydrogen radical production by increased VUV light emission, as observed in the experiment.

Multiphase Gas Nature in the Sub-parsec Region of the Active Galactic Nuclei. I. Dynamical Structures of Dusty and Dust-free Outflow

We investigated dusty and dust-free gas dynamics for a radiation-driven sub-parsec-scale outflow in an active galactic nucleus (AGN) associated with a supermassive black hole 107 M ⊙ and bolometric luminosity 1044 erg s−1 based on the two-dimensional radiation-hydrodynamic simulations. A radiation-driven “lotus-like” multi-shell outflow is launched from the inner part (r ≲ 0.04 pc) of the geometrically thin disk, and it repeatedly and steadily produces shocks as mass accretion continues through the disk to the center. The shape of the dust sublimation radius is not spherical and depends on the angle (θ) from the disk plane, reflecting the nonspherical radiation field and nonuniform dust-free gas. Moreover, we found that the sublimation radius of θ ∼ 20°–60° varies on a timescale of several years. The “inflow-induced outflow” contributes to the obscuration of the nucleus in the sub-parsec region. The column density of the dust-free gas is N H ≳ 1022 cm−2 for r ≲ 0.04 pc. Gases near the disk plane (θ ≲ 30°) can be the origin of the Compton-thick component, which was suggested by the recent X-ray observations of AGNs. The dusty outflow from the sub-parsec region can be also a source of material for the radiation-driven fountain for a larger scale.

Intricate structure of the plasma Rayleigh–Taylor instability in shock tubes

Spikes and bubbles grow on unstable interfaces that are accelerated in high-energy-density conditions. If a shock propagates ahead of the interface, the plasma can be heated to extreme conditions where conduction and radiation fluxes influence the hydrodynamics. For example, a National Ignition Facility experiment found reduced single-mode nonlinear mixed-width growth in conditions scaled from a supernova explosion [Kuranz et al., Nat. Commun. 9, 1564 (2018)]. We present high-resolution two-dimensional radiation hydrodynamic simulations with the Flash code that quantitatively reproduce the experiment. Radiative fluxes are primarily responsible for ablating the spike and removing the mushroom caps. The ablated plasma increases the mixed mass and forms a low-density halo with spikes forming in both directions. This is considerably more complex than classical instability. The halo is sensitive to ablative physics, so radiographing it may aid in the verification of energy transport modeling. Although ablation changes the spike shape, it has little effect on the overall mixed width for these parameters. This is because ablation enhances the bubble velocity but it has the opposite effect on the spike. The radiation transport instead suppresses the growth via increasing the shocked foam density, thus decreasing the Atwood number. A terminal velocity model including the rarefaction expansion agrees with the experimental mixed-width growth.

Strongly anisotropic ion emission in the expansion of Nd:YAG-laser-produced plasma

We present results from a combined experimental and numerical simulation study of the anisotropy of the expansion of a laser-produced plasma into vacuum. Plasma is generated by nanosecond Nd:YAG laser pulse impact (laser wavelength λ=1.064 μm) onto tin microdroplets. Simultaneous measurements of ion kinetic energy distributions at seven angles with respect to the direction of the laser beam reveal strong anisotropic emission characteristics, in close agreement with the predictions of two-dimensional radiation-hydrodynamic simulations. Angle-resolved ion spectral measurements are further shown to provide an accurate prediction of the plasma propulsion of the laser-impacted droplet.

Compact neutron source from head-on collision of high energy density plasma jets

We propose a new scheme to generate a neutron source with a short duration, and the scheme is validated in two-dimensional radiation hydrodynamic simulations. When a laser beam irradiates a deuterated polystyrene cone with a half-opening angle of 60°, high energy density plasma jets are produced due to the converging effect. As two laser-driven counter-propagating jets collide in a head-on configuration, the kinetic energy converts into internal energy efficiently, inducing a significant increase in density and temperature. Then, deuteron–deuteron thermonuclear reactions are triggered, and plenty of neutrons are released. The simulation results show that the total neutron yield is as high as 6.6×108 with a duration of 103 ps, providing a new way to achieve ultrafast diagnosis with high resolution in experiments.

Large-scale outflow structure and radiation properties of super-Eddington flow: Dependence on the accretion rates

Abstract In order to evaluate the impacts made by super-Eddington accretors on their environments precisely, it is essential to guarantee a large enough simulation box and long computational time to avoid any artefacts from numerical settings as much as possible. In this paper, we carry out axisymmetric two-dimensional radiation hydrodynamic simulations around a 10 M⊙ black hole in large simulation boxes and study the large-scale outflow structure and radiation properties of super-Eddington accretion flow for a variety of black hole accretion rates, ${\dot{M}}_{\,\,\rm BH} = (110\!-\!380)L_{\rm Edd}/c^{\,\,2}$ (with LEdd being the Eddington luminosity and c being the speed of light). The Keplerian radius of the inflow material, at which centrifugal force balances with gravitational force, is fixed to 2430 Schwarzschild radii. We find that the mechanical luminosity grows more rapidly than the radiation luminosity with an increase of ${\dot{M}}_{\,\,\rm BH}$. When seen from a nearly face-on direction, especially, the isotropic mechanical luminosity grows in proportion to ${\dot{M}}_{\,\,\rm BH}^{\,\,2.7}$, while the total mechanical luminosity is proportional to ${\dot{M}}_{\,\,\rm BH}^{\,\,1.7}$. The reason for the former is that the higher ${\dot{M}}_{\,\,\rm BH}$ is, the more vertically inflated the disk surface becomes, which makes radiation fields more confined in the region around the rotation axis, thereby strongly accelerating outflowing gas. The outflow is classified into pure outflow and failed outflow, depending on whether the outflowing gas can reach the outer boundary of the simulation box or not. The fraction of the failed outflow decreases with a decrease of ${\dot{M}}_{\,\,\rm BH}$. We analyze physical quantities along each outflow trajectory, finding that the Bernoulli parameter (Be) is not a good indicator to discriminate between pure and failed outflows, since it is never constant because of continuous acceleration by radiation-pressure force. Pure outflow can arise, even if Be < 0 at the launching point.

Rapid Growth of Seed Black Holes during Early Bulge Formation

Abstract We study the early growth of massive seed black holes (BHs) via accretion in protogalactic nuclei where the stellar bulge component is assembled, performing axisymmetric two-dimensional radiation hydrodynamical simulations. We find that when a seed BH with M • ∼ 105 M ⊙ is embedded in dense metal-poor gas (Z = 0.01 Z ⊙) with a density of ≳ 100 cm−3 and bulge stars with a total mass of M ⋆ ≳ 100 M •, a massive gaseous disk feeds the BH efficiently at rates of ≳ 0.3–1 M ⊙ yr−1, and the BH mass increases nearly tenfold within ∼2 Myr. This rapid accretion phase lasts until a good fraction of the gas bounded within the bulge accretes onto the BH, although the feeding rate is regulated owing to strong outflows driven by ionizing radiation emitted from the accreting BH. The transient growing mode can be triggered for seed BHs formed in massive dark-matter halos with masses of ≳ 109 M ⊙ at z ∼ 15–20 (the virial temperature is T vir ≃ 105 K). The host halos are heavier and rarer than those of typical first galaxies, but are more likely to end up in quasar hosts by z ≃ 6. This mechanism naturally yields a mass ratio of M •/M ⋆ > 0.01 higher than the value seen in the local universe. The existence of such overmassive BHs provides us with a unique opportunity to detect highly accreting seed BHs at z ∼ 15 with AB magnitude of m AB ∼ 26–29 mag at 2 μm (rest frame 10 eV) by the upcoming observations by the James Webb Space Telescope and Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

Structure of the super-Eddington outflow and its impact on the cosmological scale

Abstract It is one of the biggest issues in black hole (BH) astrophysics how to evaluate BH feedback to its environments precisely. Aiming at studying the unique gas dynamics of super-Eddington flow around supermassive black hole (SMBH) seeds at high redshift, we carried out axisymmetric two-dimensional radiation hydrodynamic simulations using a nested simulation-box method. Here we divide the simulation box into an inner zone at (2–3 × 103)rSch (with rSch being the Schwarzschild radius) and an outer zone at (2 × 103–3 × 106)rSch, with smooth connection of the physical quantities, such as gas density, velocity, and radiation energy. We start the calculation by injecting mass through the outer boundary of the inner zone at a constant rate of $\dot{M}_{\rm {inj}}=10^3L_{\rm {Edd}}/c^2$, where LEdd is the Eddington luminosity and c is the speed of light. A powerful outflow is generated in the innermost region and it propagates from the inner zone to the outer zone. The outflows are characterized by a velocity of 0.02c (0.7c) and density of 10−17 (10−19) g cm−3 for near the edge-on (face-on) direction. The outflow is gradually accelerated as it travels by accepting radiation-pressure force. The final mass outflow rate at the outermost boundary is $\dot{M}_{\rm {out}}\sim 0.3 \times \dot{M}_{\rm {inj}}$. By extrapolating the outflow structure to a further larger scale, we find that the momentum and energy fluxes at r ∼ 0.1 pc are ∼10–100 LEdd/c and ∼0.1–10 LEdd, respectively. Moreover, we find that the impacts are highly anisotropic, in the sense that larger impacts occur towards the face-on direction than in the edge-on direction. These results indicate that the BH feedback will work more efficiently on the interstellar medium than assumed in the cosmological simulations.

Two-dimensional radiation hydrodynamic simulations of high-speed head-on collisions between high-density plasma jets

<sec>Head-on collisions of plasma jets are common hydrodynamic phenomena in astrophysical and laser-plasma interaction processes. Deriving scaling relationships between colliding plasmas and initial conditions of plasma jets is of great significance in optimizing the design and the data analysis of the relevant experiments. Double-cone ignition (DCI) scheme is an excellent platform for studying plasma jets’ collision, since the collision between high-speed, high-density plasma jets can be easily generated and characterized in both simulations and experiments.</sec><sec>In this work, we employ the upgraded two-dimensional arbitrary Eulerian-Lagrange (ALE) program MULTI-2D to simulate the collision process of plasma jets with high speed (≥100 km/s) and high density (≥10 g/cm<sup>3</sup>). Using the database obtained from the simulations, hydrodynamic scaling laws describing the collision process of plasma jets are derived by the Bayesian inference method in machine learning. The Bayesian inference method not only has the parameter estimation function of traditional least square method, but also possesses other potential advantages such as giving the probability distribution of estimated parameters. Numerical results show that the collision of plasma jets with open boundaries is easy to form an isochoric plasma distribution with high-density. Increasing the initial density and velocity of the plasma jet is helpful in enhancing the density and temperature of the colliding plasma. Increasing the initial temperature of plasma jet is beneficial to achieving colliding plasmas with a higher temperature, while leading plasma density and pressure to decrease after head-on collision. When the initial density, temperature and velocity of the plasma jets are set to be 15 g/cm<sup>3</sup>, 30 eV and 300 km/s, respectively, the colliding plasma density can reach more than 300 g/cm<sup>3</sup>. This is very favorable for the following fast electron heating process in the double-cone ignition (DCI) scheme.</sec><sec>The issue about quantum degeneracy after collision is discussed in this work. Under the typical initial conditions of plasma jets in DCI scheme (<inline-formula><tex-math id="M1">\begin{document}$100\,\,\rm{km}/\mathrm{s}\leqslant {V}_{0}\leqslant 500\,\,\rm{km}/\mathrm{s},10\,\,\rm{eV}\leqslant {T}_{0}\leqslant 100\,\,\rm{eV},10\,\,\mathrm{g}/\mathrm{c}\mathrm{m}^3\leqslant {\rho }_{0}\leqslant 50\,\,\mathrm{g}/\mathrm{c}\mathrm{m}^3)$\end{document}</tex-math><alternatives><graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="22-20220948_M1.jpg"/><graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="22-20220948_M1.png"/></alternatives></inline-formula>, both quantum degenerate plasma and classical non-degenerate plasma can be obtained in a temperature range between <inline-formula><tex-math id="M2">\begin{document}$ 0.3{T}_{F} $\end{document}</tex-math><alternatives><graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="22-20220948_M2.jpg"/><graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="22-20220948_M2.png"/></alternatives></inline-formula> (Fermi temperature) and <inline-formula><tex-math id="M3">\begin{document}$ 3{T}_{F} $\end{document}</tex-math><alternatives><graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="22-20220948_M3.jpg"/><graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="22-20220948_M3.png"/></alternatives></inline-formula>. By comparing the plasma temperature with the Fermi temperature of the collision, the criterion for achieving quantum degenerate plasma or non-degenerate plasma under given initial conditions is obtained with the help of the derived hydrodynamic scaling laws. The criterion shows that higher initial velocity, higher temperature and lower density of plasma jets are required if we want to obtain non-degenerate plasma after collision.</sec>

High-energy ions from Nd:YAG laser ablation of tin microdroplets: comparison between experiment and a single-fluid hydrodynamic model

We present the results of a joint experimental and theoretical study of plasma expansion arising from Nd:YAG laser ablation (laser wavelength λ = 1.064 μm) of tin microdroplets in the context of extreme ultraviolet lithography. Measurements of the ion energy distribution reveal a near-plateau in the distribution for kinetic energies in the range 0.03–1 keV and a peak near 2 keV followed by a sharp fall-off in the distribution for energies above 2 keV. Charge-state resolved measurements attribute this peak to the existence of peaks centered near 2 keV in the Sn3+–Sn8+ ion energy distributions. To better understand the physical processes governing the shape of the ion energy distribution, we have modelled the laser-droplet interaction and subsequent plasma expansion using two-dimensional radiation hydrodynamic simulations. We find excellent agreement between the simulated ion energy distribution and the measurements both in terms of the shape of the distribution and the absolute number of detected ions. We attribute a peak in the distribution near 2 keV to a quasi-spherical expanding shell formed at early times in the expansion.

The origins and impact of outflow from super-Eddington flow

Abstract It is widely believed that super-Eddington accretion flow can produce powerful outflow, but where does this originate and how much mass and energy are carried away in which directions? To answer these questions, we perform a new large-box, two-dimensional radiation hydrodynamic simulation, paying special attention lest the results should depend on the adopted initial and boundary conditions. We achieve a quasi-steady state at an unprecedentedly large range, r = 2–600rS (with rS being the Schwarzschild radius), from the black hole. The accretion rate onto the central 10 M⊙ black hole is $\dot{M}_{\rm BH} \sim 180 L_{\rm Edd}/c^{2}$, whereas the mass outflow rate is ${\dot{M}}_{\rm outflow} \sim 24 L_{\rm Edd}/c^2$ (where LEdd and c are the Eddington luminosity and the speed of light, respectively). The ratio ${\dot{M}}_{\rm outflow}/{\dot{M}}_{\rm BH} \sim 0.14$ is much less than previously reported. By careful inspection we find that most of the outflowing gas reaching the outer boundary originates from the region at R ≲ 140rS, while gas at 140–230rS forms failed outflow. Therefore, significant outflow occurs inside the trapping radius ∼450rS. The mechanical energy flux (or mass flux) reaches its maximum in the direction of ∼15° (∼80°) from the rotation axis. The total mechanical luminosity is Lmec ∼ 0.16LEdd, while the isotropic X-ray luminosity varies from $L_{\rm X}^{\rm ISO}\sim 2.9 L_{\rm Edd}$ (for a face-on observer) to ∼2.1LEdd (for a nearly edge-on observer). The power ratio is $L_{\rm mec}/L_{\rm X}^{\rm ISO}\sim 0.05$–0.08, in good agreement with observations of ultra-luminous X-ray sources surrounded by optical nebulae.

Two-dimensional Radiation-hydrodynamic Simulations of Supernova Ejecta with a Central Power Source

Abstract We present the results of two-dimensional radiation-hydrodynamic simulations of expanding supernova ejecta with a central energy source. As suggested in previous multidimensional hydrodynamic simulations, a sufficiently powerful central energy source can blow away the expanding supernova ejecta, leading to efficient mixing of stratified layers in the ejecta. We assume that the energy injection is realized in the form of nonthermal radiation from the wind nebula embedded at the center of the ejecta. We found that the multidimensional mixing in the ejecta assists the injected nonthermal radiation escaping from the ejecta. When the nonthermal radiation is absorbed by the ejecta, it is converted into bright thermal radiation or is consumed as the kinetic energy of the supernova ejecta. We found that central energy sources with injection timescale similar to the photon diffusion timescale realize an efficient conversion of the injected energy into thermal radiation. On the other hand, rapid energy injection ends up accelerating the ejecta rather than giving rise to bright thermal emission. This remarkable difference potentially explains the diversity of energetic supernovae including broad-lined Ic and superluminous supernovae.

Silicon twisted cone structure produced by optical vortex pulse with structure evaluation by radiation hydrodynamic simulation

We demonstrate a radiation hydrodynamic simulation of optical vortex pulse-ablated microcone structures on silicon (Si) substrates. Doughnut-shaped craters were formed by single pulse irradiation on the Si substrate, and a twisted cone structure with a height of 3.5 µm was created at the center of the irradiation spot by the circularly polarized optical vortex pulse. A two-dimensional (2-D) radiation hydrodynamic simulation reproduced the cone structure well with a height of 3 µm. The central part of the incident laser power was lowered from the initial profile due to plasma shielding over the laser pulse duration for an inverted double-well laser profile. The acute tip shape of the silicon surface can survive over the laser irradiation period.

Verification of fast heating of core plasmas produced by counter-illumination of implosion lasers

We conducted fast heating of a core plasma produced by counter-illumination of two beam bundles of implosion lasers for two incident directions of the heating laser. For the axial heating configuration, wherein the heating laser was incident along the coaxial direction of the implosion lasers, the size and density of the counter-imploded core plasma were estimated. The incident timing of the heating laser was determined. Although the heating laser was incident during the stagnation of the core plasma, there were no considerable increases in the intensity of X-rays with energies beyond 1 keV and the yield of the thermonuclear fusion neutrons. Effective core heating did not occur due to the interaction of the heating laser with the low-density ablated plasma far from the core. On the other hand, for the transverse heating configuration, wherein the heating laser was incident from the transverse direction of the implosion laser axis, optimization of the incident timing of the heating laser was not achieved. However, two-dimensional radiation-hydrodynamic simulation revealed that a heating laser can directly interact with a core plasma and effective heating is expected. In our scheme, transverse heating configuration appears to be significant.

Formation of massive stars under protostellar radiation feedback: very metal-poor stars

ABSTRACT We study the formation of very metal-poor stars under protostellar radiative feedback effect. We use cosmological simulations to identify low-mass dark matter haloes and star-forming gas clouds within them. We then follow protostar formation and the subsequent long-term mass accretion phase of over one million years using two-dimensional radiation-hydrodynamics simulations. We show that the critical physical process that sets the final mass is the formation and expansion of a bipolar H ii region. The process is similar to the formation of massive primordial stars, but radiation pressure exerted on dust grains also contributes to halting the accretion flow in the low-metallicity case. We find that the net feedback effect in the case with metallicity Z = 10−2 Z⊙ is stronger than in the case with Z ∼ 1 Z⊙. With decreasing metallicity, the radiation-pressure effect becomes weaker, but photoionization heating of the circumstellar gas is more efficient owing to the reduced dust attenuation. In the case with Z = 10−2 Z⊙, the central star grows as massive as 200 solar masses, similarly to the case of primordial star formation. We conclude that metal-poor stars with a few hundred solar masses can be formed by gas accretion despite the strong radiative feedback.

Hyper-Eddington accretion flows on to black holes accompanied by powerful outflows

ABSTRACT We perform two-dimensional radiation hydrodynamical simulations of accretion flows on to black holes (BHs) at the nuclei of protogalaxies, and study the impact of mechanical and radiative feedback on rapid growth of BHs. The outflows deposit mass, momentum, and energy into the surrounding medium and prevent mass accretion on to the BH, resulting in the reduction of radiative output. We find that when the BH is embedded in a dense gas core, ionizing radiation attenuated by inefficient BH feeding owing to mechanical feedback hardly affects the gas dynamics at the BH gravitational sphere of influence, from which intense inflows of neutral gas occur at rates substantially exceeding the Eddington limit without impeded by photoionization and heating. Since mechanical power of outflows driven by the rapidly accreting BH is sufficiently strong, bipolar outflows completely evacuate the surrounding gas in the polar region but mass inflows through the equatorial region maintain the BH accretion rate as high as $\sim 300\!-\!10^3~\dot{M}_{\rm Edd}$, which is reduced by one order of magnitude from those with radiative feedback alone. Furthermore, we find that the critical gas density required for rapid accretion is lower by a factor of ∼3, when mechanical feedback is considered. By studying the dependence on outflow parameters (e.g. opening angle, mass loading degree into outflows, velocity), we conclude that contrary to naive expectation, the stronger outflow leads to the transition to rapid accretion more efficiently. Rapidly growing BHs inject mechanical power with $\sim 0.1\!-\!1{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ of the radiative luminosity into their host galaxy scales, which is used for cosmological simulations.

Birth of convective low-mass to high-mass second Larson cores

Context. Stars form as an end product of the gravitational collapse of cold, dense gas in magnetized molecular clouds. This fundamentally multi-scale scenario occurs via the formation of two quasi-hydrostatic Larson cores and involves complex physical processes, which require a robust, self-consistent numerical treatment. Aims. The primary aim of this study is to understand the formation and evolution of the second hydrostatic Larson core and the dependence of its properties on the initial cloud core mass. Methods. We used the PLUTO code to perform high-resolution, one- and two-dimensional radiation hydrodynamic (RHD) core collapse simulations. We include self-gravity and use a grey flux-limited diffusion approximation for the radiative transfer. Additionally, we use for the gas equation of state density- and temperature-dependent thermodynamic quantities (heat capacity, mean molecular weight, etc.) to account for effects such as dissociation of molecular hydrogen, ionisation of atomic hydrogen and helium, and molecular vibrations and rotations. Properties of the second core are investigated using one-dimensional studies spanning a wide range of initial cloud core masses from 0.5 M⊙ to 100 M⊙. Furthermore, we expand to two-dimensional (2D) collapse simulations for a selected few cases of 1 M⊙, 5 M⊙, 10 M⊙, and 20 M⊙. We follow the evolution of the second core for ≥100 years after its formation, for each of these non-rotating cases. Results. Our results indicate a dependence of several second core properties on the initial cloud core mass. Molecular cloud cores with a higher initial mass collapse faster to form bigger and more massive second cores. The high-mass second cores can accrete at a much faster rate of ≈10−2 M⊙ yr−1 compared to the low-mass second cores, which have accretion rates as low as 10−5 M⊙ yr−1. For the first time, owing to a resolution that has not been achieved before, our 2D non-rotating collapse studies indicate that convection is generated in the outer layers of the second core, which is formed due to the gravitational collapse of a 1 M⊙ cloud core. Additionally, we find large-scale oscillations of the second accretion shock front triggered by the standing accretion shock instability, which has not been seen before in early evolutionary stages of stars. We predict that the physics within the second core would not be significantly influenced by the effects of magnetic fields or an initial cloud rotation. Conclusions. In our 2D RHD simulations, we find convection being driven from the accretion shock towards the interior of the second Larson core. This supports an interesting possibility that dynamo-driven magnetic fields may be generated during the very early phases of low-mass star formation.