The Effects of Gas Angular Momentum on the Formation of Magnetically Arrested Disks and the Launching of Powerful Jets
In this letter, we investigate Bondi-like accretion flows with zero or low specific angular momentum by performing 3D general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations. In order to check if relativistic jets can be launched magnetically from such flows, we insert a large-scale poloidal magnetic f...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2023-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/acc334 |
| _version_ | 1797695748824891392 |
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| author | Tom M. Kwan Lixin Dai Alexander Tchekhovskoy |
| author_facet | Tom M. Kwan Lixin Dai Alexander Tchekhovskoy |
| author_sort | Tom M. Kwan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this letter, we investigate Bondi-like accretion flows with zero or low specific angular momentum by performing 3D general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations. In order to check if relativistic jets can be launched magnetically from such flows, we insert a large-scale poloidal magnetic field into the accretion flow and consider a rapidly spinning black hole. We demonstrate that under such conditions the accretion flow needs to initially have specific angular momentum above a certain threshold to eventually reach and robustly sustain the magnetically arrested disk state. If the flow can reach such a state, it can launch very powerful jets at ≳100% energy efficiency. Interestingly, we also find that even when the accretion flow has initial specific angular momentum below the threshold, it can still launch episodic jets with an average energy efficiency of ∼10%. However, the accretion flow has nontypical behaviors such as having different rotation directions at different inclinations and exhibiting persistent outflows along the midplane even in the inner disk region. Our results give plausible explanations as to why jets can be produced from various astrophysical systems that likely lack large gas specific angular momenta, such as Sgr A*, wind-fed X-ray binaries, tidal disruption events, and long-duration gamma-ray bursts. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T03:16:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-13929bbc5c054b468e888a4eda817d5b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2041-8205 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T03:16:40Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-13929bbc5c054b468e888a4eda817d5b2023-09-03T14:08:32ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal Letters2041-82052023-01-019462L4210.3847/2041-8213/acc334The Effects of Gas Angular Momentum on the Formation of Magnetically Arrested Disks and the Launching of Powerful JetsTom M. Kwan0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0509-2541Lixin Dai1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9589-5235Alexander Tchekhovskoy2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9182-2047Department of Physics, The University of Hong Kong , Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong ; lixindai@hku.hkDepartment of Physics, The University of Hong Kong , Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong ; lixindai@hku.hkDepartment of Physics & Astronomy, Northwestern University , Evanston, IL 60208, USA; Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration & Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) , Evanston, IL 60208, USAIn this letter, we investigate Bondi-like accretion flows with zero or low specific angular momentum by performing 3D general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations. In order to check if relativistic jets can be launched magnetically from such flows, we insert a large-scale poloidal magnetic field into the accretion flow and consider a rapidly spinning black hole. We demonstrate that under such conditions the accretion flow needs to initially have specific angular momentum above a certain threshold to eventually reach and robustly sustain the magnetically arrested disk state. If the flow can reach such a state, it can launch very powerful jets at ≳100% energy efficiency. Interestingly, we also find that even when the accretion flow has initial specific angular momentum below the threshold, it can still launch episodic jets with an average energy efficiency of ∼10%. However, the accretion flow has nontypical behaviors such as having different rotation directions at different inclinations and exhibiting persistent outflows along the midplane even in the inner disk region. Our results give plausible explanations as to why jets can be produced from various astrophysical systems that likely lack large gas specific angular momenta, such as Sgr A*, wind-fed X-ray binaries, tidal disruption events, and long-duration gamma-ray bursts.https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/acc334AccretionBlack holesGalactic centerGamma-ray burstsMassive starsHigh mass x-ray binary stars |
| spellingShingle | Tom M. Kwan Lixin Dai Alexander Tchekhovskoy The Effects of Gas Angular Momentum on the Formation of Magnetically Arrested Disks and the Launching of Powerful Jets The Astrophysical Journal Letters Accretion Black holes Galactic center Gamma-ray bursts Massive stars High mass x-ray binary stars |
| title | The Effects of Gas Angular Momentum on the Formation of Magnetically Arrested Disks and the Launching of Powerful Jets |
| title_full | The Effects of Gas Angular Momentum on the Formation of Magnetically Arrested Disks and the Launching of Powerful Jets |
| title_fullStr | The Effects of Gas Angular Momentum on the Formation of Magnetically Arrested Disks and the Launching of Powerful Jets |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Effects of Gas Angular Momentum on the Formation of Magnetically Arrested Disks and the Launching of Powerful Jets |
| title_short | The Effects of Gas Angular Momentum on the Formation of Magnetically Arrested Disks and the Launching of Powerful Jets |
| title_sort | effects of gas angular momentum on the formation of magnetically arrested disks and the launching of powerful jets |
| topic | Accretion Black holes Galactic center Gamma-ray bursts Massive stars High mass x-ray binary stars |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/acc334 |
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