How to Turn Jets into Cylinders near Supermassive Black Holes in 3D General Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations
Accreting supermassive black holes (SMBHs) produce highly magnetized relativistic jets that tend to collimate gradually as they propagate outward. However, recent radio interferometric observations of the 3C 84 galaxy reveal a stunning, cylindrical jet already at several hundred SMBH gravitational r...
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| Format: | Article |
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IOP Publishing
2024-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad24fc |
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| author | Valeriia Rohoza Aretaios Lalakos Max Paik Koushik Chatterjee Matthew Liska Alexander Tchekhovskoy Ore Gottlieb |
| author_facet | Valeriia Rohoza Aretaios Lalakos Max Paik Koushik Chatterjee Matthew Liska Alexander Tchekhovskoy Ore Gottlieb |
| author_sort | Valeriia Rohoza |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Accreting supermassive black holes (SMBHs) produce highly magnetized relativistic jets that tend to collimate gradually as they propagate outward. However, recent radio interferometric observations of the 3C 84 galaxy reveal a stunning, cylindrical jet already at several hundred SMBH gravitational radii, r ≳ 350 r _g . We explore how such extreme collimation emerges via a suite of 3D general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations. We consider an SMBH surrounded by a magnetized torus immersed in a constant-density ambient medium that starts at the edge of the SMBH sphere of influence, chosen to be much larger than the SMBH gravitational radius, r _B = 10 ^3 r _g . We find that radiatively inefficient accretion flows (e.g., M87) produce winds that collimate the jets into parabolas near the black hole. After the disk winds stop collimating the jets at r ≲ r _B , they turn conical. Once outside r _B , the jets run into the ambient medium and form backflows that collimate the jets into cylinders some distance beyond r _B . Interestingly, for radiatively efficient accretion, as in 3C 84, the radiative cooling saps the energy out of the disk winds; at early times, they cannot efficiently collimate the jets, which skip the initial parabolic collimation stage, start out conical near the SMBH, and turn into cylinders already at r ≃ 300 r _g , as observed in 3C 84. Over time, the jet power remains approximately constant, whereas the mass accretion rate increases; the winds grow in strength and start to collimate the jets, which become quasi-parabolic near the base, and the transition point to a nearly cylindrical jet profile moves outward while remaining inside r _B . |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T19:48:31Z |
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| issn | 2041-8205 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T19:48:31Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-8420251df0fa4220afc22557fd7541a72024-02-28T17:10:42ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal Letters2041-82052024-01-019631L2910.3847/2041-8213/ad24fcHow to Turn Jets into Cylinders near Supermassive Black Holes in 3D General Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamic SimulationsValeriia Rohoza0https://orcid.org/0009-0000-4703-9808Aretaios Lalakos1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6883-6520Max Paik2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3599-2161Koushik Chatterjee3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2825-3590Matthew Liska4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4475-9345Alexander Tchekhovskoy5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9182-2047Ore Gottlieb6https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3115-2456Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration & Research in Astrophysics (CIERA), Physics & Astronomy, Northwestern University , Evanston, IL 60202, USA valeriia.rohoza@u.northwestern.eduCenter for Interdisciplinary Exploration & Research in Astrophysics (CIERA), Physics & Astronomy, Northwestern University , Evanston, IL 60202, USA valeriia.rohoza@u.northwestern.eduCenter for Interdisciplinary Exploration & Research in Astrophysics (CIERA), Physics & Astronomy, Northwestern University , Evanston, IL 60202, USA valeriia.rohoza@u.northwestern.edu; Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University , New York, NY 10011, USABlack Hole Initiative at Harvard University , 20 Garden St., Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Center for Astrophysics , Harvard & Smithsonian, 60 Garden St., Cambridge, MA 02138, USACenter for Relativistic Astrophysics, Georgia Institute of Technology , Howey Physics Bldg., 837 State St. NW, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA; Institute for Theory and Computation, Harvard University , 60 Garden St., Cambridge, MA 02138, USACenter for Interdisciplinary Exploration & Research in Astrophysics (CIERA), Physics & Astronomy, Northwestern University , Evanston, IL 60202, USA valeriia.rohoza@u.northwestern.eduCenter for Interdisciplinary Exploration & Research in Astrophysics (CIERA), Physics & Astronomy, Northwestern University , Evanston, IL 60202, USA valeriia.rohoza@u.northwestern.edu; Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute , New York, NY 10010, USA; Department of Physics and Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University , Pupin Hall, New York, NY 10027, USAAccreting supermassive black holes (SMBHs) produce highly magnetized relativistic jets that tend to collimate gradually as they propagate outward. However, recent radio interferometric observations of the 3C 84 galaxy reveal a stunning, cylindrical jet already at several hundred SMBH gravitational radii, r ≳ 350 r _g . We explore how such extreme collimation emerges via a suite of 3D general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations. We consider an SMBH surrounded by a magnetized torus immersed in a constant-density ambient medium that starts at the edge of the SMBH sphere of influence, chosen to be much larger than the SMBH gravitational radius, r _B = 10 ^3 r _g . We find that radiatively inefficient accretion flows (e.g., M87) produce winds that collimate the jets into parabolas near the black hole. After the disk winds stop collimating the jets at r ≲ r _B , they turn conical. Once outside r _B , the jets run into the ambient medium and form backflows that collimate the jets into cylinders some distance beyond r _B . Interestingly, for radiatively efficient accretion, as in 3C 84, the radiative cooling saps the energy out of the disk winds; at early times, they cannot efficiently collimate the jets, which skip the initial parabolic collimation stage, start out conical near the SMBH, and turn into cylinders already at r ≃ 300 r _g , as observed in 3C 84. Over time, the jet power remains approximately constant, whereas the mass accretion rate increases; the winds grow in strength and start to collimate the jets, which become quasi-parabolic near the base, and the transition point to a nearly cylindrical jet profile moves outward while remaining inside r _B .https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad24fcHigh energy astrophysicsActive galactic nucleiBlack holesJetsMagnetohydrodynamical simulationsGeneral relativity |
| spellingShingle | Valeriia Rohoza Aretaios Lalakos Max Paik Koushik Chatterjee Matthew Liska Alexander Tchekhovskoy Ore Gottlieb How to Turn Jets into Cylinders near Supermassive Black Holes in 3D General Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations The Astrophysical Journal Letters High energy astrophysics Active galactic nuclei Black holes Jets Magnetohydrodynamical simulations General relativity |
| title | How to Turn Jets into Cylinders near Supermassive Black Holes in 3D General Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations |
| title_full | How to Turn Jets into Cylinders near Supermassive Black Holes in 3D General Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations |
| title_fullStr | How to Turn Jets into Cylinders near Supermassive Black Holes in 3D General Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations |
| title_full_unstemmed | How to Turn Jets into Cylinders near Supermassive Black Holes in 3D General Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations |
| title_short | How to Turn Jets into Cylinders near Supermassive Black Holes in 3D General Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations |
| title_sort | how to turn jets into cylinders near supermassive black holes in 3d general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations |
| topic | High energy astrophysics Active galactic nuclei Black holes Jets Magnetohydrodynamical simulations General relativity |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad24fc |
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