16,277 research outputs found
General relativistic radiation hydrodynamics of accretion flows. I: Bondi-Hoyle accretion
We present a new code for performing general-relativistic
radiation-hydrodynamics simulations of accretion flows onto black holes. The
radiation field is treated in the optically-thick approximation, with the
opacity contributed by Thomson scattering and thermal bremsstrahlung. Our
analysis is concentrated on a detailed numerical investigation of hot
two-dimensional, Bondi-Hoyle accretion flows with various Mach numbers. We find
significant differences with respect to purely hydrodynamical evolutions. In
particular, once the system relaxes to a radiation-pressure dominated regime,
the accretion rates become about two orders of magnitude smaller than in the
purely hydrodynamical case, remaining however super-Eddington as are the
luminosities. Furthermore, when increasing the Mach number of the inflowing
gas, the accretion rates become smaller because of the smaller cross section of
the black hole, but the luminosities increase as a result a stronger emission
in the shocked regions. Overall, our approach provides the first
self-consistent calculation of the Bondi-Hoyle luminosity, most of which is
emitted within r~100 M from the black hole, with typical values L/L_Edd ~ 1-7,
and corresponding energy efficiencies eta_BH ~ 0.09-0.5. The possibility of
computing luminosities self-consistently has also allowed us to compare with
the bremsstrahlung luminosity often used in modelling the electromagnetic
counterparts to supermassive black-hole binaries, to find that in the
optically-thick regime these more crude estimates are about 20 times larger
than our radiation-hydrodynamics results.Comment: With updated bibliographyc informatio
Shock Dissipation in Magnetically Dominated Impulsive Flows
We have revisited the issue of shock dissipation and emission and its
implications for the internal shock model of the prompt GRB emission and
studied it in the context of impulsive Poynting-dominated flows. Our results
show that unless the magnetization of GRB jets is extremely high, \sigma > 100
in the prompt emission zone, the magnetic model may still be compatible with
the observations. The main effect of reduced dissipation efficiency is merely
an increase in the size of the dissipation zone and even for highly magnetised
GRB jets this size may remain below the external shock radius, provided the
central engine can emit magnetic shells on the time scale well below the
typical observed variability scale of one second. Our analytical and numerical
results suggest that magnetic shells begin strongly interact with each other
well before they reach the coasting radius. As the result, the impulsive jet in
the dissipation zone is best described not as a collection of shells but as a
continuous highly magnetised flow with a high amplitude magnetosonic wave
component. How exactly the dissipated wave energy is distributed between the
radiation and the bulk kinetic energy of radial jets depends on the relative
rates of radiative and adiabatic cooling. In the fast radiative cooling regime,
the corresponding radiative efficiency can be as high as the wave contribution
to their energy budget, independently of the magnetization. Moreover, after
leaving the zone of prompt emission the jet may still remain
Poynting-dominated, leading to weaker emission from the reverse shock compared
to non-magnetic models.Comment: Submitted to MNRA
Cloud Dispersal in Turbulent Flows
Cold clouds embedded in warm media are very common objects in astrophysics.
Their disruption timescale depends strongly on the dynamical configuration. We
discuss the evolution of an initially homogeneous cold cloud embedded in warm
turbulent gas. Within a couple of dynamical timescales, the filling factor of
the cold gas within the original cloud radius drops below 50%. Turbulent
diffusivities estimated from the time evolution of radial filling factor
profiles are not constant with time. Cold and warm gas are bodily transported
by turbulence and mixed. This is only mildly indicated by column density maps.
The radiation field within the cloud, however, increases by several orders of
magnitudes due to the mixing, with possible consequences for cloud chemistry
and evolution within a few dynamical timescales.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figures, accepted by MNRA
Two-dimensional models of hydrodynamical accretion flows into black holes
We present a systematic numerical study of two-dimensional axisymmetric
accretion flows around black holes. The flows have no radiative cooling and are
treated in the framework of the hydrodynamical approximation. The models
calculated in this study cover the large range of the relevant parameter space.
There are four types of flows, determined by the values of the viscosity
parameter and the adiabatic index : convective flows,
large-scale circulations, pure inflows and bipolar outflows. Thermal conduction
introduces significant changes to the solutions, but does not create a new flow
type. Convective accretion flows and flows with large-scale circulations have
significant outward-directed energy fluxes, which have important implications
for the spectra and luminosities of accreting black holes.Comment: 43 pages, 23 figures, submitted to Ap
3D hydrodynamical CO5BOLD model atmospheres of red giant stars: I. Atmospheric structure of a giant located near the RGB tip
We investigate the character and role of convection in the atmosphere of a
prototypical red giant located close to the red giant branch (RGB) tip with
atmospheric parameters, Teff=3660K, log(g)=1.0, [M/H]=0.0. Differential
analysis of the atmospheric structures is performed using the 3D hydrodynamical
and 1D classical atmosphere models calculated with the CO5BOLD and LHD codes,
respectively. All models share identical atmospheric parameters, elemental
composition, opacities and equation-of-state. We find that the atmosphere of
this particular red giant consists of two rather distinct regions: the lower
atmosphere dominated by convective motions and the upper atmosphere dominated
by wave activity. Convective motions form a prominent granulation pattern with
an intensity contrast (~18%) which is larger than in the solar models (~15%).
The upper atmosphere is frequently traversed by fast shock waves, with vertical
and horizontal velocities of up to Mach ~2.5 and ~6.0, respectively. The
typical diameter of the granules amounts to ~5Gm which translates into ~400
granules covering the whole stellar surface. The turbulent pressure in the
giant model contributes up to ~35% to the total (i.e., gas plus turbulent)
pressure which shows that it cannot be neglected in stellar atmosphere and
evolutionary modeling. However, there exists no combination of the
mixing-length parameter and turbulent pressure that would allow to
satisfactorily reproduce the 3D temperature-pressure profile with 1D atmosphere
models based on a standard formulation of mixing-length theory.Comment: 13 pages, 18 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Laboratory Experiments, Numerical Simulations, and Astronomical Observations of Deflected Supersonic Jets: Application to HH 110
Collimated supersonic flows in laboratory experiments behave in a similar
manner to astrophysical jets provided that radiation, viscosity, and thermal
conductivity are unimportant in the laboratory jets, and that the experimental
and astrophysical jets share similar dimensionless parameters such as the Mach
number and the ratio of the density between the jet and the ambient medium.
Laboratory jets can be studied for a variety of initial conditions, arbitrary
viewing angles, and different times, attributes especially helpful for
interpreting astronomical images where the viewing angle and initial conditions
are fixed and the time domain is limited. Experiments are also a powerful way
to test numerical fluid codes in a parameter range where the codes must perform
well. In this paper we combine images from a series of laboratory experiments
of deflected supersonic jets with numerical simulations and new spectral
observations of an astrophysical example, the young stellar jet HH 110. The
experiments provide key insights into how deflected jets evolve in 3-D,
particularly within working surfaces where multiple subsonic shells and
filaments form, and along the interface where shocked jet material penetrates
into and destroys the obstacle along its path. The experiments also underscore
the importance of the viewing angle in determining what an observer will see.
The simulations match the experiments so well that we can use the simulated
velocity maps to compare the dynamics in the experiment with those implied by
the astronomical spectra. The experiments support a model where the observed
shock structures in HH 110 form as a result of a pulsed driving source rather
than from weak shocks that may arise in the supersonic shear layer between the
Mach disk and bow shock of the jet's working surface.Comment: Full resolution figures available at
http://sparky.rice.edu/~hartigan/pub.html To appear in Ap
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