Particle Acceleration and the Formation of Relativistic Outflows in Viscous Accretion Disks with Shocks

In this Letter, we present a new self-consistent theory for the production of the relativistic outflows observed from radio-loud black hole candidates and active galaxies as a result of particle acceleration in hot, viscous accretion disks containing standing, centrifugally-supported isothermal shocks. This is the first work to obtain the structure of such disks for a relatively large value of the Shakura-Sunyaev viscosity parameter ($\alpha=0.1$), and to consider the implications of the shock for the acceleration of relativistic particles in viscous disks. In our approach, the hydrodynamics and the particle acceleration are coupled and the solutions are obtained self-consistently based on a rigorous mathematical method. We find that particle acceleration in the vicinity of the shock can provide enough energy to power the observed relativistic jet in M87.Comment: published in ApJ

Global Slim Accretion Disk Solutions Revisited

We show that there exists a maximal possible accretion rate, beyond which global slim disk solutions cannot be constructed because in the vertical direction the gravitational force would be unable to balance the pressure force to gather the accreted matter. The principle for this restriction is the same as that for the Eddington luminosity and the corresponding critical accretion rate, which were derived for spherical accretion by considering the same force balance in the radial direction. If the assumption of hydrostatic equilibrium is waived and vertical motion is included, this restriction may become even more serious as the value of the maximal possible accretion rate becomes smaller. Previous understanding in the literature that global slim disk solutions could stand for any large accretion rates is due to the overestimation of the vertical gravitational force by using an approximate potential. For accretion flows with large accretion rates at large radii, outflows seem unavoidable in order for the accretion flow to reduce the accretion rate and follow a global solution till the central black hole.Comment: Accepted by Ap

Revisiting the Thermal Stability of Radiation-dominated Thin Disks

The standard thin disk model predicts that when the accretion rate is over a small fraction of the Eddington rate, which corresponds to L \ga 0.06 L_{Edd}, the inner region of the disk is radiation-pressure-dominated and thermally unstable. However, observations of the high/soft state of black hole X-ray binaries with luminosity well within this regime (0.01L_{Edd} \la L \la 0.5L_{Edd}) indicate that the disk has very little variability, i.e., quite stable. Recent radiation magnetohydrodynamic simulations of a vertically stratified shearing box have confirmed the absence of the thermal instability. In this paper, we revisit the thermal stability by linear analysis, taking into account the role of magnetic field in the accretion flow. By assuming that the field responses negatively to a positive temperature perturbation, we find that the threshold of accretion rate above which the disk becomes thermally unstable increases significantly compared with the case of not considering the role of magnetic field. This accounts for the stability of the observed sources with high luminosities. Our model also presents a possible explanation as to why only GRS 1915+105 seems to show thermally unstable behavior. This peculiar source holds the highest accretion rate (or luminosity) among the known high state sources, which is well above the accretion rate threshold of the instability.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures, accepted by Ap

Dynamics of Poly(Vinyl Acetate)-d₃ on Silica

Poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) is an important polymer in applications because of both its bulk and surface characteristics. Its chain architecture gives it a low Tg and, generally, good qualities for processing and applications, which include paints, adhesives, thin films and surface coatings. In this study, we investigate the surface dynamics of PVAc absorbed onto silica with deuterium nuclear magnetic resonance (2H NMR). For dynamics studies, 2H NMR is an excellent technique because it uses an innocuous probe that can report on correlation times (τc) from approximately 10-8 s to 10 s. We report the use of two-dimensional exchange NMR (2D-X) and a side-chain methyl-d3 probe to investigate surface dynamics with τ c s in the range of 10-6 to over 1 s

Dynamics of Poly(Vinyl Acetate) in Bulk and on Silica

Quadrupole echo deuterium NMR has been used to probe the dynamics of poly(vinyl acetate-d3) in bulk and at saturation coverage (from toluene) on silica at the solid-air interface. In bulk and at lower temperatures, the deuterium powder pattern of the labeled methyl group was found to be consistent with fast threefold jumps with a small asymmetry due to the interaction of the methyl deuteron with the carbonyl oxygen. This apparent asymmetry was a result either of a distortion in the C-C-D bond angle or a reduction of the axial symmetry of the electric field gradient along the C-D bond vector. At higher temperatures, the onset of backbone motion of the polymer caused the collapse of the powder pattern to a single broad resonance over a fairly small temperature range between 65 and 73°C. The collapse was well above the glass transition temperature as measured by differential scanning calorimetry, Tg(DSC) = 32°C, and can be considered the Tg(NMR). The differences in temperatures for these two experiments are due to their different time scales. For the PVAc-d3 adsorbed at monolayer coverage on a silica surface, a small fraction was found to result in a collapsed powder pattern below the Tg(NMR). This fraction with enhanced mobility was believed to be located near the air-polymer interface. The powder pattern for the majority of the surface-bound polymer was found to collapse gradually with temperature, with a rigid component observable well above the temperature where the splittings for all of the bulk material had collapsed. Thus, from the deuterium NMR spectra, it is possible to deduce that on a surface, different segments from a single molecule exhibit a range of mobilities

An analytic relation for the thickness of accretion flows

We take the vertical distribution of the radial and azimuthal velocity into account in spherical coordinates, and find that the analytic relation c_{s0}/(v_K \Theta) = [(\gamma -1)/(2\gamma)]^{1/2} is valid for both geometrically thin and thick accretion flows, where c_{s0} is the sound speed on the equatorial plane, v_K is the Keplerian velocity, \Theta is the half-opening angle of the flow, and \gamma is the adiabatic index.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, accepted by Science in China Series

Dynamical Structure of Viscous Accretion Disks with Shocks

We develop and discuss global accretion solutions for viscous ADAF disks containing centrifugally supported isothermal shock waves. The fact that such shocks can exist at all in ADAF disks is a new result. Interestingly, we find that isothermal shocks can form even when the level of viscous dissipation is relatively high. In order to better understand this phenomenon, we explore all possible combinations of the fundamental flow parameters, such as specific energy, specific angular momentum, and viscosity, to obtain the complete family of global solutions. This procedure allows us to identify the region of the parameter space where isothermal shocks can exist in viscous ADAF disks. The allowed region is maximized in the inviscid case, and it shrinks as the level of viscous dissipation increases. Adopting the canonical value gamma=1.5 for the ratio of specific heats, we find that the shock region disappears completely when the Shakura-Sunyaev viscosity parameter alpha exceeds the critical value ~0.27. This establishes for the first time that steady ADAF disks containing shocks can exist even for relatively high levels of viscous dissipation. If an isothermal shock is present in the disk, it would have important implications for the acceleration of energetic particles that can escape to power the relativistic jets commonly observed around underfed, radio-loud black holes. In two specific applications, we confirm that the kinetic luminosity lost from the disk at the isothermal shock location is sufficient to power the observed relativistic outflows in M87 and Sgr A*.Comment: accepted by Ap