701 research outputs found
A Phase Lag between Disk and Corona in GRMHD Simulations of Precessing Tilted Accretion Disks
In the course of its evolution, a black hole (BH) accretes gas from a wide
range of directions. Given a random accretion event, the typical angular
momentum of an accretion disc would be tilted by 60 relative to
the BH spin. Misalignment causes the disc to precess at a rate that increases
with BH spin and tilt angle. We present the first general-relativistic
magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations spanning a full precession period of
highly tilted (60), moderately thin () accretion discs around
a rapidly spinning () BH. While the disc and jets precess in phase,
we find that the corona, sandwiched between the two, lags behind by . For spectral models of BH accretion, the implication is that hard
non-thermal (corona) emission lags behind the softer (disc) emission, thus
potentially explaining some properties of the hard energy lags seen in Type-C
low frequency quasi-periodic oscillations in X-Ray binaries. While strong jets
are unaffected by this disc-corona lag, weak jets stall when encountering the
lagging corona at distances black hole radii. This interaction may
quench large-scale jet formation.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, submitted to MNRAS, see YouTube playlist for 3D
renderings:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDO1oeU33GwmwOV_Hp9s7572JdU8JPSS
The SED of Low-Luminosity AGNs at high-spatial resolution
The inner structure of AGNs is expected to change below a certain luminosity
limit. The big blue bump, footprint of the accretion disk, is absent for the
majority of low-luminosity AGNs (LLAGNs). Moreover, recent simulations suggest
that the torus, a keystone in the Unified Model, vanishes for nuclei with L_bol
< 10^42 erg/s. However, the study of LLAGN is a complex task due to the
contribution of the host galaxy, which light swamps these faint nuclei. This is
specially critical in the IR range, at the maximum of the torus emission, due
to the contribution of the old stellar population and/or dust in the nuclear
region. Adaptive optics imaging in the NIR (VLT/NaCo) together with diffraction
limited imaging in the mid-IR (VLT/VISIR) permit us to isolate the nuclear
emission for some of the nearest LLAGNs in the Southern Hemisphere. These data
were extended to the optical/UV range (HST), radio (VLA, VLBI) and X-rays
(Chandra, XMM-Newton, Integral), in order to build a genuine spectral energy
distribution (SED) for each AGN with a consistent spatial resolution (< 0.5")
across the whole spectral range. From the individual SEDs, we construct an
average SED for LLAGNs sampled in all the wavebands mentioned before. Compared
with previous multiwavelength studies of LLAGNs, this work covers the mid-IR
and NIR ranges with high-spatial resolution data. The LLAGNs in the sample
present a large diversity in terms of SED shapes. Some of them are very well
described by a self-absorbed synchrotron (e.g. NGC 1052), while some other
present a thermal-like bump at ~1 micron (NGC 4594). All of them are
significantly different when compared with bright Seyferts and quasars,
suggesting that the inner structure of AGNs (i.e. the torus and the accretion
disk) suffers intrinsic changes at low luminosities.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures. To appear in the proceedings of "Astrophysics at
High Angular Resolution" (AHAR 2011
Correlating spectral and timing properties in the evolving jet of the micro blazar MAXI J1836-194
During outbursts, the observational properties of black hole X-ray binaries
(BHXBs) vary on timescales of days to months. These relatively short timescales
make these systems ideal laboratories to probe the coupling between accreting
material and outflowing jets as a the accretion rate varies. In particular, the
origin of the hard X-ray emission is poorly understood and highly debated. This
spectral component, which has a power-law shape, is due to Comptonisation of
photons near the black hole, but it is unclear whether it originates in the
accretion flow itself, or at the base of the jet, or possibly the interface
region between them. In this paper we explore the disk-jet connection by
modelling the multi-wavelength emission of MAXI J1836-194 during its 2011
outburst. We combine radio through X-ray spectra, X-ray timing information, and
a robust joint-fitting method to better isolate the jet's physical properties.
Our results demonstrate that the jet base can produce power-law hard X-ray
emission in this system/outburst, provided that its base is fairly compact and
that the temperatures of the emitting electrons are sub-relativistic. Because
of energetic considerations, our model favours mildly pair-loaded jets carrying
at least 20 pairs per proton. Finally, we find that the properties of the X-ray
power spectrum are correlated with the jet properties, suggesting that an
underlying physical process regulates both.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication on MNRA
Dissecting X-ray-emitting Gas around the Center of our Galaxy
Most supermassive black holes (SMBHs) are accreting at very low levels and
are difficult to distinguish from the galaxy centers where they reside. Our own
Galaxy's SMBH provides a uniquely instructive exception, and we present a
close-up view of its quiescent X-ray emission based on 3 mega-second of Chandra
observations. Although the X-ray emission is elongated and aligns well with a
surrounding disk of massive stars, we can rule out a concentration of low-mass
coronally active stars as the origin of the emission based on the lack of
predicted Fe Kalpha emission. The extremely weak H-like Fe Kalpha line further
suggests the presence of an outflow from the accretion flow onto the SMBH.
These results provide important constraints for models of the prevalent
radiatively inefficient accretion state.Comment: 18 pages, 5 PDF figures, pdflatex format; Final version, published in
Scienc
Going with the flow: can the base of jets subsume the role of compact accretion disk coronae?
The hard state of X-ray binaries (XRBs) is characterized by a power law
spectrum in the X-ray band, and a flat/inverted radio/IR spectrum associated
with occasionally imaged compact jets. It has generally been thought that the
hard X-rays result from Compton upscattering of thermal accretion disk photons
by a hot, coronal plasma whose properties are inferred via spectral fitting.
Interestingly, these properties-especially those from certain magnetized corona
models-are very similar to the derived plasma conditions at the jet footpoints.
Here we explore the question of whether the `corona' and `jet base' are in fact
related, starting by testing the strongest premise that they are synonymous. In
such models, the radio through the soft X-rays are dominated by synchrotron
emission, while the hard X-rays are dominated by inverse Compton at the jet
base - with both disk and synchrotron photons acting as seed photons. The
conditions at the jet base fix the conditions along the rest of the jet, thus
creating a direct link between the X-ray and radio emission. We also add to
this model a simple iron line and convolve the spectrum with neutral
reflection. After forward-folding the predicted spectra through the detector
response functions, we compare the results to simultaneous radio/X-ray data
obtained from the hard states of the Galactic XRBs GX339-4 and Cygnus X-1.
Results from simple Compton corona model fits are also presented for
comparison. We demonstrate that the jet model fits are statistically as good as
the single-component corona model X-ray fits, yet are also able to address the
simultaneous radio data.Comment: Accepted to the Astrophysical Journal. 14 pages, emulateapj.st
Origin of the X-ray Emission in the Nuclei of FR Is
We investigate the X-ray origin in FRIs using the multi-waveband high
resolution data of eight FR I sources, which have very low Eddington ratios. We
fit their multi-waveband spectrum using a coupled accretion-jet model. We find
that X-ray emission in the source with the highest L_X (~1.8*10^-4 L_Edd) is
from the advection-dominated accretion flow (ADAF). Four sources with moderate
L_X(~several*10^-6 L_Edd) are complicated. The X-ray emission of one FR I is
from the jet, and the other three is from the sum of the jet and ADAF. The
X-ray emission in the three least luminous sources (L_X<1.0*10^-6L_Edd) is
dominated by the jet. These results roughly support the predictions of Yuan and
Cui(2005) where they predict that when the X-ray luminosity of the system is
below a critical value, the X-radiation will not be dominated by the emission
from the ADAF any longer, but by the jet. We also find that the accretion rates
in four sources must be higher than the Bondi rates, which implies that other
fuel supply (e.g., stellar winds) inside the Bondi radius should be important.Comment: 6 pages. To published in Journal of Physics, in proceedings of "The
Universe under the Microscope - Astrophysics at High Angular Resolution" (Bad
Honnef, Germany, April 2008), eds. R. Schoedel, A. Eckart, S. Pfalzner, and
E. Ro
As Above, So Below: Exploiting Mass Scaling in Black Hole Accretion to Break Degeneracies in Spectral Interpretation
Over the past decade, evidence has mounted that several aspects of black hole (BH) accretion physics proceed in a mass-invariant way. One of the best examples of this scaling is the empirical "fundamental plane of BH accretion" relation linking mass, radio, and X-ray luminosity over eight orders of magnitude in BH mass. The currently favored theoretical interpretation of this relation is that the physics governing power output in weakly accreting BHs depends more on relative accretion rate than on mass. In order to test this theory, we explore whether a mass-invariant approach can simultaneously explain the broadband spectral energy distributions from two BHs at opposite ends of the mass scale but that are at similar Eddington accretion fractions. We find that the same model, with the same value of several fitted physical parameters expressed in mass-scaling units to enforce self-similarity, can provide a good description of two data sets from V404 Cyg and M81*, a stellar and supermassive BH, respectively. Furthermore, only one of several potential emission scenarios for the X-ray band is successful, suggesting it is the dominant process driving the fundamental plane relation at this accretion rate. This approach thus holds promise for breaking current degeneracies in the interpretation of BH high-energy spectra and for constructing better prescriptions of BH accretion for use in various local and cosmological feedback applications. © 2015. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved
Measurement of the double-\beta decay half-life of ^{136}Xe with the KamLAND-Zen experiment
We present results from the KamLAND-Zen double-beta decay experiment based on
an exposure of 77.6 days with 129 kg of Xe. The measured two-neutrino
double-beta decay half-life of Xe is yr, consistent with a recent
measurement by EXO-200. We also obtain a lower limit for the neutrinoless
double-beta decay half-life, yr at 90%
confidence level (C.L.), which corresponds to almost a five-fold improvement
over previous limits.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures. Version as published in PR
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