A new approach for probing circumbinary disks

Circumbinary disks are considered to exist in a wide variety of astrophysical objects, e.g., young binary stars, protoplanetary systems, and massive binary black hole systems in active galactic nuclei (AGNs). However, there is no definite evidence for the circumbinary disk except for some in a few young binary star systems. In this Letter, we study possible oscillation modes in circumbinary disks around eccentric and circular binaries. We find that progarde, nonaxisymmetric waves are induced in the inner part of the circumbinary disk by the tidal potential of the binary. Such waves would cause variabilities in emission line profiles from circumbinary disks. Because of prograde precession of the waves, the distance between each component of the binary and the inner edge of the circumbinary disk varies with the beat period between the precession period of the wave and the binary orbital period. As a result, light curves from the circumbinary disks are also expected to vary with the same period. The current study thus provides a new method to detect circumbinary disks in various astrophysical systems.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters (3/Dec/2008), 4pages, 1figur

Long-term evolution of accretion discs in Be/X-ray binaries

We numerically study the long-term evolution of the accretion disc around the neutron star in a coplanar Be/X-ray binary with a short period and a moderate eccentricity. From three dimensional Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics simulations, we find that the disc evolves through three distinct phases, each characterized by different mass accretion patterns. In the first "developing phase", the disc is formed and develops towards a nearly Keplerian disc. It has a relatively large, double-peaked mass-accretion rate with the higher peak by the direct accretion at periastron, which is followed by the lower peak by the accretion induced by a one-armed spiral wave. In the second "transition phase", the disc is approximately Keplerian and grows with time. The mass-accretion rate increases as the disc grows. In the second phase, there is a transition in the mass accretion rate from a double peaked to a single peaked pattern. In the final quasi-steady state, the mass-accretion rate is on average balanced with the mass-transfer rate from the Be disc and exhibits a regular orbital modulation. In the quasi-steady state, the mass-accretion rate has a single peak by the wave-induced accretion as in a later stage of the transition phase. The orbital modulation of X-ray maxima could provide not only a circumstantial evidence for the persistent disc but also an observational diagnosis of the disc evolutionary state.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRA

Impact of scale-height derivative on general relativistic slim disks in tidal disruption events

We construct a numerical model of steady-state, general relativistic (GR) super-Eddington accretion flows in an optically thick, advection-dominated regime, motivated by tidal disruption events wherein super-Eddington accretion assumes a pivotal role. Our model takes into account the loss of angular momentum due to radiation and the scale-height derivative in the basic equations of the GR slim disk. For comparison purposes, we also provide a new analytical solution for a radiation-pressure-dominant GR slim disk, which neglects the angular momentum loss due to radiation and the scale-height derivative. We find that the radiation pressure enhances by incorporating the scale height derivative into the basic equations. As a result, the surface density near the disk's inner edge decreases, whereas the disk temperature and scale height increase, brightening the disk spectrum in the soft X-ray waveband. Notably, an extremely high mass accretion rate significantly enhances the effect of the scale-height derivative, affecting the entire disk. In contrast, the inclusion of the radiation-driven angular momentum loss only slightly influences the disk surface density and temperature compared with the case of the scale-height derivative inclusion. The X-ray luminosity increases significantly due to scale height derivative for $\dot{M}/\dot{M}_{\rm Edd} \gtrsim 2$. In addition, the increment is higher for the non-spinning black hole than the spinning black hole case, resulting in a one-order of magnitude difference for $\dot{M}/\dot{M}_{\rm Edd}\gtrsim100$. We conclude that incorporating the scale-height derivative into a GR slim disk model is crucial as it impacts the disk structure and its resultant spectrum, particularly on a soft-X-ray waveband.Comment: 21 pages, 15 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in Physical Review

One-armed spiral structure of accretion discs induced by a phase-dependent mass transfer in Be/X-ray binaries

We study non-axisymmetric structure of accretion discs in Be/X-ray binaries, performing three dimensional Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics simulations for a coplanar system with a short period and a moderate eccentricity. We find that ram pressure due to the phase-dependent mass transfer from the Be-star disc excites a one-armed, trailing spiral structure in the accretion disc around the neutron star. The spiral wave is transient; it is excited around the periastron passage, when the material is transferred from the Be disc, and is gradually damped afterwards. The disc changes its morphology from circular to eccentric with the development of the spiral wave, and then from eccentric to circular with the decay of the wave during one orbital period. It turns out that the inward propagation of the spiral wave significantly enhances the mass-accretion rate onto the neutron star. Thus, the detection of an X-ray luminosity peak corresponding to the peak in enhanced mass-accretion rate provides circumstantial evidence that an accretion disc is present in Be/X-ray binaries.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letter