398 research outputs found
New Analytical Formula for Supercritical Accretion Flows
We examine a new family of global analytic solutions for optically thick
accretion disks, which includes the supercritical accretion regime. We found
that the ratio of the advection cooling rate, , to the viscous
heating rate, , i.e., , can be
represented by an analytical form dependent on the radius and the mass
accretion rate. The new analytic solutions can be characterized by the
photon-trapping radius, \rtrap, inside which the accretion time is less than
the photon diffusion time in the vertical direction; the nature of the
solutions changes significantly as this radius is crossed. Inside the trapping
radius,
approaches , which corresponds to the advection-dominated
limit (), whereas outside the trapping radius, the radial dependence
of changes to , which corresponds to the
radiative-cooling-dominated limit. The analytical formula for derived here
smoothly connects these two regimes. The set of new analytic solutions
reproduces well the global disk structure obtained by numerical integration
over a wide range of mass accretion rates, including the supercritical
accretion regime. In particular, the effective temperature profiles for our new
solutions are in good agreement with those obtained from numerical solutions.
Therefore, the new solutions will provide a useful tool not only for evaluating
the observational properties of accretion flows, but also for investigating the
mass evolution of black holes in the presence of supercritical accretion flows.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journa
Accretion Disk Spectra of the Ultra-luminous X-ray Sources in Nearby Spiral Galaxies and Galactic Superluminal Jet Sources
Ultra-luminous Compact X-ray Sources (ULXs) in nearby spiral galaxies and
Galactic superluminal jet sources share the common spectral characteristic that
they have unusually high disk temperatures which cannot be explained in the
framework of the standard optically thick accretion disk in the Schwarzschild
metric. On the other hand, the standard accretion disk around the Kerr black
hole might explain the observed high disk temperature, as the inner radius of
the Kerr disk gets smaller and the disk temperature can be consequently higher.
However, we point out that the observable Kerr disk spectra becomes
significantly harder than Schwarzschild disk spectra only when the disk is
highly inclined. This is because the emission from the innermost part of the
accretion disk is Doppler-boosted for an edge-on Kerr disk, while hardly seen
for a face-on disk. The Galactic superluminal jet sources are known to be
highly inclined systems, thus their energy spectra may be explained with the
standard Kerr disk with known black hole masses. For ULXs, on the other hand,
the standard Kerr disk model seems implausible, since it is highly unlikely
that their accretion disks are preferentially inclined, and, if edge-on Kerr
disk model is applied, the black hole mass becomes unreasonably large (> 300
M_solar). Instead, the slim disk (advection dominated optically thick disk)
model is likely to explain the observed super-Eddington luminosities, hard
energy spectra, and spectral variations of ULXs. We suggest that ULXs are
accreting black holes with a few tens of solar mass, which is not unexpected
from the standard stellar evolution scenario, and that their X-ray emission is
from the slim disk shining at super-Eddington luminosities.Comment: ApJ, accepte
The X-ray Luminosity Function of "The Antennae" Galaxies (NGC4038/39) and the Nature of Ultra-Luminous X-ray Sources
We derive the X-ray luminosity function (XLF) of the X-ray source population
detected in the Chandra observation of NGC4038/39 (the Antennae).
We explicitly include photon counting and spectral parameter uncertainties in
our calculations. The cumulative XLF is well represented by a flat power law
(), similar to those describing the XLFs of other star-forming
systems (e.g. M82, the disk of M81), but different from those of early type
galaxies. This result associates the X-ray source population in the Antennae
with young High Mass X-ray Binaries. In comparison with less actively
star-forming galaxies, the XLF of the Antennae has a highly significant excess
of sources with luminosities above 10^{39} erg\s (Ultra Luminous Sources;
ULXs). We discuss the nature of these sources, based on the XLF and on their
general spectral properties, as well as their optical counterparts discussed in
Paper III. We conclude that the majority of the ULXs cannot be intermediate
mass black-holes (M > 10-1000 \msun) binaries, unless they are linked to the
remnants of massive Population III stars (the Madau & Rees model). Instead,
their spatial and multiwavelength properties can be well explained by beamed
emission as a consequence of supercritical accretion.
Binaries with a neutron star or moderate mass black-hole (up to 20\msun), and
B2 to A type star companions would be consistent with our data. In the beaming
scenario, the XLF should exibit caracteristic breaks that will be visible in
future deeper observations of the Antennae.Comment: 15 pages, submitted to Ap
Model for Relaxation Oscillations of Luminous Accretion Disk in GRS1915+105: Variable Inner Edge
To understand the bursting behavior of the microquasar GRS 1915+105, we
calculate time evolution of a luminous, optically thick accretion disk around a
stellar mass black hole undergoing limit-cycle oscillations between the high-
and low- luminosity states. We, especially, carefully solve the behavior of the
innermost part of the disk, since it produces significant number of photons
during the burst, and fit the theoretical spectra with the multi-color disk
model. The fitting parameters are \Tin (the maximum disk temperature) and
\Rin (the innermost radius of the disk). We find an abrupt, transient
increase in \Tin and a temporary decrease in \Rin during a burst, which are
actually observed in GRS 1915+105. The precise behavior is subject to the
viscosity prescription. We prescribe the radial-azimuthal component of
viscosity stress tensor to be ,
with being the height integrated pressure, and being the
parameter, and and being the total pressure and gas pressure
on the equatorial plane, respectively. Model with can produce the
overall time changes of \Tin and \Rin, but cannot give an excellent fit to
the observed amplitudes. Model with , on the other hand, gives the
right amplitudes, but the changes of \Tin and \Rin are smaller. Although
precise matching is left as future work, we may conclude that the basic
properties of the bursts of GRS 1915+105 can be explained by our ``limit-cycle
oscillation'' model. It is then required that the spectral hardening factor at
high luminosities should be about 3 at around the Eddington luminosity instead
of less than 2 as is usually assumed.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Does the Slim-Disk Model Correctly Consider Photon-Trapping Effects?
We investigate the photon-trapping effects in the super-critical black hole
accretion flows by solving radiation transfer as well as the energy equations
of radiation and gas. It is found that the slim-disk model generally
overestimates the luminosity of the disk at around the Eddington luminosity
(L_E) and is not accurate in describing the effective temperature profile,
since it neglects time delay between energy generation at deeper inside the
disk and energy release at the surface. Especially, the photon-trapping effects
are appreciable even below L ~ L_E, while they appear above ~ 3L_E according to
the slim disk. Through the photon-trapping effects, the luminosity is reduced
and the effective temperature profile becomes flatter than r^{-3/4} as in the
standard disk. In the case that the viscous heating is effective only around
the equatorial plane, the luminosity is kept around the Eddington luminosity
even at very large mass accretion rate, Mdot>>L_E/c^2. The effective
temperature profile is almost flat, and the maximum temperature decreases in
accordance with rise in the mass accretion rate. Thus, the most luminous radius
shifts to the outer region when Mdot/(L_E/c^2) >> 10^2. In the case that the
energy is dissipated equally at any heights, the resultant luminosity is
somewhat larger than in the former case, but the energy-conversion efficiency
still decreases with increase of the mass accretion rate, as well. The most
luminous radius stays around the inner edge of the disk in the latter case.
Hence, the effective temperature profile is sensitive to the vertical
distribution of energy production rates, so is the spectral shape. Future
observations of high L/L_E objects will be able to test our model.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Dynamics of spin correlations in the spin-1/2 isotropic XY chain in a transverse field
Dynamic xx spin pair correlation functions for the isotropic spin-1/2 XY
chain are calculated numerically for long open chains in the presence of a
transverse magnetic field at finite temperature. As an application we discuss
the temperature dependence of the spin-spin relaxation time in PrCl_3.Comment: 2 pages, latex, 2 figures, abstract of the paper presented at Ampere
Summer School ``Applications of Magnetic Resonance in Novel Materials''
Nafplion, Greece, 3-9 September, 2000, partially published in J. Phys. A:
Math. Gen. 33, 3063 (2000
Shapes and Positions of Black Hole Shadows in Accretion Disks and Spin Parameters of Black Holes
Can we determine a spin parameter of a black hole by observation of a black
hole shadow in an accretion disk? In order to answer this question, we make a
qualitative analysis and a quantitative analysis of a shape and a position of a
black hole shadow casted by a rotating black hole on an optically thick
accretion disk and its dependence on an angular momentum of a black hole. We
have found black hole shadows with a quite similar size and a shape for largely
different black hole spin parameters and a same black hole mass. Thus, it is
practically difficult to determine a spin parameter of a black hole from a size
and a shape of a black hole shadow in an accretion disk. We newly introduce a
bisector axis of a black hole shadow named a shadow axis. For a rotating black
hole a shape and a position of a black hole shadow are not symmetric with
respect to a rotation axis of a black hole shadow. So, in this case the minimum
interval between a mass center of a black hole and a shadow axis is finite. An
extent of this minimum interval is roughly proportional to a spin parameter of
a black hole for a fixed inclination angle between a rotation axis of a black
hole and a direction of an observer. In order to measure a spin parameter of a
black hole, if a shadow axis is determined observationally, it is crucially
important to determine a position of a mass center of a black hole in a region
of a black hole shadow.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Super-critical Accretion Flows around Black Holes: Two-dimensional, Radiation-pressure-dominated Disks with Photon-trapping
The quasi-steady structure of super-critical accretion flows around a black
hole is studied based on the two-dimensional radiation-hydrodynamical (2D-RHD)
simulations. The super-critical flow is composed of two parts: the disk region
and the outflow regions above and below the disk. Within the disk region the
circular motion as well as the patchy density structure are observed, which is
caused by Kelvin-Helmholtz instability and probably by convection. The
mass-accretion rate decreases inward, roughly in proportion to the radius, and
the remaining part of the disk material leaves the disk to form outflow because
of strong radiation pressure force. We confirm that photon trapping plays an
important role within the disk. Thus, matter can fall onto the black hole at a
rate exceeding the Eddington rate. The emission is highly anisotropic and
moderately collimated so that the apparent luminosity can exceed the Eddington
luminosity by a factor of a few in the face-on view. The mass-accretion rate
onto the black hole increases with increase of the absorption opacity
(metalicity) of the accreting matter. This implies that the black hole tends to
grow up faster in the metal rich regions as in starburst galaxies or
star-forming regions.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ (Volume 628,
July 20, 2005 issue
Discovery of Spectral Transitions from Two Ultra-Luminous Compact X-Ray Sources in Ic342
Two {\it ASCA} observations were made of two ultra-luminous compact X-ray
sources (ULXs), Source 1 and Source 2, in the spiral galaxy IC 342. In the 1993
observation, Source 2 showed a 0.5--10 keV luminosity of
ergs s (assuming a distance of 4.0 Mpc), and a hard power-law spectrum
of photon index . As already reported, Source 1 was times
brighter on that occasion, and exhibited a soft spectrum represented by a
multi-color disk model of inner-disk temperature keV. The second
observation made in February 2000 revealed that Source 1 had made a transition
into a hard spectral state, while Source 2 into a soft spectral state. The ULXs
are therefore inferred to exhibit two distinct spectral states, and sometimes
make transitions between them. These results significantly reinforce the
scenario which describes ULXs as mass-accreting black holes.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures; acceoted for ApJ
A Chandra X-ray Study of NGC 1068: II. The Luminous X-ray Source Population
We present an analysis of the compact X-ray source population in the
Seyfert~2 galaxy NGC 1068, imaged with Chandra. We find a total of 84 compact
sources, of which 66 are projected onto the galactic disk of NGC 1068. Spectra
of the brightest sources have been modeled with both multi-color disk blackbody
and power-law models. The power-law model provides the better description of
the spectrum for most of these sources. Five sources have 0.4-8 keV intrinsic
luminosities greater than 10^{39} erg/s, assuming that their emission is
isotropic and that they are associated with NGC 1068. We refer to these sources
as Intermediate Luminosity X-ray Objects (IXOs). If these five sources are
X-ray binaries accreting with luminosities that are both sub-Eddington and
isotropic, then the implied source masses are >7 solar masses, and so they are
inferred to be black holes. The brightest source has a much harder spectrum
(Gamma = 0.9\pm0.1) than that found in Galactic black hole candidates and other
IXOs. It also shows large-amplitude variability on both short-term and
long-term timescales. The ratio of the number of sources with luminosities
greater than 2.1 x 10^{38} erg/s in the 0.4-8 keV band to the rate of massive
star formation is the same, to within a factor of two, for NGC 1068, the
Antennae, NGC 5194 (the main galaxy in M51), and the Circinus galaxy. This
suggests that the rate of production of X-ray binaries per massive star is
approximately the same for galaxies with currently active star formation,
including ``starbursts''.Comment: 33 pages, 10 figures. To appear in The Astrophysical Journal, v591
n1, July 1, 2003 issu
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