Gas stripping by radiation drag from an interstellar cloud

Abstract

We perform two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulation on the gas stripping by radiation drag from an interstellar cloud moving in uniform radiation fields. To properly include relativistic radiation drag, the radiation hydrodynamic equation is solved with taking into account the dilution of radiation fields by optical depth of the cloud. As a result, it is found that the optically-thin surface layers are effectively stripped by radiation drag from an optically-thick gas cloud, and simultaneously stripped gas loses momentum. The momentum loss time-scale is found to be on the order of $10^{8}$ years under intensive radiation fields which are expected in the early phase of galaxy evolution. The present results show that the radiation drag is an effective mechanism to extract angular momentum from interstellar medium and allows it to accrete onto the galactic center. The mass accretion driven by radiation drag may lead to the formation of a central supermassive black hole.