arXiv subjects

Cheng-Liang Jiao

Publications and source records attributed to Cheng-Liang Jiao.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Long Photometric Cycles in Double Periodic Variables from Nodal Precession of a Tilted Accretion Disk

We investigate whether the long photometric cycles observed in double-periodic variables (DPVs) can arise from nodal precession of a tilted accretion disk driven by the tidal torque of the companion. Within a simple analytical framework, we derive testable relations linking the long-to-orbital period ratio to the binary mass ratio, the normalized disk size, and the disk tilt angle $β$, which itself can be inferred from the long-cycle amplitude, orbital inclination $i$, and disk luminosity fraction. The model naturally reproduces the two observed long-cycle light-curve morphologies -- sinusoidal and double-hump -- distinguished by the geometric criterion $i+β\le 90^\circ$ versus $i+β>90^\circ$. Applying these relations to a sample of DPVs, we find that the inferred disk sizes are physically reasonable and consistent with independent light-curve modeling for a non-negligible subset of systems. Our results show that tidal nodal precession represents a viable and potentially important contributor to the long-period variability of DPVs and provide a quantitative framework for future observational and theoretical studies.

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arXiv2026

A unified framework for hot accretion flows with finite angular momentum: from Bondi-like to disc-like regimes

Observations of X-ray luminous elliptical galaxies suggest that the accretion rate onto the central supermassive black hole can reach a substantial fraction of the Bondi rate. However, classical accretion theory applicable to such hot accretion flows treats spherically symmetric Bondi accretion and disc-like advection-dominated accretion flows (ADAFs) as two distinct limiting cases, lacking a unified framework for flows with finite angular momentum. In this work, we develop such a framework that continuously connects these two regimes. Our model naturally recovers the Bondi solution in the limit of vanishing angular momentum and approaches the properties of classical ADAFs at high angular momentum, while providing a physically well-defined description of the intermediate regime where neither limiting case is strictly applicable. We further demonstrate that the accretion rate is jointly regulated by the angular momentum of the ambient gas and the gas viscosity. For sufficiently large but physically reasonable viscosity, the accretion rate can remain at a significant fraction of the Bondi rate even in the presence of substantial gas rotation. These results offer a natural explanation for how such accretion rates can be sustained despite finite angular momentum in realistic galactic environments.

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arXiv2025

Accretion rates of stellar-mass compact objects embedded in AGN discs

Stellar-mass compact objects (COs) embedded in active galactic nucleus (AGN) discs are commonly assumed to accrete via Bondi or Bondi-Hoyle-Lyttleton (BHL) prescriptions, neglecting gas angular momentum. We show that differential rotation in AGN discs can impart non-negligible angular momentum, in which case accretion proceeds through a viscous disc rather than Bondi/BHL flow. Our model provides a new framework estimating the CO accretion rate as $\dot{M}_\mathrm{CO} = \min\{\dot{M}_\mathrm{vis}, \dot{M}_\mathrm{BHL}\}$, where the viscous rate $\dot{M}_\mathrm{vis}$ accounts for gas--CO relative motion decomposed into a local gradient term (due to differential rotation) and bulk motion (from differing orbital parameters). This rate can be expressed as $\dot{M}_\mathrm{vis} = αξ(r_\mathrm{H}/r_\mathrm{BHL})^3\dot{M}_\mathrm{BHL}$, where $ξ$ is a coefficient of order unity. It can also be approximately scaled to the global AGN accretion rate as $\dot{M}_\mathrm{vis} \propto \dot{M}_1$, with the scaling coefficients in both forms determined by the specific dynamical configuration. The accretion is viscosity-limited when $q > [αξ(1+\mathcal{M}^2)^{3}/3]^{1/2} h^3$, where $q$ is the mass ratio between the CO and the supermassive black hole, $α$ the viscosity parameter, $\mathcal{M}$ the Mach number of the bulk relative motion, and $h$ the aspect ratio of the AGN disc. In thin AGN discs this condition is satisfied for most stellar-mass or more massive COs. Our framework also naturally allows for the inclusion of established outflow corrections, thereby enabling a more realistic treatment of super-Eddington flows. Our formulation thus improves upon Bondi/BHL prescriptions and offers a more physically motivated basis for studying CO evolution in AGN environments.

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arXiv2025

Spherically Symmetric Accretion with Self-Gravity: Analytical Formulae and Numerical Validation

Spherically symmetric accretion incorporating self-gravity constitutes a three-point boundary value problem (TPBVP) governed by constraints at the outer boundary, sonic point, and accretor surface. Previous studies have two limitations: either employing an incorrect formula for self-gravity potential in analytical treatments, or introducing additional input parameters in numerical implementations to circumvent solving the full TPBVP. To address these issues, we present a self-consistent TPBVP formulation, solved using the relaxation method. We also derive approximate analytical formulae that enable rapid estimates of self-gravity effects. Our analysis identifies a dimensionless parameter $β\equiv 2G \barρ r_\mathrm{out}^2/a_\mathrm{out}^2$ that characterizes the strength of self-gravity, where $\barρ$ and $r_\mathrm{out}$ are the mean density and outer radius of the flow, respectively, and $a_\mathrm{out}$ is the adiabatic sound speed of the external medium. For practical estimation, $\barρ$ may be approximated by the external medium density $ρ_\mathrm{out}$. We identify an upper limit for $β$, beyond which steady accretion becomes unsustainable -- a behavior consistent with classical gravitational instability that previous studies failed to capture. The accretion rate enhancement decreases monotonically as the adiabatic index $γ$ increases. For $γ=5/3$, self-gravity ceases to augment the accretion rate. These theoretical predictions are validated by our numerical solutions. We further apply our results to two astrophysical scenarios: hyper-Eddington accretion onto supermassive black hole seeds in the early Universe, where self-gravity is significant; and accretion onto stellar-mass objects embedded in active galactic nuclei (AGN) disks, where self-gravity is non-negligible under certain conditions and should be evaluated using $β$.

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arXiv2025

A Scenario for Origin of Global 4 mHz Oscillations in Solar Corona

We establish a spherically symmetric model of solar atmosphere, which consists of the whole chromosphere and low corona below the $1.25$ solar radius. It is a hydrodynamic model with heating in the chromosphere through an artificial energy flux. We performed a series of simulations with our model and found oscillations with a peak frequency of $\sim$4 $\rm{mHz}$ in the power spectrum. We confirmed that this resulted from the $p$-mode excited in the transition region and amplified in a resonant cavity situated in the height range $\sim$$4\times10^3$--$2\times10^4$ km. This result is consistent with global observations of Alfvénic waves in corona and can naturally explain the observational ubiquity of $4\ \rm{mHz}$ without the difficulty of the $p$-mode passing through the acoustic-damping chromosphere. We also confirmed that acoustic shock waves alone cannot heat the corona to the observed temperature, and found mass upflows in the height range $\sim$$7\times10^3$--$7\times10^4$ km in our model, which pumped the dense and cool plasma into the corona and might be the mass supplier for solar prominences.

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arXiv2023

Study of advective energy transport in the inflow and the outflow of super-Eddington accretion flows

Photon trapping is believed to be an important mechanism in super-Eddington accretion, which greatly reduces the radiative efficiency as photons are swallowed by the central black hole before they can escape from the accretion flow. This effect is interpreted as the radial advection of energy in one-dimensional height-integrated models, such as the slim disc model. However, when multi-dimensional effects are considered, the conventional understanding may no longer hold. In this paper, we study the advective energy transport in super-Eddington accretion, based on a new two-dimensional inflow-outflow solution with radial self-similarity, in which the advective factor is calculated self-consistently by incorporating the calculation of radiative flux, instead of being set as an input parameter. We find that radial advection is actually a heating mechanism in the inflow due to compression, and the energy balance in the inflow is maintained by cooling via radiation and vertical ($θ$-direction) advection, which transports entropy upwards to be radiated closer to the surface or carried away by the outflow. As a result, less photons are advected inwards and more photons are released from the surface, so that the mean advective factor is smaller and the emergent flux is larger than those predicted by the slim disc model. The radiative efficiency of super-Eddington accretion thus should be larger than that of the slim disc model, which agrees with the results of some recent numerical simulations.

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arXiv2023

Heating or Cooling: Study of Advective Heat Transport in the Inflow and the Outflow of Optically Thin Advection-dominated Accretion Flows

Advection is believed to be the dominant cooling mechanism in optically thin advection-dominated accretion flows (ADAF's). When outflow is considered, however, the first impression is that advection should be of opposite sign in the inflow and the outflow, due to the opposite direction of radial motion. Then how is the energy balance achieved simultaneously? We investigate the problem in this paper, analysing the profiles of different components of advection with self-similar solutions of ADAF's in spherical coordinates ($rθϕ$). We find that for $n < 3γ/2-1$, where $n$ is the density index in $ρ\propto r^{-n}$ and $γ$ is the heat capacity ratio, the radial advection is a heating mechanism in the inflow and a cooling mechanism in the outflow. It becomes 0 for $n = 3γ/2-1$, and turns to a cooling mechanism in the inflow and a heating mechanism in the outflow for $n > 3γ/2-1$. The energy conservation is only achieved when the latitudinal ($θ$-direction) advection is considered, which takes an appropriate value to maintain energy balance, so that the overall effect of advection, no matter the parameter choices, is always a cooling mechanism that cancels out the viscous heating everywhere. For the extreme case of $n=3/2$, latitudinal motion stops, viscous heating is balanced solely by radial advection, and no outflow is developed.

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arXiv2020

Three-dimensional simulations of accretion flow in the progenitor of Tycho's supernova

We run three-dimensional numerical simulations for the accretion flow around the white dwarf (WD) in the progenitor system of Tycho's supernova (SN). The mass of the WD, mass of the companion star, and the orbital period are set to be 1$M_{\odot}$, 1.6$M_{\odot}$, and 0.794 day, respectively, based on theoretical and observational researches of Tycho's SN remnant (SNR). We find that when the magnetic field in the accreted material is negligible, outflowing wind is concentrated near the equatorial plane. When the magnetic field has energy equipartition with internal energy, polar wind is comparable with the equatorial wind. A carefully chosen magnetic field between the above two cases ($B=5.44\times10^3 \rm{G}$) can roughly reproduce the latitude-dependent wind required to form the peculiar periphery of Tycho's SNR.

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arXiv2015

Comparison between RHD simulation of supercritical accretion flows and steady model with outflows

We apply our two-dimensional (2D), radially self-similar steady-state accretion flow model to the analysis of hydrodynamic simulation results of supercritical accretion flows. Self-similarity is checked and the input parameters for the model calculation, such as advective factor and heat capacity ratio, are obtained from time-averaged simulation data. Solutions of the model are then calculated and compared with the simulation results. We find that in the converged region of the simulation, excluding the part too close to the black hole, the radial distribution of azimuthal velocity $v_ϕ$, density $ρ$ and pressure $p$ basically follows the self-similar assumptions, i.e. they are roughly proportional to $r^{-0.5}$, $r^{-n}$, and $r^{-(n+1)}$, respectively, where $n\sim0.85$ for the mass injection rate of $1000L_\mathrm{E}/c^2$, and $n\sim0.74$ for $3000L_\mathrm{E}/c^2$. The distribution of $v_r$ and $v_θ$ agrees less with self-similarity, possibly due to convective motions in the $rθ$ plane. The distribution of velocity, density and pressure in $θ$ direction obtained by the steady model agrees well with the simulation results {within the calculation boundary of the steady model}. Outward mass flux in the simulations is overall directed toward polar angle of 0.8382 rad ($\sim 48.0^\circ$) for $1000L_\mathrm{E}/c^2$, and 0.7852 rad ($\sim 43.4^\circ$) for $3000L_\mathrm{E}/c^2$, and $\sim$94\% of the mass inflow are driven away as outflow, while outward momentum and energy fluxes are focused around the polar axis. Part of these fluxes lie in the region that are not calculated by the steady model, and special attention should be paid when the model is applied.

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arXiv2012

The correlations between optical variability and physical parameters of quasars in SDSS Stripe 82

We investigate the optical variability of 7658 quasars from SDSS Stripe 82. Taking advantage of a larger sample and relatively more data points for each quasar, we estimate variability amplitudes and divide the sample into small bins of redshift, rest-frame wavelength, black hole mass, Eddington ratio and bolometric luminosity respectively, to investigate the relationships between variability and these parameters. An anti-correlation between variability and rest-frame wavelength is found. The variability amplitude of radio-quiet quasars shows almost no cosmological evolution, but that of radio-loud ones may weakly anti-correlate with redshift. In addition, variability increases as either luminosity or Eddington ratio decreases. However, the relationship between variability and black hole mass is uncertain; it is negative when the influence of Eddington ratio is excluded, but positive when the influence of luminosity is excluded. The intrinsic distribution of variability amplitudes for radio-loud and radio-quiet quasars are different. Both radio-loud and radio-quiet quasars exhibit a bluer-when-brighter chromatism. Assuming that quasar variability is caused by variations of accretion rate, the Shakura-Sunyaev disk model can reproduce the tendencies of observed correlations between variability and rest-frame wavelength, luminosity as well as Eddington ratio, supporting that changes of accretion rate plays an important role in producing the observed optical variability. However, the predicted positive correlation between variability and black hole mass seems to be inconsistent with the observed negative correlation between them in small bins of Eddington ratio, which suggests that other physical mechanisms may still need to be considered in modifying the simple accretion disk model.

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arXiv2011

On the structure of Accretion Disks with Outflows

In order to study the outflows from accretion disks, we solve the set of hydrodynamic equations for accretion disks in the spherical coordinates ($rθϕ$) to obtain the explicit structure along the $θ$ direction. Using self-similar assumptions in the radial direction, we change the equations to a set of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) about the $θ$-coordinate, which are then solved with symmetrical boundary conditions in the equatorial plane, and the velocity field is obtained. The $α$ viscosity prescription is applied and an advective factor $f$ is used to simplify the energy equation.The results display thinner, quasi-Keplerian disks for Shakura-Sunyaev Disks (SSDs) and thicker, sub-Keplerian disks for Advection Dominated Accretion Flows (ADAFs) and slim disks, which are consistent with previous popular analytical models. However, an inflow region and an outflow region always exist, except when the viscosity parameter $α$ is too large, which supports the results of some recent numerical simulation works. Our results indicate that the outflows should be common in various accretion disks and may be stronger in slim disks, where both advection and radiation pressure are dominant. We also present the structure dependence on the input parameters and discuss their physical meanings. The caveats of this work and possible improvements in the future are discussed.

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arXiv2008

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.

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