arXiv subjects

Marek A. Abramowicz

Publications and source records attributed to Marek A. Abramowicz.

68 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2000

Numerical Simulations of Convective Accretion Flows in Three Dimensions

Advection-dominated accretion flows (ADAFs) are known to be convectively unstable for low values of the viscosity parameter alpha. Two-dimensional axisymmetric hydrodynamic simulations of such flows reveal a radial density profile which is significantly flatter than the rho~r^{-3/2} expected for a canonical ADAF. The modified density profile is the result of inward transport of angular momentum by axisymmetric convective eddies. We present three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations of convective ADAFs which are free of the assumption of axisymmetry. We find that the results are qualitatively and quantitatively similar to those obtained with two-dimensional simulations. In particular, the convective eddies are nearly axisymmetric and transport angular momentum inward.

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arXiv2000

Two-dimensional models of hydrodynamical accretion flows into black holes

We present a systematic numerical study of two-dimensional axisymmetric accretion flows around black holes. The flows have no radiative cooling and are treated in the framework of the hydrodynamical approximation. The models calculated in this study cover the large range of the relevant parameter space. There are four types of flows, determined by the values of the viscosity parameter $α$ and the adiabatic index $γ$: convective flows, large-scale circulations, pure inflows and bipolar outflows. Thermal conduction introduces significant changes to the solutions, but does not create a new flow type. Convective accretion flows and flows with large-scale circulations have significant outward-directed energy fluxes, which have important implications for the spectra and luminosities of accreting black holes.

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arXiv2000

Self-Similar Accretion Flows with Convection

We consider height-integrated equations of an advection-dominated accretion flow (ADAF), assuming that there is no mass outflow. We include convection through a mixing length formalism. We seek self-similar solutions in which the rotational velocity and sound speed scale as R^{-1/2}, where R is the radius, and consider two limiting prescriptions for the transport of angular momentum by convection. In one limit, the transport occurs down the angular velocity gradient, so convection moves angular momentum outward. In the other, the transport is down the specific angular momentum gradient, so convection moves angular momentum inward. We also consider general prescriptions which lie in between the two limits. When convection moves angular momentum outward, we recover the usual self-similar solution for ADAFs in which the mass density scales as rho ~ R^{-3/2}. When convection moves angular momentum inward, the result depends on the viscosity coefficient alpha. If alpha>alpha_{crit1} ~ 0.05, we once again find the standard ADAF solution. For alpha<alpha_{crit}, however, we find a non-accreting solution in which rho ~ R^{-1/2}. We refer to this as a "convective envelope" solution or a "convection-dominated accretion flow". Two-dimensional numerical simulations of ADAFs with values of alpha<0.03 have been reported by several authors. The simulated ADAFs exhibit convection. By virtue of their axisymmetry, convection in these simulations moves angular momentum inward, as we confirm by computing the Reynolds stress. The simulations give rho ~ R^{-1/2}, in good agreement with the convective envelope solution. The R^{-1/2} density profile is not a consequence of mass outflow.

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arXiv2000

On the absence of winds in ADAFs

We show that recently published assertions that advection dominated accretion flows (ADAFs) require the presence of strong winds are unfounded because they assume that low radiative efficiency in flows accreting at low rates onto black holes implies vanishing radial energy and angular momentum fluxes through the flow (which is also formulated in terms of the `Bernoulli function' being positive). This, however, is a property only of self-similar solutions which are an inadequate representation of global accretion flows. We recall general properties of accretion flows onto black holes and show that such, necessarily transonic, flows may have either positive or negative Bernoulli function depending on the flow viscosity. Flows with low viscosities (alpha<0.1 in the alpha-viscosity model) have a negative Bernoulli function. Without exception, all 2-D and 1-D numerical models of low viscosity flows constructed to date experience no significant outflows. At high viscosities the presence of outflows depends on the assumed viscosity, the equation of state and on the outer boundary condition. The positive sign of the Bernoulli function invoked in this context is irrelevant to the presence of outflows. As an illustration, we recall 2-D numerical models with moderate viscosity that have positive values of the Bernoulli function and experience no outflows. ADAFs, therefore, do not differ from this point of view from thin Keplerian discs: they may have, but they do not have to have strong winds.

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arXiv1999

Hard X-ray emitting black hole fed by accretion of low angular momentum matter

Observed spectra of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and luminous X-ray binaries in our Galaxy suggest that both hot (~10^9 K) and cold (~10^6 K) plasma components exist close to the central accreting black hole. Hard X-ray component of the spectra is usually explained by Compton upscattering of optical/UV photons from optically thick cold plasma by hot electrons. Observations also indicate that some of these objects are quite efficient in converting gravitational energy of accretion matter into radiation. Existing theoretical models have difficulties in explaining the two plasma components and high intensity of hard X-rays. Most of the models assume that the hot component emerges from the cold one due to some kind of instability, but no one offers a satisfactory physical explanation for this. Here we propose a solution to these difficulties that reverses what was imagined previously: in our model the hot component forms first and afterward it cools down to form the cold component. In our model, accretion flow has initially a small angular momentum, and thus it has a quasi-spherical geometry at large radii. Close to the black hole, the accreting matter is heated up in shocks that form due to the action of the centrifugal force. The hot post-shock matter is very efficiently cooled down by Comptonization of low energy photons and condensates into a thin and cold accretion disk. The thin disk emits the low energy photons which cool the hot component.

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arXiv1996

On the morphology of accretion flows with small non-zero specific angular momentum

The morphology of adiabatic accretion flows with small non-zero specific angular momentum has been investigated in the axisymmetric and nonviscous limit. For an initial state characterized by a Bondi flow with the specific angular momentum distributed with respect to polar angle, a travelling shock wave forms which propagates more rapidly in the equatorial plane than in the plane perpendicular to it resulting in the formation of a hot torus. In cases where the incoming flow is restricted to lie near the equatorial plane, a strong wind forms directed away from this plane with the tendency for the formation of a nonsteady shock structure. As the height of the incoming flow is increased it is found that the resultant wind weakens. The parameter regime which delineates accretion flows characterized by a travelling shock and a nearly standing shock structure is presented.

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arXiv1996

Advection-dominated accretion: global transonic solutions

We obtained global transonic solutions representing optically thin advection-dominated accretion flow by solving the full set of differential equations describing such systems. We found that far from the sonic point self-similar solutions are an excellent approximation of the global flow structure if the accretion rate is well below the maximum value above which no optically thin solutions exist.

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arXiv1996

Special relativity and the pseudo-Newtonian potential

A simple re-scaling of velocities calculated from the Paczy{ń}ski \& Wiita (1980) pseudo-Newtonian potential makes them consistent with special relativity and greatly improves the agreement with the exact relativistic calculations. The improvement is relevant in calculations of the Doppler effect, spectra and radiation transfer which all involve effects of special relativity.

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arXiv1995

Thermal Instability of Advection-Dominated Disks against Local Perturbations

Thermal instability is examined for advection-dominated one-temperature accretion disks. We consider axisymmetric perturbations with short wavelength in the radial direction. The viscosity is assumed to be sufficiently small for the vertical hydrostatic balance to hold in perturbed states. The type of viscosity is given either by the $α$-viscosity or by a diffusion-type stress tensor. Optically thick disks are found to be in general more unstable than optically thin ones. When the thermal diffusion is present, the optically thin disks become stable, but the optically thick disks are still unstable. The instability of the advection-dominated disks is different from that of the geometrically thin disks without advection. In the case of no advection, the thermal mode behaves under no appreciable surface density change. In the case of advection-dominated disks, however, the thermal mode occurs with no appreciable pressure change (compared with the density change), when local perturbations are considered. The variations of angular momentum and of surface density associated with the perturbations lead to a thermal instability. The astrophysical implications of this instability are briefly discussed.

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arXiv1995

Accretion discs around black holes: two dimensional, advection cooled flows

Two-dimensional accretion flows near black holes have been investigated by time-dependent hydrodynamical calculations. We assume that the flow is axisymmetric and that radiative losses of internal energy are negligible, so that the disc is geometrically thick and hot. Accretion occurs due to the overflow of the effective potential barrier near the black hole, similar to the case of the Roche lobe overflowing star in a binary system. We make no pre-assumptions on the properties of the flow, instead our models evolve self-consistently from an initially non-accreting state. The viscosity is due to the the small-scale turbulence and it is described by the $α$-viscosity prescription. We confirm earlier suggestions that viscous accretion flows are convectively unstable. We found that the instability produces transient eddies of various length-scales. The eddies contribute to the strength of the viscosity in the flow by redistributing the angular momentum. They also introduce low amplitude oscillatory variations which have a typical frequency about $100\; \msun/M$ Hz for a system of mass $M$. This may be relevant to the high frequency ($\sim 4-10$ Hz) quasi-periodic oscillations observed in the Galactic black hole candidate X-ray sources.

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arXiv1995

The Observational Appearance of Slim Accretion Disks

We reexamine the hypothesis that the optical/UV/soft X-ray continuum of Active Galactic Nuclei is thermal emission from an accretion disk. Previous studies have shown that fitting the spectra with the standard, optically thick and geometrically thin accretion disk models often led to luminosities which contradict the basic assumptions adopted in the standard model. There is no known reason why the accretion rates in AGN should not be larger than the thin disk limit. In fact, more general, slim accretion disk models are self-consistent even for moderately super-Eddington luminosities. We calculate here spectra from a set of thin and slim, optically thick accretion disks. We discuss the differences between the thin and slim disk models, stressing the implications of these differences for the interpretation of the observed properties of AGN. We found that the spectra can be fitted not only by models with a high mass and a low accretion rate (as in the case of thin disk fitting) but also by models with a low mass and a high accretion rate. In the first case fitting the observed spectra in various redshift categories gives black hole masses around 10^9 solar masses for a wide range of redshifts, and for accretion rates ranging from 0.4 to 8 solar masses/year. In the second case the accretion rate is around 10^2 solar masses/year for all AGN and the mass ranges from 3*10^6 to 10^8 solar masses. Unlike the disks with a low accretion rate, the spectra of the high-accretion-rate disks extend into the soft X-rays. A comparison with observations shows that such disks could produce the soft X-ray excesses claimed in some AGNs. We show also that the sequence of our models with fixed mass and different accretion rates can explain the time evolution of the observed spectra in Fairall 9.

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arXiv1995

THE EVOLUTION OF ACCRETION DISKS WITH CORONAE: A MODEL FOR THE LOW-FREQUENCY QUASI-PERIODIC OSCILLATIONS IN X-RAY BINARIES

The global nonlinear time dependent evolution of accretion disk-corona systems in X-ray binary sources has been investigated to provide an understanding of the low frequency ($\sim 0.04$~Hz) quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) observed recently in the Rapid Burster MXB 1730-335 and in some black hole candidates sources (Cyg X--1 and GRO~J0422+32). We consider $α$-viscosity models in which the viscous stress is proportional to the total pressure. In contrast to previous time dependent studies it is assumed that all mass accretion and angular momentum transport take place in an optically thick disk, but that a fraction of the gravitational energy that is released is dissipated in a corona. It is found that the coronal energy dissipation can effectively reduce the amplitudes of the mass flow variations generated from the thermal and viscous instabilities (in comparison to models without a corona) to a state in which the disk exhibits mild oscillatory nonsteady behavior. These oscillations are globally coherent in the unstable regions of the disk. A model for the high and low states of black hole candidate systems is also proposed. It is suggested that the low state, which is characterized by a hard X-ray spectrum, corresponds to a disk configuration in which the inner disk is in an advection dominated hot optically thin state whereas the high state corresponds to a configuration in which the inner disk is in an optically thick state surrounded by a corona. In this model, the mass accretion rate in the system is higher in the low state than in the high state. The hard X-ray spectrum of QPOs observed in the low state can be naturally explained by such a model.

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arXiv1995

Unified Description of Accretion Flows Around Black Holes

We provide a unified description of thermal equilibria of black hole accretion disks, including the newly-discovered advection-dominated solutions. We classify the solutions on the basis of optical depth and importance of advection cooling. We demonstrate that only four physically distinct topological types of equilibria exist. Two of the types correspond to optically thin and optically thick equilibria, while the other two types are distinguished by whether advection is negligible or dominant. A stable Shakura-Sunyaev disk exists only for accretion rates $\dot M$ below a certain maximum. However, there is a critical viscosity parameter $α_{\rm crit}$, which is a function of radius, such that for $α>α_{\rm crit}$ advection-dominated solutions exist for all $\dot M$. Even when $α< α_{\rm crit}$, the advection-dominated solutions are available for a wide range of $\dot M$ except for a gap around the Eddington rate. We therefore suggest that advection-dominated flows may be more common than standard thin disks in black hole systems. For certain ranges of radii and $\dot M$, no stable steady state solution is possible. In these cases, we suggest that limit cycle behavior may occur, leading to variability.

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arXiv1994

Thermal Equilibria of Accretion Disks

We show that most of hot, optically thin accretion disk models which ignore advective cooling are not self-consistent. We have found new types of optically thin disk solutions where cooling is dominated by radial advection of heat. These new solutions are thermally and viscously stable.

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