Rita Megale | Searcharxiv

arXiv2026

The Role of Inhomogeneities in the Turbulent Accretion of Black Holes

Observations of supermassive black holes by the Event Horizon Telescope reveal significant inhomogeneities, most likely related to density and magnetic field perturbations. To model these features, we conduct high-resolution 2D general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamics (GRMHD) simulations of a Fishbone-Moncrief torus around a Kerr black hole using the Black Hole Accretion Code $\texttt{BHAC}$. We compare unperturbed accretion with a case featuring plasma density bubbles with pressure balanced magnetic islands of different amplitudes. Power spectrum analysis of accretion time series, performed via the Blackman-Tukey method, shows that the perturbed case exhibits (1) steeper spectral indices compared to the unperturbed case, deviating from the characteristic $1/\omega$ noise spectrum, and (2) increased correlation times, providing evidence for absorption of macro-structures at the event horizon. Spatial auto-correlation analysis of near-horizon turbulence confirms larger energy-containing coherent structures in the perturbed case altering the accretion rate. These results provide new insights for interpreting observations of supermassive black hole environments, where near-horizon turbulence may play a key role in the accretion process.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2025

Measuring the properties of homogeneous turbulence in curved spacetimes

Turbulence in curved spacetimes in general, and in the vicinity of black holes (BHs) in particular, represents a poorly understood phenomenon that is often analysed employing techniques developed for flat spacetimes. We here propose a novel approach to study turbulence in strong gravitational fields that is based on the computation of structure functions on generic manifolds and is thus applicable to arbitrary curved spacetimes. In particular, we introduce, for the first time, a formalism to compute the characteristic properties of turbulence, such as the second-order structure function or the power spectral density, in terms of proper lengths and volumes and not in terms of coordinate lengths and volumes, as customarily done. By applying the new approach to the turbulent rest-mass density field from simulations of magnetised disc accretion onto a Kerr BH, we inspect in a rigorous way turbulence in regions close to the event horizon, but also in the disc, the wind, and in the jet. We demonstrate that the new approach can capture the typical behavior of an inertial-range cascade and that differences up to $40-80\%$ emerge in the vicinity of the event horizon with respect to the standard flat-spacetime approach. While these differences become smaller at larger distances, our study highlights that special care needs to be paid when analysing turbulence in strongly curved spacetimes.

gr-qc↗