Theoretical astrophysics and plasma physics at RPC

Abstract:

Understanding what determines the strength of MHD turbulence in accretion discs is a question of fundamental theoretical and observational importance. In this work we investigate whether the dependence of the turbulent accretion disc stress (α) on the magnetic Prandtl number (Pm) is sufficiently sensitive to induce thermal-viscous instability using 3D MHD simulations. We first investigate whether the α-Pm dependence, found by many previous authors, has a physical or numerical origin by conducting a suite of local shearing-box simulations. We find that a definite α-Pm dependence persists when simultaneously increasing numerical resolution and decreasing the absolute values of both the viscous and resistive dissipation coefficients. This points to a physical origin of the α-Pm dependence. Using a further set of simulations which include realistic turbulent heating and radiative cooling, and by giving Pm a realistic physical dependence on the plasma temperature and density, we demonstrate that the α-Pm dependence is sufficiently strong to lead to a local instability. We confirm that the instability manifests itself as an unstable limit cycle by mapping the local thermal-equilibrium curve of the disc. This is the first self-consistent MHD simulation demonstrating the Pm instability from first principles. This result is important because a physical Pm instability could lead to the global propagation of heating and cooling fronts and a transition between disc states on timescales compatible with the observed hard/soft state transitions in black hole binaries.

Abstract:

In the classical theory of thin disc accretion discs, the constraints of mass and angular momentum conservation lead to a diffusion-like equation for the turbulent evolution of the surface density. Here, we revisit this problem, extending the Newtonian analysis to the regime of Kerr geometry relevant to black holes. A diffusion-like equation once again emerges, but now with a singularity at the radius at which the effective angular momentum gradient passes through zero. The equation may be analysed using a combination of WKB, local techniques, and matched asymptotic expansions. It is shown that imposing the boundary condition of a vanishing stress tensor (more precisely the radial-azimuthal component thereof) allows smooth stable modes to exist external to the angular momentum singularity, the innermost stable circular orbit, while smoothly vanishing inside this location. The extension of the disc diffusion equation to the domain of general relativity introduces a new tool for numerical and phenomenolgical studies of accretion discs, and may prove to be a useful technique for understanding black hole X-ray transients.

Abstract:

Observations of the Orion A integral shaped filament (ISF) have shown indications of an oscillatory motion of the gas filament. This evidence is based on both thewave-likemorphology of the filament and the kinematics of the gas and stars, where the characteristic velocities of the stars require a dynamical heating mechanism. As proposed by Stutz & Gould, such a heating mechanism (the 'Slingshot') may be the result of an oscillating gas filament in a gas-dominated (as opposed to stellar-mass dominated) system. Here we test this hypothesis with the first stellar-dynamical simulations in which the stars are subjected to the influence of an oscillating cylindrical potential. The accelerating, cylindrical background potential is populated with a narrow distribution of stars. By coupling the potential to N-body dynamics, we are able to measure the influence of the potential on the stellar distribution. The simulations provide evidence that the slingshot mechanism can successfully reproduce several stringent observational constraints. These include the stellar spread (both in projected position and in velocity) around the filament, the symmetry in these distributions, and a bulkmotion of the stars with respect to the filament. Using simple considerations, we show that star-star interactions are incapable of reproducing these spreads on their own when properly accounting for the gas potential. Thus, properly accounting for the gas potential is essential for understanding the dynamical evolution of star-forming filamentary systems in the era of Gaia (GaiaCollaboration 2016).