Observational signatures of mass-loading in jets launched by rotating black holes

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dc.contributor.authorO'Riordan, Michael
dc.contributor.authorPe'er, Asaf
dc.contributor.authorMcKinney, Jonathan C.
dc.contributor.funderScience Foundation Irelanden
dc.contributor.funderHigher Education Authorityen
dc.contributor.funderDepartment of Education and Skillsen
dc.contributor.funderSeventh Framework Programmeen
dc.contributor.funderEuropean Commissionen
dc.contributor.funderNational Aeronautics and Space Administrationen
dc.contributor.funderNational Science Foundationen
dc.date.accessioned2018-02-09T10:29:31Z
dc.date.available2018-02-09T10:29:31Z
dc.date.issued2018-01
dc.date.updated2018-02-09T10:09:55Z
dc.description.abstractIt is widely believed that relativistic jets in X-ray binaries (XRBs) and active-galactic nuclei are powered by the rotational energy of black holes. This idea is supported by general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations of accreting black holes, which demonstrate efficient energy extraction via the Blandford–Znajek mechanism. However, due to uncertainties in the physics of mass loading, and the failure of GRMHD numerical schemes in the highly magnetized funnel region, the matter content of the jet remains poorly constrained. We investigate the observational signatures of mass loading in the funnel by performing general-relativistic radiative transfer calculations on a range of 3D GRMHD simulations of accreting black holes. We find significant observational differences between cases in which the funnel is empty and cases where the funnel is filled with plasma, particularly in the optical and X-ray bands. In the context of Sgr A*, current spectral data constrains the jet filling only if the black hole is rapidly rotating with a gsim 0.9. In this case, the limits on the infrared flux disfavor a strong contribution from material in the funnel. We comment on the implications of our models for interpreting future Event Horizon Telescope observations. We also scale our models to stellar-mass black holes, and discuss their applicability to the low-luminosity state in XRBs.en
dc.description.sponsorshipScience Foundation Ireland, Higher Education Authority, Department of Education and Skills (DJEI/DES/SFI/HEA Irish Centre for High-End Computing (ICHEC) for the provision of computational facilities under project ucast008b); Irish Research Council (grant number GOIPG/2013/315); National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Science Foundation (NASA/NSF/TCAN (NNX14AB46G),(NSF/XSEDE/TACC (TGPHY120005), and NASA/Pleiades (SMD-14-5451))en
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden
dc.description.versionPublished Versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.citationO'Riordan, M., Pe'er, A. and McKinney, J. C. (2018) 'Observational Signatures of Mass-loading in Jets Launched by Rotating Black Holes', The Astrophysical Journal, 853(1), 44 (10 pp). doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aaa0c4en
dc.identifier.doi10.3847/1538-4357/aaa0c4
dc.identifier.endpage44-10en
dc.identifier.issn0004-637X
dc.identifier.issued1en
dc.identifier.journaltitleThe Astrophysical Journalen
dc.identifier.startpage44-1en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/5429
dc.identifier.volume853en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherAmerican Astronomical Society; IOP Publishingen
dc.relation.projectinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/FP7::SP3::PEOPLE/618499/EU/Transient-Sky/TRANSIENT-SKYen
dc.relation.urihttp://stacks.iop.org/0004-637X/853/i=1/a=44
dc.rights© 2018. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserveden
dc.subjectAccretionen
dc.subjectAccretion disksen
dc.subjectBlack hole physicsen
dc.subjectGalaxies: jetsen
dc.subjectGalaxy: centeren
dc.subjectRadiative transferen
dc.subjectX-rays: binariesen
dc.titleObservational signatures of mass-loading in jets launched by rotating black holesen
dc.typeArticle (peer-reviewed)en
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