Magnetohydrodynamics of Neutrino-Cooled Accretion Tori around a Rotating Black Hole in General Relativity

TL;DR

This paper presents axisymmetric magnetohydrodynamic simulations of neutrino-cooled accretion tori around rotating black holes, exploring their potential as central engines for short-hard gamma-ray bursts with detailed microphysics and magnetic effects.

Contribution

First numerical study of magnetohydrodynamics in neutrino-cooled accretion tori around rotating black holes in general relativity, including detailed microphysics and magnetic instabilities.

Findings

Mass accretion rates of 1-10 M_sun/sec.

Neutrino luminosity reaching several 10^{53} ergs/sec.

Shock heating raising temperature to ~10^{11} K.

Abstract

We present our first numerical results of axisymmetric magnetohydrodynamic simulations for neutrino-cooled accretion tori around rotating black holes in general relativity. We consider tori of mass $\sim 0.1$--0.4$M_{\odot}$ around a black hole of mass $M=4M_{\odot}$ and spin $a=0$--$0.9M$; such systems are candidates for the central engines of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) formed after the collapse of massive rotating stellar cores and the merger of a black hole and a neutron star. In this paper, we consider the short-term evolution of a torus for a duration of $\approx 60$ ms, focusing on short-hard GRBs. Simulations were performed with a plausible microphysical equation of state that takes into account neutronization, the nuclear statistical equilibrium of a gas of free nucleons and $\alpha$-particles, black body radiation, and a relativistic Fermi gas (neutrinos, electrons, and positrons). Neutrino-emission processes, such as $e^{\pm}$ capture onto free nucleons, $e^{\pm}$ pair annihilation, plasmon decay, and nucleon-nucleon bremsstrahlung are taken into account as cooling processes. Magnetic braking and the magnetorotational instability in the accretion tori play a role in angular momentum redistribution, which causes turbulent motion, resultant shock heating, and mass accretion onto the black hole. The mass accretion rate is found to be $\dot M_* \sim 1$--$10 M_{\odot}$/s, and the shock heating increases the temperature to $\sim 10^{11}$ K. This results in a maximum neutrino emission rate of $L_{\nu}=$ several $\times 10^{53}$ ergs/s and a conversion efficiency $L_{\nu}/\dot M_* c^2$ on the order of a few percent for tori with mass $M_{\rm t} \approx 0.1$--0.4$M_{\odot}$ and for moderately high black hole spins.