Evolution of Accretion Discs around a Kerr Black Hole using Extended Magnetohydrodynamics

TL;DR

This paper presents advanced simulations of accretion discs around Kerr black holes using extended magnetohydrodynamics, revealing the effects of pressure anisotropy and heat conduction on disc dynamics and jet temperature.

Contribution

It introduces a new covariant extended MHD simulation code that models non-ideal effects like heat conduction and pressure anisotropy in black hole accretion discs.

Findings

Pressure anisotropy saturates due to mirror instability.

Pressure anisotropy drives outward angular momentum transport.

Heat conduction has limited impact on disc evolution.

Abstract

Black holes accreting well below the Eddington rate are believed to have geometrically thick, optically thin, rotationally supported accretion discs in which the Coulomb mean free path is large compared to $GM/c^2$. In such an environment, the disc evolution may differ significantly from ideal magnetohydrodynamic predictions. We present non-ideal global axisymmetric simulations of geometrically thick discs around a rotating black hole. The simulations are carried out using a new code ${\rm\it grim}$, which evolves a covariant extended magnetohydrodynamics model derived by treating non-ideal effects as a perturbation of ideal magnetohydrodynamics. Non-ideal effects are modeled through heat conduction along magnetic field lines, and a difference between the pressure parallel and perpendicular to the field lines. The model relies on an effective collisionality in the disc from wave-particle scattering and velocity-space (mirror and firehose) instabilities. We find that the pressure anisotropy grows to match the magnetic pressure, at which point it saturates due to the mirror instability. The pressure anisotropy produces outward angular momentum transport with a magnitude comparable to that of MHD turbulence in the disc, and a significant increase in the temperature in the wall of the jet. We also find that, at least in our axisymmetric simulations, conduction has a small effect on the disc evolution because (1) the heat flux is constrained to be parallel to the field and the field is close to perpendicular to temperature gradients, and (2) the heat flux is choked by an increase in effective collisionality associated with the mirror instability.