Self-gravitating axially symmetric disks in general-relativistic rotation

TL;DR

This paper numerically models self-gravitating, axially symmetric disks around black holes in general relativity, deriving a new rotation law applicable to various astrophysical scenarios.

Contribution

It introduces a novel general-relativistic Keplerian rotation law for disks around spinning black holes and enhances existing numerical methods.

Findings

Derived a new rotation law for spinning black hole disks.

Numerical integration of Einstein equations for self-gravitating disks.

Applicable to astrophysical objects like active galactic nuclei and neutron star mergers.

Abstract

We integrate numerically axially symmetric stationary Einstein equations describing self-gravitating disks around spinless black holes. The numerical scheme is based on a method developed by Shibata, but contains important new ingredients. We derive a new general-relativistic Keplerian rotation law for self-gravitating disks around spinning black holes. Former results concerning rotation around spin-less black holes emerge in the limit of a vanishing spin parameter. These rotation curves might be used for the description of rotating stars, after appropriate modification around the symmetry axis. They can be applied to the description of compact torus--black hole configurations, including active galactic nuclei or products of coalescences of two neutron stars.