Quasars vs. Microquasars: Scaling and Particle Acceleration

TL;DR

This paper compares quasars and microquasars, showing that quasars are significantly more efficient at accelerating energetic electrons, likely due to differences in accretion disc scaling with black hole mass.

Contribution

It introduces a scaling explanation for the efficiency difference in particle acceleration between quasars and microquasars based on black hole mass.

Findings

Quasars have radio luminosity 1-30% of their bolometric luminosity.

Microquasars have radio luminosity less than 10^{-5} of their bolometric luminosity.

Efficiency differences are linked to accretion disc parameter scaling.

Abstract

Quasars and microquasars both contain accreting black holes and power nonthermal radio sources but differ in more than their scales: Quasars are proportionally much more efficient accelerators of energetic electrons. The radio luminosity of the double radio sources associated with quasars, reflecting the long-time average of the particle acceleration power, is often 1-30% of the quasar's bolometric luminosity; in microquasars the fraction is $\lesssim 10^{-5}$. This may be explained by the scaling of accretion disc parameters with the black hole mass.