Relativistic Low Angular Momentum Advective Flows onto Black Hole and associated observational signatures

TL;DR

This paper investigates the behavior of low angular momentum accretion flows onto black holes, revealing shock dynamics, oscillations, and their observational signatures, including quasi-periodic oscillations in X-ray emissions.

Contribution

It provides new simulation insights into shock formation, stability, and luminosity oscillations in relativistic accretion flows with low angular momentum.

Findings

Shocks are present for angular momentum ≥ 1.75 within 10-50 Rg.

Shock merger causes luminosity increase in relativistic simulations.

Luminosity oscillates between 0.1-10 Hz for certain angular momentum ranges.

Abstract

We present simulation results examining the presence and behavior of standing shocks in zero-energy low angular momentum advective accretion flows and explore their (in)stabilities properties taking into account various specific angular momentum, $\lambda_0$. Within the range $10-50R_g$ (where $R_g$ denotes the Schwarzschild radius), shocks are discernible for $\lambda_0\geq 1.75$. In the special relativistic hydrodynamic (RHD) simulation when $\lambda_0 = 1.80$, we find the merger of two shocks resulted in a dramatic increase in luminosity. We present the impact of external and internal flow collisions from the funnel region on luminosity. Notably, oscillatory behavior characterizes shocks within $1.70 \leq \lambda_0 \leq 1.80$. Using free-free emission as a proxy for analysis, we shows that the luminosity oscillations between frequencies of $0.1-10$ Hz for $\lambda_0$ range $1.7 \leq \lambda_0 \leq 1.80$. These findings offer insights into quasi-periodic oscillations emissions from certain black hole X-ray binaries, exemplified by GX 339-4. Furthermore, for the supermassive black hole at the Milky Way's center, Sgr A*, oscillation frequencies between $10^{-6}$ and $10^{-5}$ Hz were observed. This frequency range, translating to one cycle every few days, aligns with observational data from the X-ray telescopes such as Chandra, Swift, and XMM-Newton.