Dark matter halos and transonic accretion flow

TL;DR

This paper explores how dark matter halos influence the behavior and luminosity of hot accretion flows onto supermassive black holes, highlighting potential observational signatures of dense dark matter environments.

Contribution

It models the impact of various dark matter distributions on accretion flow dynamics and luminosity, revealing the significance of dark matter in galactic center observations.

Findings

Dark matter halos increase accretion disk luminosity.

Inner flow regions dominate luminosity contributions.

Massive, compact dark matter halos significantly affect accretion dynamics.

Abstract

The interplay between supermassive black holes (SMBHs) and their surrounding environment is fundamental to understanding galactic evolution. This work investigates the influence of a cold dark matter (DM) halo on the dynamics of relativistic, low angular momentum, inviscid, and advective hot accretion flow onto a galactic SMBH. Modeling the spacetime geometry as a black hole embedded within various DM distributions, including those with a central density spike, we demonstrate that the presence of a DM halo, particularly one that is massive and compact, enhances the luminosity of the accretion disk. The dominant contribution to this luminosity originates from the inner regions of the flow, suggesting that luminosity measurements could serve as a valuable observational probe for the dense DM environments expected near galactic centers.