The Formation and Disruption of Black Hole Jets

273 Pages·2015·8.87 MB·English

by  Ioannis Contopoulos

Astrophysics and Space Science Library 414
Ioannis Contopoulos
Denise Gabuzda
Nikolaos Kylafis Editors
The Formation
and Disruption of
Black Hole Jets
The Formation and Disruption of Black Hole Jets
Astrophysics and Space Science Library
EDITORIAL BOARD
Chairman
W.B.BURTON,NationalRadioAstronomyObservatory,Charlottesville,
Virginia,U.S.A.([email protected]);UniversityofLeiden,TheNetherlands
([email protected])
F.BERTOLA,UniversityofPadua,Italy
C.J.CESARSKY,CommissionforAtomicEnergy,Saclay,France
P.EHRENFREUND,LeidenUniversity,TheNetherlands
O.ENGVOLD,UniversityofOslo,Norway
A.HECK,StrasbourgAstronomicalObservatory,France
E.P.J.VANDENHEUVEL,UniversityofAmsterdam,TheNetherlands
V.M.KASPI,McGillUniversity,Montreal,Canada
J.M.E.KUIJPERS,UniversityofNijmegen,TheNetherlands
H.VANDERLAAN,UniversityofUtrecht,TheNetherlands
P.G.MURDIN,InstituteofAstronomy,Cambridge,UK
B.V.SOMOV,AstronomicalInstitute,MoscowStateUniversity,Russia
R.A.SUNYAEV,SpaceResearchInstitute,Moscow,Russia
Moreinformationaboutthisseriesat
http://www.springer.com/series/5664
Ioannis Contopoulos • Denise Gabuzda (cid:129)
Nikolaos Kylafis
Editors
The Formation and
Disruption of Black Hole Jets
123
Editors
IoannisContopoulos DeniseGabuzda
AcademyofAthens PhysicsDepartment
Athens,Greece UniversityCollegeCork
Cork,Ireland
NikolaosKylafis
DepartmentofPhysics
UniversityofCrete
Heraklion,Greece
ISSN0067-0057 ISSN2214-7985(electronic)
ISBN978-3-319-10355-6 ISBN978-3-319-10356-3(eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-3-319-10356-3
SpringerChamHeidelbergNewYorkDordrechtLondon
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2014954253
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Cover illustration: A 3D rendering of a numerical simulation (by Tchekhovskoy - chapter 2 of this
book)ofamagnetically-arresteddiskaroundablackholewithKerrparameteraD0.99.Dynamically-
importantmagneticfieldsaretwistedbytherotationofaBlackHoleatthecenterofanaccretiondisk.
Theazimuthalmagneticfieldcomponentclearlydominatesthejetstructure.
Printedonacid-freepaper
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Preface
SincethediscoveryofthefirstopticaljetinthegalaxyMessier87(M87)in1918,
andthediscoveryofthefirst‘micro-quasar’intheGalacticsourceGRS1915C105
in1994,ithasbecomeclearthatrelativisticoutflowsareaubiquitousfeatureinboth
stellarblackholeX-raybinariesandactivegalacticnuclei(AGNs).
The properties of the radio jets in Galactic black holes depend on the X-ray
spectralstateandhistoryofthesource.Steady,compactradiojetsareemittedinthe
hardX-raystate; incontrast,thejets becomeeruptiveasthe sourcesmovetoward
thesoftstate,andthendisappearcompletelywhentheyreachthesoftstate.Models
forthispatternhavebeenproposed,andthereisgeneralagreementaboutthenature
oftheaccretiondiskaroundtheblackhole,butacompleteandconsistentphysical
picture of the appearance and disappearance of the radio jets is not yet available.
Ontheotherhand,accretingsupermassiveblackholesshowacleardivisionintoa
minoritythatexhibitradiojets(radio-loud)andamajoritythatdonot(radio-quiet).
Therehavealsobeensomehintsofpossibleconnectionsbetweenthebirthofsuper-
luminalknotsinradio-loudAGNsanddipsoftheirX-rayflux,suggestingasimilar
phenomenologyto that observedin black hole X-raybinaries. However,overallit
remainsunclearwhatdeterminesthepresenceorabsenceofradiojetsinAGNs.
One thing does seem clear, though: much of the physics governing these two
typesofrelativisticoutflowsmustbecommon,butactingonverydifferentspatial
and temporal scales. It is believed that, in both cases, magnetic fields play a
fundamental role in the formation and powering of the jets, but the study of
how they interact with the strong gravitational field of the central black hole and
generatehighlyrelativisticcollimatedoutflowsisaformidableproblemofmodern
astrophysics.
We tried to address all of the above issues during a one-day Special Session
on ‘The Formation and Disruption of Jets in Black-Hole Binaries and AGNs’
that we organized as part of the 2012 European Week of Astronomy and Space
Sciences (Rome, July 6, 2012). Our experience with this Session provided the
motivation for the present volume. Our aim has been to present reviews of the
v
vi Preface
variedphenomenologyregardingthe radio to X-rayspectra of stellar binariesand
thepropertiesofAGNjetsonthewiderangeofscalesthroughwhichtheypropagate,
as well as recent theoretical efforts to understand the physical mechanisms that
contribute to the origin of black hole jets on all scales. We have given particular
emphasis to the role and the origin of the black hole magnetosphere and the
magneticfieldsthatdrive,collimate,andacceleratethejets.
This project has been an exciting opportunity for us to try to put together
a consistent, unified physical picture of the formation and disruption of jets in
accreting black hole systems. New observationaland theoretical results are piling
upeveryday,so the contentsof thisvolumeonlyrepresentourcurrentbestideas.
Timewilltellhowcloseourpresentunderstandingistoreality.
We thank all the contributing authorsfor their efforts, and the Springer Senior
EditorofPhysicsandAstronomyRamonKhannaforhistrustandsupport.
Athens,Greece IoannisContopoulos
Cork,Ireland DeniseGabuzda
Heraklion,Greece NickKylafis
Contents
1 JetsatBirthandDeath .................................................... 1
D.Lynden-Bell
1.1 Introduction........................................................... 1
1.2 MagneticEnergyandthePinchEffect.............................. 6
1.3 Time-DependentForce-FreeMagneticFields ...................... 10
1.3.1 Grad-SafranovEquationSolved:CollimationLost...... 10
1.3.2 CollimationRegained..................................... 13
1.3.3 MinimumEnergySolutionviaanAdaptable
TrialFunction ............................................. 16
1.4 RemarkontheC-KCosmicBattery................................. 21
References.................................................................... 23
2 RelativisticJetsinStellarSystems........................................ 25
ElenaGallo
2.1 ReviewofObservations.............................................. 25
2.1.1 BlackHoleX-RayBinaryOutbursts..................... 25
2.1.2 AccretionModesandRelativistic JetsI:
HardStateSteadyJets .................................... 26
2.1.3 AccretionModesandRelativisticJetsII:
Hard-to-SoftTransition–FlaringJets.................... 27
2.1.4 AccretionModesandRelativisticJetsIII:
SoftStateWinds........................................... 28
2.1.5 AccretionModesandRelativisticJetsIV:
CaveatsandOtherRecentDevelopments................ 29
2.2 TheRadio/X-RayDomainofHardandQuiescent
StateBlackHoleX-RayBinaries.................................... 31
2.2.1 X-Ray/Optical-IRCorrelation............................ 34
vii
viii Contents
2.3 RelationBetweenJetPowerandBlackHoleSpin ................. 35
2.4 MeasuresofJetPower ............................................... 36
2.4.1 Multi-wavelengthSpectralModelingandJetPower.... 39
References.................................................................... 41
3 LaunchingofActiveGalacticNucleiJets................................ 45
AlexanderTchekhovskoy
3.1 Introduction........................................................... 45
3.2 PhysicalDescriptionofHighlyMagnetizedPlasmas .............. 47
3.3 ExtractionofBHRotationalEnergyviaMagneticField........... 48
3.4 BHSpindownPower................................................. 51
3.5 WhenAreJetsLaunchedbyAccretingBlackHoles?.............. 52
3.6 WhatSetsJetPowerofAccretingBlackHoles? ................... 56
3.7 CorrelationofJetPowerandBHSpinforStellar-MassBHs...... 69
3.8 Microquasarsas“QuasarsfortheImpatient”....................... 71
3.9 MADsinRadio-LoudAGN ......................................... 73
3.10 MADsinTidalDisruptionEventsandGamma-RayBursts ....... 75
DiscussionandConclusions................................................. 78
References.................................................................... 80
4 Kiloparsec-ScaleAGNJets................................................ 83
MartinHardcastle
4.1 HistoricalBackground............................................... 83
4.2 PhysicsofEmissionProcesses ...................................... 84
4.2.1 SynchrotronEmission..................................... 84
4.2.2 Inverse-ComptonEmission............................... 88
4.2.3 ThermalBremsstrahlung.................................. 89
4.3 ObservationsofJetsandLobes...................................... 90
4.3.1 Total-IntensityRadioEmission........................... 90
4.3.2 PolarizationintheRadio.................................. 92
4.3.3 Non-thermalEmissionatOtherWavelengths............ 94
4.4 Hosts,EnvironmentsandEnvironmentalInteractions.............. 96
4.5 JetDynamicsandParticleAcceleration............................. 97
4.6 MagneticFieldsandParticleContent............................... 99
4.7 LobeDynamics....................................................... 102
4.8 NumericalModelling ................................................ 104
References.................................................................... 107
5 Parsec-ScaleJetsinActiveGalacticNuclei.............................. 117
DeniseC.Gabuzda
5.1 Introduction........................................................... 117
5.2 RelativisticEffectsInfluencingtheObservations................... 118
5.2.1 AberrationandRelativisticBeaming..................... 118
5.2.2 SuperluminalMotions .................................... 120
5.2.3 MeasuredVariationTimescalesandthe
DopplerFactor ............................................ 121
Contents ix
5.3 TheoryofRadioSynchrotronEmission:Potential
ObservationalManifestations........................................ 121
5.3.1 OpticalDepth.............................................. 122
5.3.2 LinearPolarization........................................ 123
5.3.3 CircularPolarization...................................... 124
5.4 StandardJetTheory:AnObserver’sView.......................... 124
5.4.1 Blandford–KöniglJets:TheNatureofthe
VLBICore................................................. 124
5.4.2 Shocks ..................................................... 126
5.4.3 FaradayRotation.......................................... 126
5.4.4 FaradayDepolarization ................................... 127
5.4.5 FaradayConversion....................................... 128
5.5 WhatisActuallyObserved?......................................... 128
5.5.1 IntensityStructuresandKinematics...................... 128
5.5.2 Magnetic-FieldStructures ................................ 130
5.5.3 CorePolarization.......................................... 132
5.5.4 CoreShiftsandCoreMagneticFields ................... 133
5.5.5 CircularPolarization...................................... 134
5.5.6 Parsec-ScaleFaradayRotationMeasurements........... 136
5.5.7 HelicalJetMagneticFields:BasisforaNew
Paradigm? ................................................. 141
References.................................................................... 144
6 BlackHoleMagnetospheres............................................... 149
BrianPunsly
6.1 Introduction........................................................... 149
6.2 TheFieldLineAngularVelocity .................................... 152
6.2.1 ˝ of Ergospheric Disk Jets in 3-D
F
NumericalSimulations.................................... 152
6.2.2 Comparing˝ in EventHorizonand
F
ErgosphericDiskJets ..................................... 157
6.3 The Manifestation of the Ergospheric Disk
inanAccretionEnvironment........................................ 158
6.3.1 MagneticallyArrestedStreamlines....................... 158
6.3.2 ReviewoftheIdealizedErgopshericDisk
andGHM.................................................. 161
6.3.3 Comparisonof ErgosphericDisk to the
AccretioninKDJ.......................................... 163
6.4 FateofAccretedFlux:Reconnection ............................... 167
6.5 ParticleInjectionandMassFloors .................................. 171
6.5.1 Simulating˝ .(cid:2)/(cid:2)˝ =2WindsfromtheEHM .... 171
F H
6.5.2 ProtonicErgosphericDiskJets........................... 172
6.5.3 DissipativeEHMWinds .................................. 172
6.6 Discussion ............................................................ 174
References.................................................................... 174