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Yang H, Yuan F, Li H, Mizuno Y, Guo F, Lu R, Ho LC, Lin X, Zdziarski AA, Wang J. Modeling the inner part of the jet in M87: Confronting jet morphology with theory. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2024; 10:eadn3544. [PMID: 38517970 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adn3544] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2023] [Accepted: 02/20/2024] [Indexed: 03/24/2024]
Abstract
The formation of jets in black hole accretion systems is a long-standing problem. It has been proposed that a jet can be formed by extracting the rotation energy of the black hole ("BZ-jet") or the accretion flow ("disk-jet"). While both models can produce collimated relativistic outflows, neither has successfully explained the observed jet morphology. By using general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations and considering nonthermal electrons accelerated by magnetic reconnection that is likely driven by magnetic eruption in the underlying accretion flow, we obtain images by radiative transfer calculations and compared them to millimeter observations of the jet in M87. We find that the BZ-jet originating from a magnetically arrested disk around a high-spin black hole can well reproduce the jet morphology, including its width and limb-brightening feature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hai Yang
- Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences; 80 Nandan Road, Shanghai 200030, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences; 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, China
- Tsung-Dao Lee Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shengrong Road 520, Shanghai 201210, China
| | - Feng Yuan
- Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences; 80 Nandan Road, Shanghai 200030, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences; 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, China
- Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics and Department of Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China
| | - Hui Li
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA
| | - Yosuke Mizuno
- Tsung-Dao Lee Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shengrong Road 520, Shanghai 201210, China
- School of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200240, China
- Institut für Theoretische Physik, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Max-von-Laue-Str. 1, D-60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Fan Guo
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA
| | - Rusen Lu
- Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences; 80 Nandan Road, Shanghai 200030, China
- Key Laboratory of Radio Astronomy and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, A20 Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, PR China
- Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, D-53121 Bonn, Germany
| | - Luis C Ho
- Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
- Department of Astronomy, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Xi Lin
- Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences; 80 Nandan Road, Shanghai 200030, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences; 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Andrzej A Zdziarski
- Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center, Polish Academy of Sciences, Bartycka 18, PL-00-716 Warszawa, Poland
| | - Jieshuang Wang
- Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Saupfercheckweg 1, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany
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Crinquand B, Cerutti B, Dubus G, Parfrey K, Philippov A. Synthetic Images of Magnetospheric Reconnection-Powered Radiation around Supermassive Black Holes. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2022; 129:205101. [PMID: 36462024 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.129.205101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2022] [Revised: 08/15/2022] [Accepted: 09/20/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Accreting supermassive black holes can now be observed at the event-horizon scale at millimeter wavelengths. Current predictions for the image rely on hypotheses (fluid modeling, thermal electrons) which might not always hold in the vicinity of the black hole, so that a full kinetic treatment is in order. In this Letter, we describe the first 3D global general-relativistic particle-in-cell simulation of a black-hole magnetosphere. The system displays a persistent equatorial current sheet. Synthetic radio images are computed by ray-tracing synchrotron emission from nonthermal particles accelerated in this current sheet by magnetic reconnection. We identify several time-dependent features of the image at moderate viewing angles: a variable radius of the ring, and hot spots moving along it. In this regime, our model predicts that most of the flux of the image lies inside the critical curve. These results could help promote understanding of future observations of black-hole magnetospheres at improved temporal and spatial resolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin Crinquand
- Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IPAG, 38000 Grenoble, France
- Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Peyton Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA
| | - Benoît Cerutti
- Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IPAG, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Guillaume Dubus
- Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IPAG, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Kyle Parfrey
- School of Mathematics, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland
| | - Alexander Philippov
- Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute, 162 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010, USA
- Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
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Abstract
The generation of relativistic jets in active sources such as blazars is a complex problem with many aspects, most of them still not fully understood. Relativistic jets are likely produced by the accretion of matter and magnetic fields onto spinning black holes. Ergospheric dragging effects launch a Poynting-dominated outflow in the polar directions of these systems. Observations with very high resolution of the jet in the nearby radio galaxy M87 and evidence of extremely fast variability in the non-thermal radiation of several other objects indicate that charged particles produce synchrotron emission and gamma rays very close to the base of the jet. How these particles are injected into the magnetically shielded outflow is a mystery. Here we explore the effects of various processes in the hot accretion inflow close to the black hole that might result in the copious production of neutral particles which, through annihilation and decay in the jet’s funnel, might load the outflow with mass and charged particles on scales of a few Schwarzschild radii.
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Physics of Pair Producing Gaps in Black Hole Magnetospheres. II. General Relativity. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2020. [DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ab8c46] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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Crinquand B, Cerutti B, Philippov A, Parfrey K, Dubus G. Multidimensional Simulations of Ergospheric Pair Discharges around Black Holes. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2020; 124:145101. [PMID: 32338985 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.124.145101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2020] [Accepted: 03/05/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Black holes are known to launch powerful relativistic jets and emit highly variable gamma radiation. How these jets are loaded with plasma remains poorly understood. Spark gaps are thought to drive particle acceleration and pair creation in the black-hole magnetosphere. In this Letter, we perform 2D axisymmetric general-relativistic particle-in-cell simulations of a monopole black-hole magnetosphere with a realistic treatment of inverse Compton scattering and pair production. We find that the magnetosphere can self-consistently fill itself with plasma and activate the Blandford-Znajek mechanism. A highly time-dependent spark gap opens near the inner light surface, which injects pair plasma into the magnetosphere. These results may account for the high-energy activity observed in active galactic nuclei and explain the origin of plasma at the base of the jet.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Benoît Cerutti
- Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IPAG, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Alexander Philippov
- Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute, 162 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010, USA
| | - Kyle Parfrey
- Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Peyton Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA
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Inverse Compton Cascades in Pair-producing Gaps: Effects of Triplet Pair Production. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2019. [DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ab3856] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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Parfrey K, Philippov A, Cerutti B. First-Principles Plasma Simulations of Black-Hole Jet Launching. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2019; 122:035101. [PMID: 30735416 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.122.035101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Black holes drive powerful plasma jets to relativistic velocities. This plasma should be collisionless, and self-consistently supplied by pair creation near the horizon. We present general-relativistic collisionless plasma simulations of Kerr-black-hole magnetospheres which begin from vacuum, inject e^{±} pairs based on local unscreened electric fields, and reach steady states with electromagnetically powered Blandford-Znajek jets and persistent current sheets. Particles with negative energy at infinity are a general feature, and can contribute significantly to black-hole rotational-energy extraction in a variant of the Penrose process. The generated plasma distribution depends on the pair-creation environment, and we describe two distinct realizations of the force-free electrodynamic solution. This sensitivity suggests that plasma kinetics will be useful in interpreting future horizon-resolving submillimeter and infrared observations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kyle Parfrey
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
- Department of Astronomy and Theoretical Astrophysics Center, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Mail Code 661, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
| | - Alexander Philippov
- Department of Astronomy and Theoretical Astrophysics Center, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
- Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute, 162 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010, USA
| | - Benoît Cerutti
- Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IPAG, 38000 Grenoble, France
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Abstract
Numerical simulations have been playing a crucial role in the understanding of jets from active galactic nuclei (AGN) since the advent of the first theoretical models for the inflation of giant double radio galaxies by continuous injection in the late 1970s. In the almost four decades of numerical jet research, the complexity and physical detail of simulations, based mainly on a hydrodynamical/magneto-hydrodynamical description of the jet plasma, have been increasing with the pace of the advance in theoretical models, computational tools and numerical methods. The present review summarizes the status of the numerical simulations of jets from AGNs, from the formation region in the neighborhood of the supermassive central black hole up to the impact point well beyond the galactic scales. Special attention is paid to discuss the achievements of present simulations in interpreting the phenomenology of jets as well as their current limitations and challenges.
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Abstract
Radio Galaxies have by now emerged as a new γ-ray emitting source class on the extragalactic sky. Given their remarkable observed characteristics, such as unusual gamma-ray spectra or ultrafast VHE variability, they represent unique examples to probe the nature and physics of active galactic nuclei (AGN) in general. This review provides a compact summary of their observed characteristics at very high γ-ray energies (VHE; greater than 100 GeV) along with a discussion of their possible physics implications. A particular focus is given to a concise overview of fundamental concepts concerning the origin of variable VHE emission, including recent developments in black hole gap physics.
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Lacroix T, Karami M, Broderick AE, Silk J, Bœhm C. Unique probe of dark matter in the core of M87 with the Event Horizon Telescope. Int J Clin Exp Med 2017. [DOI: 10.1103/physrevd.96.063008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
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Lepton Acceleration in the Vicinity of the Event Horizon: Very High Energy Emissions from Supermassive Black Holes. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2017. [DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/aa7895] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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Searching for High-energy, Horizon-scale Emissions from Galactic Black Hole Transients during Quiescence. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2017. [DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/aa7e7f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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LEPTON ACCELERATION IN THE VICINITY OF THE EVENT HORIZON: HIGH-ENERGY AND VERY-HIGH-ENERGY EMISSIONS FROM ROTATING BLACK HOLES WITH VARIOUS MASSES. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2016. [DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/833/2/142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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