RUI: Tilted Accretion Disks Around Rapidly Rotating Black Holes

最近在对黑洞吸积盘和喷流的理论和观测理解方面取得了很大进展。然而，一个经常被忽视的自由参数是黑洞的自旋轴与流入气体的角动量轴之间的角度，这可能会产生深远的影响。例如，倾斜的厚吸积盘似乎比未倾斜的厚吸积盘具有更高的吸积效率，而且射流的方向似乎受到倾斜角度的影响。该项目将通过先进的数值相对论磁流体力学模拟，充分考虑黑洞时空和磁旋转湍流的影响，研究倾斜黑洞吸积盘及其伴随射流的结构和观测外观，磁旋转湍流被认为是角动量输运的主要来源。结果将进行后处理以创建模拟观测，特别强调识别可能指示倾斜磁盘的特征，例如光曲线中的可变性模式或复杂反射特征。天体物理学中的黑洞仍然有能力吸引公众和年轻学生的想象力。这项工作的成果将被纳入现有的公共推广项目和公益网站，并纳入课堂教学。这项研究本身直接涉及研究生和本科生的研究人员。

AST-0807385FragileMuch progress has been made recently in the theoretical and observational understanding of black-hole accretion disks and jets. However, an often overlooked free parameter is the angle between the spin axis of the black hole and the angular momentum axis of the inflowing gas, which can have a profound impact. For example, tilted thick accretion disks appear to have higher accretion efficiencies than their un-tilted counterparts, and it seems that jet orientations are affected by the tilt angle. This project will study the structure and observational appearance of tilted black-hole accretion disks and their attendant jets, through advanced numerical relativistic magneto-hydrodynamic simulations, fully incorporating the effects of the black hole space-time as well as magneto-rotational turbulence, thought to be a primary source of angular momentum transport. Results will be post-processed to create simulated observations, with particular emphasis on identifying features that might indicate tilted disks, such as variability patterns in the light curve, or complex reflection features.Astrophysical black holes still have the capacity to captivate public audiences and the imagination of young students. The results of this work will be included in existing public outreach programs and public-interest web sites, and incorporated into classroom lessons. The research itself directly involves graduate and undergraduate researchers.