Radiative cooling in black hole accretion flows

• Grant number: 17/25710-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: March 01, 2018
• End date: February 29, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Astronomy - Stellar Astrophysics
• Agreement: Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)
• Principal Investigator: Rodrigo Nemmen da Silva
• Grantee: Artur Vemado
• Host Institution: Instituto de Astronomia, Geofísica e Ciências Atmosféricas (IAG). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Black hole binaries (BHBs) undergo state transitions during which their spectral and timing properties change dramatically. These state transitions are ill-understood and are thought to be associated with changes in the mass accretion rate which affect the amount of radiative cooling in the accretion flow. The goal of this project is to investigate the nature of state transitions in BHBs, by performing global, multidimensional hydrodynamical and MHD simulations of radiatively inefficient accretion flows around stellar mass black holes, incorporating the radiative cooling self-consistently in the dynamics through the bremsstrahlung, synchrotron and inverse Compton processes. We will quantify the evolution of the density, temperature and velocity fields of the accretion flow as a function of time, characterize the geometry ($H/R$, truncation radius) and advection factor, comparing these numerical results against the truncated disk model. (AU)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

VEMADO, Artur. Radiative cooling and state transition in stellar mass black holes.. 2020. Master's Dissertation - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto Astronômico e Geofísico (IAG/SBD) São Paulo.