On the dynamics of the torus around the kicked black hole

There is a special interest to understand the dynamical properties of the accretion disk created around the newly formed black hole due to the supermassive black hole binaries which merge inside the gaseous disk. The newly formed black hole would have a kick velocity up to thousands of km/s that drives a perturbation on a newly accreted torus around the black hole. Some of the observed supermassive black holes at the center of the Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) move with a certain velocity relative to its broader accretion disk. In this paper, the effects of the kicked black holes onto the infinitesimally thin accreted torus are studied by using the general relativistic hydrodynamical code, focusing on changing the dynamics of the accretion disk during the accretion disk–black hole interaction. We have found that the non-axisymmetric global mode [Formula: see text] inhomogeneity, which causes a spiral-wave-structure, is excited on the torus due to kicked black hole. The higher the perturbation velocity produced by the kicked black hole, the longer the time the torus takes to reach the saturation point. The created spiral density waves which rapidly evolve into the spiral shocks are also observed from the numerical simulations. The spiral shock is responsible for accreting matter toward the black hole. First, the spiral-wave-structure is developed and the accretion through the spiral arms is stopped around the black hole. At the later time of simulation, the formed spiral shocks partly cause the angular momentum loss across the torus.

The nearby spiral density-wave structure of the Galaxy: line-of-sight velocities of the Gaia DR2 OB stars

ABSTRACT Distances and line-of-sight velocities of 964 Gaia Data Release 2 (DR2) OB stars of Xu et al. within 3 kpc from the Sun and 500 pc from the Galactic mid-plane with accuracies of <50 per cent are selected. The data are used to find small systematic departures of velocities from the mean circular motion for the stars in the solar neighborhood due to the spiral compression-type (Lin–Shu-type) waves, or spiral density waves, e.g. those produced by real instabilities of spontaneous gravity disturbances, a central bar or a companion system. A key point of the study is that our results are consistent with the ones extracted from the asymptotic density-wave theory. Revised parameters of density waves in the solar vicinity of the Galaxy are also provided.

Magnetohydrodynamics Simulations of Active Galactic Nucleus Disks and Jets

There is a broad consensus that accretion onto supermassive black holes and consequent jet formation power the observed emission from active galactic nuclei (AGNs). However, there has been less agreement about how jets form in accretion flows, their possible relationship to black hole spin, and how they interact with the surrounding medium. There have also been theoretical concerns about instabilities in standard accretion disk models and lingering discrepancies with observational constraints. Despite seemingly successful applications to X-ray binaries, the standard accretion disk model faces a growing list of observational constraints that challenge its application to AGNs. Theoretical exploration of these questions has become increasingly reliant on numerical simulations owing to the dynamic nature of these flows and the complex interplay between hydrodynamics, magnetic fields, radiation transfer, and curved spacetime. We conclude the following: ▪ The advent of general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) simulations has greatly improved our understanding of jet production and its dependence on black hole spin. ▪ Simulation results show both disks and jets are sensitive to the magnetic flux threading the accretion flow as well as possible misalignment between the angular momentum of the accretion flow and the black hole spin. ▪ Radiation MHD simulations are providing new insights into the stability of luminous accretion flows and highlighting the potential importance of radiation viscosity, UV opacity from atoms, and spiral density waves in AGNs.

The nearby spiral density-wave structure of the Galaxy: line-of-sight velocities of the Gaia DR2 main-sequence A, F, G, and K stars

ABSTRACT Distances and velocities of $\approx \!2400\, 000$ main-sequence A, F, G, and K stars are collected from the second data release of ESA's Gaia astrometric mission. This material is analysed to find evidence of radial and azimuthal systematic non-circular motions of stars in the solar neighbourhood on the assumption that the system is subject to spiral density waves (those produced by a spontaneous disturbance, a central bar, or an external companion), developing in the Galactic disc. Data analysis of line-of-sight velocities of $\approx \!1500\, 000$ stars selected within 2 kpc from the Sun and 500 pc from the Galactic mid-plane with distance accuracies of <10 per cent makes evident that a radial wavelength of the wave pattern is 1.1–1.6 kpc and a phase of the wave at the Sun’s location in the Galaxy is 55°–95°. Respectively, the Sun is situated at the inner edge of the nearest Orion spiral arm segment. Thus, the local Orion arm is a part of a predominant density-wave structure of the system. The spiral structure of the Galaxy has an oscillating nature corresponding to a concept of the Lin–Shu-type moderately growing in amplitude, tightly wound, and rigidly rotating density waves.

A systematic study of spiral density waves in the accretion discs of cataclysmic variables

ABSTRACT Spiral density waves are thought to be excited in the accretion discs of accreting compact objects, including cataclysmic variable stars (CVs). Observational evidence has been obtained for a handful of systems in outburst over the last two decades. We present the results of a systematic study searching for spiral density waves in CVs, and report their detection in two of the sixteen observed systems. While most of the systems observed present asymmetric, non-Keplerian accretion discs during outburst, the presence of ordered structures interpreted as spiral density waves is not as ubiquitous as previously anticipated. From a comparison of systems by their system parameters it appears that inclination of the systems may play a major role, favouring the visibility and/or detection of spiral waves in systems seen at high inclination.

The sequence of spiral arm classes: Observational signatures of persistent spiral density waves in grand-design galaxies

We investigate how the properties of spiral arms relate to other fundamental galaxy properties. To this end, we use previously published measurements of those properties, and our own measurements of arm-interarm luminosity contrasts for a large sample of galaxies, using 3.6μm images from the Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies. Flocculent galaxies are clearly distinguished from other spiral arm classes, especially by their lower stellar mass and surface density. Multi-armed and grand-design galaxies are similar in most of their fundamental parameters, excluding some bar properties and the bulge-to-total luminosity ratio. Based on these results, we discuss dense, classical bulges as a necessary condition for standing spiral wave modes in grand-design galaxies. We further find a strong correlation between bulge-to-total ratio and bar contrast, and a weaker correlation between arm and bar contrasts.

Density waves and the viscous overstability in Saturn’s rings

This paper considers resonantly forced spiral density waves in a dense planetary ring that is close to the threshold for viscous overstability. We solved numerically the hydrodynamical equations for a dense thin disk in the vicinity of an inner Lindblad resonance with a perturbing satellite. Our numerical scheme is one-dimensional so that the spiral shape of a density wave is taken into account through a suitable approximation of the advective terms arising from the fluid orbital motion. This paper is a first attempt to model the co-existence of resonantly forced density waves and short-scale free overstable wavetrains as observed in Saturn’s rings, by conducting large-scale hydrodynamical integrations. These integrations reveal that the two wave types undergo complex interactions, not taken into account in existing models for the damping of density waves. In particular we found that, depending on the relative magnitude of both wave types, the presence of viscous overstability can lead to the damping of an unstable density wave and vice versa. The damping of the short-scale viscous overstability by a density wave was investigated further by employing a simplified model of an axisymmetric ring perturbed by a nearby Lindblad resonance. A linear hydrodynamic stability analysis as well as local N-body simulations of this model system were performed and support the results of our large-scale hydrodynamical integrations.