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Register a new userGlobal simulations of magnetorotational turbulence III: influence of field configuration and mass injection
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E. R. Parkin
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The stresses produced by magnetorotational turbulence can provide effective angular momentum transport in accretion disks. However, questions remain about the ability of simulated disks to reproduce observationally inferred stress-to-gas-pressure ratios. In this paper we present a set of high resolution global magnetohydrodynamic disk simulations which are initialised with different field configurations: purely toroidal, vertical field lines, and nested poloidal loops. A mass source term is included which allows the total disk mass to equilibrate in simulations with long run times, and also enables the impact of rapid mass injection to be explored. Notably different levels of angular momentum transport are observed during the early-time transient disk evolution. However, given sufficient time to relax, the different models evolve to a statistically similar quasi-steady state with a stress-to-gas-pressure ratio, $alpha sim 0.032-0.036$. The indication from our results is that {it steady, isolated} disks may be unable to maintain a large-scale magnetic field or produce values for the stress-to-gas-pressure ratio implied by some observations. Supplementary simulations exploring the influence of trapping magnetic field, injecting vertical field, and rapidly injecting additional mass into the disk show that large stresses ($alpha sim 0.1-0.25$) can be induced by these mechanisms. The simulations highlight the common late-time evolution and characteristics of turbulent disks for which the magnetic field is allowed to evolve freely. If the boundaries of the disk, the rate of injection of magnetic field, or the rate of mass replenishment are modified to mimic astrophysical disks, markedly different disk evolution occurs.
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Magnetorotational turbulence draws its energy from gravity and ultimately releases it via dissipation. However, the quantitative details of this energy flow have not been assessed for global disk models. In this work we examine the energetics of a well-resolved, three-dimensional, global magnetohydrodynamic accretion disk simulation by evaluating statistically-averaged mean-field equations for magnetic, kinetic, and internal energy using simulation data. The results reveal that turbulent magnetic (kinetic) energy is primarily injected by the correlation between Maxwell (Reynolds) stresses and shear in the (almost Keplerian) mean flow, and removed by dissipation. This finding differs from previous work using local (shearing-box) models, which indicated that turbulent kinetic energy was primarily sourced from the magnetic energy reservoir. Lorentz forces provide the bridge between the magnetic and kinetic energy reservoirs, converting ~ 1/5 of the total turbulent magnetic power input into turbulent kinetic energy. The turbulent energies (both magnetic and kinetic) are mainly driven by terms associated with the turbulent fields, with only a minor influence from mean magnetic fields. The interaction between mean and turbulent fields is most evident in the induction equation, with the mean radial magnetic field being strongly influenced by the turbulent electromotive force (EMF). During the quasi-steady turbulent state roughly 2/3 of the Poynting flux travels into the corona, with the remainder transporting magnetic energy in the radial direction. In contrast to previous studies, the stress-related part of the Poynting flux is found to dominate, which may have important implications for reflection models of Seyfert galaxy coronae that typically invoke a picture of buoyant rising of magnetic flux tubes via advection.
Magnetorotational turbulence provides a viable mechanism for angular momentum transport in accretion disks. We present global, three dimensional (3D), MHD accretion disk simulations that investigate the dependence of the turbulent stresses on resolution. Convergence in the time-and-volume-averaged stress-to-gas-pressure ratio, at a value of $sim0.04$, is found for a model with radial, vertical, and azimuthal resolution of 12-51, 27, and 12.5 cells per scale-height (the simulation mesh is such that cells per scale-height varies in the radial direction). A control volume analysis is performed on the main body of the disk (|z|<2H) to examine the production and removal of magnetic energy. Maxwell stresses in combination with the mean disk rotation are mainly responsible for magnetic energy production, whereas turbulent dissipation (facilitated by numerical resistivity) predominantly removes magnetic energy from the disk. Re-casting the magnetic energy equation in terms of the power injected by Maxwell stresses on the boundaries of, and by Lorentz forces within, the control volume highlights the importance of the boundary conditions (of the control volume). The different convergence properties of shearing-box and global accretion disk simulations can be readily understood on the basis of choice of boundary conditions and the magnetic field configuration. Periodic boundary conditions restrict the establishment of large-scale gradients in the magnetic field, limiting the power that can be delivered to the disk by Lorentz forces and by stresses at the surfaces. The factor of three lower resolution required for convergence in turbulent stresses for our global disk models compared to stratified shearing-boxes is explained by this finding. (Abridged)
The phenomenological Disc Instability Model has been successful in reproducing the observed light curves of dwarf nova outbursts by invoking an enhanced Shakura-Sunyaev $alpha$ parameter $sim0.1-0.2$ in outburst compared to a low value $sim0.01$ in quiescence. Recent thermodynamically consistent simulations of magnetorotational (MRI) turbulence with appropriate opacities and equation of state for dwarf nova accretion discs have found that thermal convection enhances $alpha$ in discs in outburst, but only near the hydrogen ionization transition. At higher temperatures, convection no longer exists and $alpha$ returns to the low value comparable to that in quiescence. In order to check whether this enhancement near the hydrogen ionization transition is sufficient to reproduce observed light curves, we incorporate this MRI-based variation in $alpha$ into the Disc Instability Model, as well as simulation-based models of turbulent dissipation and convective transport. These MRI-based models can successfully reproduce observed outburst and quiescence durations, as well as outburst amplitudes, albeit with different parameters from the standard Disc Instability Models. The MRI-based model lightcurves exhibit reflares in the decay from outburst, which are not generally observed in dwarf novae. However, we highlight the problematic aspects of the quiescence physics in the Disc Instability Model and MRI simulations that are responsible for this behavior.
We present results from the first 3D kinetic numerical simulation of magnetorotational turbulence and dynamo, using the local shearing-box model of a collisionless accretion disc. The kinetic magnetorotational instability grows from a subthermal magnetic field having zero net flux over the computational domain to generate self-sustained turbulence and outward angular-momentum transport. Significant Maxwell and Reynolds stresses are accompanied by comparable viscous stresses produced by field-aligned ion pressure anisotropy, which is regulated primarily by the mirror and ion-cyclotron instabilities through particle trapping and pitch-angle scattering. The latter endow the plasma with an effective viscosity that is biased with respect to the magnetic-field direction and spatio-temporally variable. Energy spectra suggest an Alfven-wave cascade at large scales and a kinetic-Alfven-wave cascade at small scales, with strong small-scale density fluctuations and weak non-axisymmetric density waves. Ions undergo non-thermal particle acceleration, their distribution accurately described by a kappa distribution. These results have implications for the properties of low-collisionality accretion flows, such as that near the black hole at the Galactic center.
Hot accretion flows contain collisionless plasmas that are believed to be capable of accelerating particles to very high energies, as a result of turbulence generated by the magnetorotational instability (MRI). We conduct unstratified shearing-box simulations of the MRI turbulence in ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD), and inject energetic (relativistic) test particles in simulation snapshots to conduct a detailed investigation on particle diffusion and stochastic acceleration. We consider different amount of net vertical magnetic flux to achieve different disk magnetizations levels at saturated states, with sufficiently high resolution to resolve the gyro-radii ($R_g$) of most particles. Particles with large $R_g$ ($gtrsim0.03$ disk scale height $H$) show spatial diffusion coefficients of $sim30$ and $sim5$ times Bohm values in the azimuthal and poloidal directions, respectively. We further measure particle momentum diffusion coefficient $D(p)$ by applying the Fokker-Planck equation to particle momentum evolution. For these particles, contribution from turbulent fluctuations scales as $D(p)propto p$, and shear acceleration takes over when $R_ggtrsim0.1H$, characterized by $D(p)propto p^3$. For particles with smaller $R_g$ ($lesssim0.03H$), their spatial diffusion coefficients roughly scale as $sim p^{-1}$, and show evidence of $D(p)propto p^2$ scaling in momentum diffusion but with large uncertainties. We find that multiple effects contribute to stochastic acceleration/deceleration, and the process is also likely affected by intermittency in the MRI turbulence. We also discuss the potential of accelerating PeV cosmic-rays in hot accretion flows around supermassive black holes.
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