Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2004-03-11
Mon.Not.Roy.Astron.Soc. 351 (2004) 733
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
14 pages, 4 figures - Accepted for publication in MNRAS
Scientific paper
10.1111/j.1365-2966.2004.07822.x
We present evidence for the presence of a transition in the accretion properties of radio-loud sources. For a sample of radio galaxies and radio-loud quasars, selected based on their extended radio properties, the accretion rate is estimated from the black hole mass and nuclear luminosity. The inferred distribution is bimodal, with paucity of sources at accretion rates, in Eddington units, of order ~ 10^{-2} - assuming a radiative efficiency of 10 per cent - and possibly spanning one-two orders of magnitude. Selection biases are unlikely to be responsible for such behavior; we discuss possible physical explanations, including a fast transition to low accretion rates, a change in the accretion mode/actual accretion rate/radiative efficiency, the lack of stable disc solutions at intermediate accretion rates or the inefficiency of the jet formation processes in geometrically thin flows. This transition might be analogous to spectral states (and jet) transitions in black hole binary systems.
Celotti Annalisa
Ferrarese Laura
Marchesini Danilo
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