Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2007-05-06
Astrophys.Space Sci.311:127-135,2007
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
To appear in the Fifth Stromlo Symposium Proceedings special issue of ApSS
Scientific paper
10.1007/s10509-007-9522-8
We briefly review recent developments in black hole accretion disk theory, emphasizing the vital role played by magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stresses in transporting angular momentum. The apparent universality of accretion-related outflow phenomena is a strong indicator that large-scale MHD torques facilitate vertical transport of angular momentum. This leads to an enhanced overall rate of angular momentum transport and allows accretion of matter to proceed at an interesting rate. Furthermore, we argue that when vertical transport is important, the radial structure of the accretion disk is modified at small radii and this affects the disk emission spectrum. We present a simple model demonstrating how energetic, magnetically-driven outflows modify the emergent disk emission spectrum with respect to that predicted by standard accretion disk theory. A comparison of the predicted spectra against observations of quasar spectral energy distributions suggests that mass accretion rates inferred using the standard disk model may severely underestimate their true values.
Bicknell Geoffrey V.
Kuncic Zdenka
No associations
LandOfFree
Towards a New Standard Model for Black Hole Accretion does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Towards a New Standard Model for Black Hole Accretion, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Towards a New Standard Model for Black Hole Accretion will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-111084