Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2000-12-21
Astrophys. J. 567 (2002) 463
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
38 pages, including 9 figures
Scientific paper
10.1086/338486
If a Kerr black hole is connected to a disk rotating around it by a magnetic field, the rotational energy of the Kerr black hole provides an energy source for the radiation of the disk in addition to disk accretion. The black hole exerts a torque on the disk, which transfers energy and angular momentum between the black hole and the disk. If the black hole rotates faster than the disk, energy and angular momentum are extracted from the black hole and transfered to the disk. The energy deposited into the disk is eventually radiated away by the disk, which will increase the efficiency of the disk. If the black hole rotates slower than the disk, energy and angular momentum are transfered from the disk to the black hole, which will lower the efficiency of the disk. With suitable boundary conditions, quasi-steady state solutions are obtained for a thin Keplerian disk magnetically coupled to a Kerr black hole. By ``quasi-steady state'' we mean that any macroscopic quantity at a given radius in the disk slowly changes with time: the integrated change within one rotation period of the disk is much smaller than the quantity itself. We find that, the torque produced by the magnetic coupling propagates only outward in the disk, the total radiation flux of the disk is a superposition of the radiation flux produced by the magnetic coupling and that produced by accretion. Most interestingly, a disk magnetically coupled to a rapidly rotating black hole can radiate without accretion. Such a disk has an infinite efficiency. For a specific example that the magnetic field touches the disk at the inner boundary, the radial radiation profile is very different from that of a standard accretion disk: the emissivity index is significantly bigger, most radiation comes from a region which is closer to the center of the disk.
No associations
LandOfFree
Accretion Disk Torqued by a Black Hole 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 Accretion Disk Torqued by a Black Hole, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Accretion Disk Torqued by a Black Hole will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-613665