Influence of ion outflow in coupled geospace simulations: 1. Physics-based ion outflow model development and sensitivity study: PHYSICS-BASED ION OUTFLOW
Authors:
;  ;  ;  ;
Publication Date:
NSF-PAR ID:
10032468
Journal Name:
Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
Volume:
121
Issue:
10
Page Range or eLocation-ID:
9671 to 9687
ISSN:
2169-9380
Publisher:
Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
1. ABSTRACT Feedback from accreting supermassive black holes (BHs), active galactic nuclei (AGNs), is now a cornerstone of galaxy formation models. In this work, we present radiation-hydrodynamic simulations of radiative AGN feedback using the novel arepo-rt code. A central BH emits radiation at a constant luminosity and drives an outflow via radiation pressure on dust grains. Utilizing an isolated Navarro–Frenk–White (NFW) halo we validate our set-up in the single- and multiscattering regimes, with the simulated shock front propagation in excellent agreement with the expected analytic result. For a spherically symmetric NFW halo, an examination of the simulated outflow properties with radiation collimation demonstrates a decreasing mass outflow rate and momentum flux, but increasing kinetic power and outflow velocity with decreasing opening angle. We then explore the impact of a central disc galaxy and the assumed dust model on the outflow properties. The contraction of the halo during the galaxy’s formation and modelling the production of dust grains result in a factor 100 increase in the halo’s optical depth. Radiation then couples momentum more efficiently to the gas, driving a stronger shock and producing a mass-loaded $\sim \!10^{3}\, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }\, \mathrm{yr}^{-1}$ outflow with a velocity of $\sim \!2000\, \mathrm{km}\, \mathrm{s}^{-1}$. However, themore »