We present two general relativistic radiation magnetohydrodynamics (GRRMHD) simulations of magnetically arrested discs (MADs) around non-spinning (a* = 0) and spinning (a* = 0.9) supermassive black holes (BHs). In each simulation, the mass accretion rate is decreased with time such that we sample Eddington-scaled rates over the range $3 \gtrsim \dot{M}/\dot{M}_{\rm {Edd}}\gtrsim 0.3$. For the non-spinning BH model, the total and radiative efficiencies increase as the accretion rate decreases, varying over the range $\eta _{\rm {tot}}\sim 9\!-\!16{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ and $\eta _{\rm {rad}}\sim 6{-}12{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$, respectively. This model shows very little jet activity. In contrast, the spinning BH model has a strong relativistic jet powered by spin energy extracted from the BH. The jet power declines with accretion rate such that $\eta _{\rm {jet}}\sim 18{-}39{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ while the total and radiative efficiencies are $\eta _{\rm {tot}}\sim 64{-}100{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ and $\eta _{\rm {rad}}\sim 45{-}79{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$, respectively. We confirm that mildly sub-Eddington discs can extract substantial power from a spinning BH, provided they are in the MAD state. The jet profile out to $100\, GM/c^2$ is roughly parabolic with a power-law index of k ≈ 0.43−0.53 during the sub-Eddington evolution. Both models show significant variability in the outgoing radiation which is likely associated with episodes of magnetic flux eruptions. The a* = 0.9 model shows semiregular variations with a period of $\sim 2000\, GM/c^3$ over the final $\sim 10\, 000\, GM/c^3$ of the simulation, which suggests that magnetic flux eruptions may be an important source of quasi-periodic variability. For the simulated accretion rates, the a* = 0 model is spinning up while the a* = 0.9 model is spinning down. Spinup–spindown equilibrium of the BH will likely be achieved at 0.5 < a*, eq < 0.6, assuming continuous accretion in the MAD state.
We present the results of nine simulations of radiatively inefficient magnetically arrested discs (MADs) across different values of the black hole spin parameter a*: −0.9, −0.7, −0.5, −0.3, 0, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, and 0.9. Each simulation was run up to $t \gtrsim 100\, 000\, GM/c^3$ to ensure disc inflow equilibrium out to large radii. We find that the saturated magnetic flux level, and consequently also jet power, of MAD discs depends strongly on the black hole spin, confirming previous results. Prograde discs saturate at a much higher relative magnetic flux and have more powerful jets than their retrograde counterparts. MADs with spinning black holes naturally launch jets with generalized parabolic profiles whose widths vary as a power of distance from the black hole. For distances up to 100GM/c2, the power-law index is k ≈ 0.27–0.42. There is a strong correlation between the disc–jet geometry and the dimensionless magnetic flux, resulting in prograde systems displaying thinner equatorial accretion flows near the black hole and wider jets, compared to retrograde systems. Prograde and retrograde MADs also exhibit different trends in disc variability: accretion rate variability increases with increasing spin for a* > 0 and remains almost constant for a* ≲ 0, while magnetic flux variability shows the opposite trend. Jets in the MAD state remove more angular momentum from black holes than is accreted, effectively spinning down the black hole. If powerful jets from MAD systems in Nature are persistent, this loss of angular momentum will notably reduce the black hole spin over cosmic time.
more » « less- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10363098
- Publisher / Repository:
- Oxford University Press
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Volume:
- 511
- Issue:
- 3
- ISSN:
- 0035-8711
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- p. 3795-3813
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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