magnetic fields and jet formation john f. hawley university of virginia workshop on mri turbulence...

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Magnetic Fields and Jet Formation John F. Hawley University of Virginia Workshop on MRI Turbulence June 18 th 2008

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Page 1: Magnetic Fields and Jet Formation John F. Hawley University of Virginia Workshop on MRI Turbulence June 18 th 2008

Magnetic Fields and Jet Formation

John F. Hawley

University of VirginiaWorkshop on MRI Turbulence

June 18th 2008

Page 2: Magnetic Fields and Jet Formation John F. Hawley University of Virginia Workshop on MRI Turbulence June 18 th 2008

Collaborators :

Kris Beckwith (UVa)

Julian H. Krolik (JHU)

Scott Noble (JHU)

Jake Simon (UVa)

Page 3: Magnetic Fields and Jet Formation John F. Hawley University of Virginia Workshop on MRI Turbulence June 18 th 2008

Jet Formation

• Young stellar objects

• X-ray binaries – accreting NS or BH

• Symbiotic stars – accreting WD

• Supersoft X-ray sources – accreting WD

• AGN – accreting supermassive BH

• Gamma ray burst systems

The Ubiquity of Jets suggests that they are produced under general conditions.

Gravity + Rotation (disk and/or central star) + Magnetic fields

Page 4: Magnetic Fields and Jet Formation John F. Hawley University of Virginia Workshop on MRI Turbulence June 18 th 2008

Jet Theory

• Disk rotation + vertical field: Blandford-Payne type wind/jet

• Black Hole rotation + vertical field: Blandford-Znajek Poynting flux jet

• Past axisymmetric simulations with initial vertical fields have demonstrated efficacy of these mechanisms.

• Under what circumstances will a large-scale poloidal field be present? Is such a field always required for jet formation? Can such a field be generated in the disk by a dynamo process, or is it brought in from outside?

Page 5: Magnetic Fields and Jet Formation John F. Hawley University of Virginia Workshop on MRI Turbulence June 18 th 2008

Simulating Black Hole Accretion Disks

• Black hole accretion process require us to describe the behaviour of matter & magnetic fields (& radiation!) in strong gravity

• Solution of set of equations for GRMHD necessary + inversion method + scheme for preserving divB=0 (constrained transport): see De Villiers et al. (2003), Gammie et al. (2004), Anninos (2005)

Advection:

Momentum:

Internal Energy:

Induction:

Page 6: Magnetic Fields and Jet Formation John F. Hawley University of Virginia Workshop on MRI Turbulence June 18 th 2008

Simulations of accretion into a Kerr hole from an Initial Magnetized Gas Torus

Ensemble of black hole spins: a/M = 0, 0.5, 0.9, -0.9, 0.93, 0.95, 0.99, 0.998Colors indicate density

Initial gas pressure supported orbiting torus

Initial magnetic field configurations: high dipole and quadrupole loops, toroidal field, vertical field

Page 7: Magnetic Fields and Jet Formation John F. Hawley University of Virginia Workshop on MRI Turbulence June 18 th 2008

Limitations of Current Global Simulations

• Global problem difficult to resolve spatially: turbulent scales to parsecs – Need 3 spatial dimensions

• Wide range of timescales• Limited to simple equation of

state• Dissipation, heating,

thermodynamics too limited• No radiative losses; no global

radiative transfer• System scales with M; density set

by assumed accretion rate

Page 8: Magnetic Fields and Jet Formation John F. Hawley University of Virginia Workshop on MRI Turbulence June 18 th 2008

Side view: log density: a/M=0.9 model

Page 9: Magnetic Fields and Jet Formation John F. Hawley University of Virginia Workshop on MRI Turbulence June 18 th 2008

Keplerian Dipole Disk Simulations• Evolution:

– MRI acts on the initial field, leading to large-amplitude MHD turbulence, which drives the subsequent evolution of the torus

• End of the simulation:

– Quasi-steady-state accretion disk, surrounded by a hot corona

– Low density, hot funnel region filled with (predominantly) radial field lines

– Material in this region is unbound and with boost factor 2-10

– As black hole spin increases, Poynting flux in jet increases due to dragging of radial field lines anchored in black hole event horizon by rotation of space time

Page 10: Magnetic Fields and Jet Formation John F. Hawley University of Virginia Workshop on MRI Turbulence June 18 th 2008

Properties of the Accretion Disk

• Accretion disk angular momentum distribution near Keplerian• After several thousand M of time, models have come into approximate

steady state• Disk is MHD turbulent; internal stress due to the magnetorotational

instability• No abrupt changes at marginally stable orbit; density, velocity smooth &

continuous• Large scale fluctuations and low-m spiral features• No stress edge; evidence for transfer of angular momentum from hole to

disk• Implications for the equilibrium spin of the hole if it has grown from

accretion

Page 11: Magnetic Fields and Jet Formation John F. Hawley University of Virginia Workshop on MRI Turbulence June 18 th 2008

What about the Poynting flux Jet?

Page 12: Magnetic Fields and Jet Formation John F. Hawley University of Virginia Workshop on MRI Turbulence June 18 th 2008
Page 13: Magnetic Fields and Jet Formation John F. Hawley University of Virginia Workshop on MRI Turbulence June 18 th 2008

Origin of the poloidal Funnel Field From an initial dipole

2D Simulation – thick torusColor: Plasma Beta

White field lines

Page 14: Magnetic Fields and Jet Formation John F. Hawley University of Virginia Workshop on MRI Turbulence June 18 th 2008
Page 15: Magnetic Fields and Jet Formation John F. Hawley University of Virginia Workshop on MRI Turbulence June 18 th 2008

Field TopologiesDipole Quadrupole Multiple Loop

Page 16: Magnetic Fields and Jet Formation John F. Hawley University of Virginia Workshop on MRI Turbulence June 18 th 2008

3D Simulations: Jet Properties• Things in the disk seem pretty

much independent of field topology

• Significant unbound Poynting flux dominated outflow (relativistic jet) present in the dipole case

• Diagnostic: radial profiles of shell integrated magnetic field in unbound material

• Things here are very different. Neither the toroidal nor quadrupole fields produce much of a jet

dipole: black solid linequadrupole: blue solid linetoroidal: purple solid line

dashed lines: +/- 1 std. dev.

Magnetic Field Strength

Page 17: Magnetic Fields and Jet Formation John F. Hawley University of Virginia Workshop on MRI Turbulence June 18 th 2008

Toroidal Field

• Generation of MHD turbulence from a toroidal field configuration relies on non-axisymmetric modes, i.e. there’s no such thing as a 2D toroidal field simulation

• No funnel field formation in this case

Page 18: Magnetic Fields and Jet Formation John F. Hawley University of Virginia Workshop on MRI Turbulence June 18 th 2008

Jets: a summary

• Outflow throughout funnel, but only at funnel wall is there significant mass flux

• Outgoing velocity ~0.4 - 0.6 c in funnel wall jet• Poynting flux dominates within funnel• Jet luminosity increases with hole spin – Poynting flux jet is

powered by the black hole• Fraction of jet luminosity in Poynting flux increases with spin• Both pressure and Lorentz forces important for acceleration• Existence of funnel jet depends on establishing radial funnel field

– need to understand when this can happen

Large Scale poloidal field in the funnel can produce a jet

Page 19: Magnetic Fields and Jet Formation John F. Hawley University of Virginia Workshop on MRI Turbulence June 18 th 2008

Field Topology • Properties of magnetized black hole accretion disks seem to be remarkably

insensitive to magnetic field topology: the only dependence is in terms of the magnetic field strength. Appearance of disk should be mostly independent of magnetic field topology

• This is not true for the jet:

– Jet formation requires a consistent sense of vertical field to brought down to the event horizon

– This occurs readily for dipole, less so for quadrupole, not at all for toroidal initial field topologies

– Reconnection events between funnel and disk field determine the variability of the jet

Page 20: Magnetic Fields and Jet Formation John F. Hawley University of Virginia Workshop on MRI Turbulence June 18 th 2008

Origin of Large Scale Field

• Is net vertical flux required, or just large-scale poloidal field?

• Can significant large-scale poloidal field be generated with MRI turbulent disks?

• Can net field be advected inward by MRI turbulent disks? Balance magnetic diffusion/reconnection timescale against accretion timescale

• How does the presence or absence of a jet relate to the overall state of the disk and its magnetic field?

Page 21: Magnetic Fields and Jet Formation John F. Hawley University of Virginia Workshop on MRI Turbulence June 18 th 2008

Conclusions

• Accretion disk structure

• Accretion efficiency

• Intrinsic variability

• Spin of hole

• Jet formation and power

Global simulations are providing information about:

But more work is needed to understand:• Magnetic turbulence with non-ideal plasmas

• Thermodynamics and radiative properties of low density and collisionless plasmas

• Large scale fields and dynamos in accretion systems

• Details of launching mechanisms for Astrophysical Jets