Simulating ULXs and Blazars as GRMHD Accretion Flows Around a Black Hole

Abstract General relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations have been instrumental in our understanding of high-energy astrophysical phenomena over the past two decades. Their robustness and modularity make them a great tool for understanding the dynamics of various astrophysical objects. In this paper, we have used GRMHD simulations to understand the accretion flows of ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) and blazars. ULXs are enigmatic sources that exhibit very high luminosities (super-Eddington for stellar mass black holes) even in their low-hard state. Numerical steady-state calculations have shown that this behavior can be explained by considering ULXs to be highly magnetized advective accretion sources around stellar-mass black holes. Our simulation confirms that such an accretion flow can indeed produce the high luminosities observed in ULXs. Further to continue toward the supermassive black holes, we have also modeled blazars and have used our simulation results to explain the apparent dichotomy in the two blazar classes: flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) and BL Lacertae (BL Lacs). Our results show that FSRQ and BL Lacs show different spectral characteristics due to a difference in their magnetic field characteristics. The different categories of FSRQs and BL Lacs have also been explained by the interplay between the spin, magnetic field, and accretion rate of the central supermassive black hole.

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Publication Details

Journal
The Astrophysical Journal
Published
2025-03-06
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adb286
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
1.15
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article

Simulating ULXs and Blazars as GRMHD Accretion Flows Around a Black Hole

Mayank Pathak, Banibrata Mukhopadhyay
1 citations
The Astrophysical Journal
Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations
1.15
article

Simulating ULXs and Blazars as GRMHD Accretion Flows Around a Black Hole

Mayank Pathak, Banibrata Mukhopadhyay
article en
1 citations

Abstract

Abstract General relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations have been instrumental in our understanding of high-energy astrophysical phenomena over the past two decades. Their robustness and modularity make them a great tool for understanding the dynamics of various astrophysical objects. In this paper, we have used GRMHD simulations to understand the accretion flows of ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) and blazars. ULXs are enigmatic sources that exhibit very high luminosities (super-Eddington for stellar mass black holes) even in their low-hard state. Numerical steady-state calculations have shown that this behavior can be explained by considering ULXs to be highly magnetized advective accretion sources around stellar-mass black holes. Our simulation confirms that such an accretion flow can indeed produce the high luminosities observed in ULXs. Further to continue toward the supermassive black holes, we have also modeled blazars and have used our simulation results to explain the apparent dichotomy in the two blazar classes: flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) and BL Lacertae (BL Lacs). Our results show that FSRQ and BL Lacs show different spectral characteristics due to a difference in their magnetic field characteristics. The different categories of FSRQs and BL Lacs have also been explained by the interplay between the spin, magnetic field, and accretion rate of the central supermassive black hole.

The Astrophysical JournalVol. 981(2)
Openalex Percentile: Top 21%
Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations
1.15
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