The Impact of Plasma Angular Momentum on Magnetically Arrested Flows and Relativistic Jets in Hot Accretion Flows around Black Holes

Abstract In certain scenarios, the accreted angular momentum of plasma onto a black hole could be low; however, how the accretion dynamics depend on the angular momentum content of the plasma is still not fully understood. We present three-dimensional, general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations of low angular momentum accretion flows around rapidly spinning black holes (with spin a = +0.9). The initial condition is a Fishbone–Moncrief (FM) torus threaded by a large amount of poloidal magnetic flux, where the angular velocity is a fraction f of the standard value. For f = 0, the accretion flow becomes magnetically arrested and launches relativistic jets but only for a very short duration. After that, free-falling plasma breaks through the magnetic barrier, loading the jet with mass and destroying the jet–disk structure. Meanwhile, magnetic flux is lost via giant, asymmetrical magnetic bubbles that float away from the black hole. The accretion then exits the magnetically arrested state. For f = 0.1, the dimensionless magnetic flux threading the black hole oscillates quasiperiodically. The jet–disk structure shows concurrent revival and destruction while the gas outflow efficiency at the event horizon changes accordingly. For f ≥ 0.3, we find that the dynamical behavior of the system starts to approach that of a standard accreting FM torus. Our results thus suggest that the accreted angular momentum is an important parameter that governs the maintenance of a magnetically arrested flow and launching of relativistic jets around black holes.