Abstract. The powerful and highly collimated jets observed in active galactic nuclei and µ-quasars are likely to be connected to the accretion phenomenon via disks. Based on theoretical arguments and quasi-stationary radiative MHD calculations, a model for an accretion-powered jet is presented. It is argued that accretion disks around black holes consist of 1) a cold, Keplerian-rotating and weakly magnetized medium in the outer part, 2) a highly advective and turbulent-free plasma inside r tr = 10−20 Schwarzschild radii, where magnetic fields are predominantly of large scale topology and in excess of thermal equipartition, and 3) an ion-dominated torus in the vicinity of the hole, where magnetic fields undergo a topological change into a monopole like-configuration. The action of magnetic fields interior to r tr is to initiate torsional Alfvén waves that extract angular momentum from the disk-plasma and deposit it into the transition layer between the disk and the overlying corona, where the plasma is dissipative and tenuous. A significant fraction of the shear-generated toroidal magnetic field reconnects in the transition layer, thereby heating the plasma up to the virial-temperature and forming a super-Keplerian rotating, and hence centrifugally accelerated outflow. The strong magnetic field in the transition layer forces the electrons to cool rapidly which, in combination with the fast outwardoriented motion, yields a two-temperature ion-dominated outflow. The toroidal magnetic field in the transition layer is in thermal equipartition with the ions, whereas the poloidal component is in equipartition with the electrons. Such a strong toroidal magnetic field is essential for increasing the jet-disk luminosity in the radio regime. These gravitationally unbound outflows serve as seeds, possibly, for all the powerful electron-proton jets observed in accreting systems containing black holes.
Abstract. Low cooling plasmas associated with large kinetic energies are likely to be the origin of the kpc-extended and well collimated extra-galactic jets. It is proposed that jets are launched from a layer, governed by a highly diffusive, super-Keplerian rotating and thermally dominated by virial-hot and magnetized ion-plasma. The launching layer is located between the accretion disk and the corona surrounding the nucleus. The matter in the layer is causally connected to both the disk and to the central engine. Moreover we find that coronae, in the absence of heating from below, are dynamically unstable to thermal ion-conduction, and that accretion disks become intrinsically advection-dominated. We confirm the capability of this multi-layer model to form jets by carrying out 3D axisymmetric quasi-stationary MHD calculations with high spatial resolution, and taking into account turbulent and magnetic diffusion. The new multi-layer topology accommodates several previously proposed elements for jet-initiation, in particular the ion-torus, the magneto-centrifugal and the truncated disk -advective tori models.
We present a hierarchical approach for enhancing the robustness of numerical solvers for modelling radiative MHD flows in multi-dimensions.This approach is based on clustering the entries of the global Jacobian in a hierarchical manner that enables employing a variety of solution procedures ranging from a purely explicit time-stepping up to fully implicit schemes. A gradual coupling of the radiative MHD equation with the radiative transfer equation in higher dimensions is possible. Using this approach, it is possible to follow the evolution of strongly timedependent flows with low/high accuracies and with efficiency comparable to explicit methods, as well as searching quasi-stationary solutions for highly viscous flows. In particular, it is shown that the hierarchical approach is capable of modelling the formation of jets in active galactic nuclei and reproduce the corresponding spectral energy distribution with a reasonable accuracy.
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