Binary Black-Hole Mergers in Magnetized Disks: Simulations in Full General Relativity

Farris, Brian D.; Gold, Roman; Paschalidis, Vasileios; Etienne, Z. B.; Shapiro, Stuart L.

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.109.221102

Cited by 138 publications

(184 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…This is done in order to avoid failures during the conversion from conserved to primitive variables (see [28] for details). In order to preserve the divergence-free character of the magnetic field, we evolve directly the vector potential using the modified Lorenz gauge [32,33]. This guarantees divergence-free magnetic fields and avoids spurious magnetic field amplifications at the boundary between refinement levels.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

General relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations of binary neutron star mergers with the APR4 equation of state

Endrizzi

Ciolfi

Giacomazzo

et al. 2016

Class. Quantum Grav.

100

112

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Abstract. We present new results of fully general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations of binary neutron star (BNS) mergers performed with the Whisky code. All the models use a piecewise polytropic approximation of the APR4 equation of state (EOS) for cold matter, together with a "hybrid" part to incorporate thermal effects during the evolution. We consider both equal and unequal-mass models, with total masses such that either a supramassive NS or a black hole (BH) is formed after merger. Each model is evolved with and without a magnetic field initially confined to the stellar interior. We present the different gravitational wave (GW) signals as well as a detailed description of the matter dynamics (magnetic field evolution, ejected mass, post-merger remnant/disk properties). Our simulations provide new insights into BNS mergers, the associated GW emission and the possible connection with the engine of short gamma-ray bursts (both in the "standard" and in the "time-reversal" scenarios) and other electromagnetic counterparts.Online supplementary data available from stacks.iop.org/cqg/33/164001/ mmedia

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

General relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations of binary neutron star mergers with the APR4 equation of state

Endrizzi

Ciolfi

Giacomazzo

et al. 2016

Class. Quantum Grav.

100

112

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Initial work focused on matter accreting directly from a circumbinary disk to the BHs during the few binary orbits immediately preceding merger. These investigations were "proof of principle" calculations, designed to show that gas dynamics and full solution of the Einstein Field Equations could be done in tandem (Bode et al 2010;Palenzuela et al 2010;Farris et al 2011;Bode et al 2012;Farris et al 2012;Giacomazzo et al 2012;Gold et al 2014). However, because of their brief duration, the total mass transferred from the circumbinary disk to the central cavity was relatively small and no formation of individual disks around the BHs was observed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relativistic Dynamics and Mass Exchange in Binary Black Hole Mini-disks

Bowen

Campanelli

Krolik

et al. 2017

ApJ

113

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We present the first exploration of gas dynamics in a relativistic binary black hole system in which an accretion disk (a "mini-disk") orbits each black hole. We focus on 2D hydrodynamical studies of comparable-mass, non-spinning systems. Relativistic effects alter the dynamics of gas in this environment in several ways. Because the gravitational potential between the two black holes becomes shallower than in the Newtonian regime, the mini-disks stretch toward the L1 point and the amount of gas passing back and forth between the mini-disks increases sharply with decreasing binary separation. This "sloshing" is quasi-periodically modulated at 2 and 2.75 times the binary orbital frequency, corresponding to timescales of hours to days for supermassive binary black holes. In addition, relativistic effects add an m = 1 component to the tidally-driven spiral waves in the disks that are purely m = 2 in Newtonian gravity; this component becomes dominant when the separation is ∼ < 100 gravitational radii. Both the sloshing and the spiral waves have the potential to create distinctive radiation features that may uniquely mark supermassive binary black holes in the relativistic regime.

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“…It was thought that these torques prevented accretion onto the black holes. However, multidimensional numerical simulations (MacFadyen & Milosavljević 2008;Noble et al 2012;Farris et al 2012;D'Orazio et al 2013;Gold et al 2014;Farris et al 2014Farris et al , 2015bBankert et al 2015;Schnittman & Krolik 2015;del Valle & Escala 2015;Young & Clarke 2015;D'Orazio et al 2016;Muñoz & Lai 2016;Miranda et al 2017) have demonstrated that gas streams enter the circumbinary cavity and feed accretion disks around each of the individual black holes. We term these disks "minidisks."…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Minidisks in Binary Black Hole Accretion

Ryan

MacFadyen

2017

ApJ

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Newtonian simulations have demonstrated that accretion onto binary black holes produces accretion disks around each black hole ("minidisks"), fed by gas streams flowing through the circumbinary cavity from the surrounding circumbinary disk. We study the dynamics and radiation of an individual black hole minidisk using 2D hydrodynamical simulations performed with a new general relativistic version of the moving-mesh code Disco. We introduce a comoving energy variable that enables highly accurate integration of these high Mach number flows. Tidally induced spiral shock waves are excited in the disk and propagate through the innermost stable circular orbit, providing a Reynolds stress that causes efficient accretion by purely hydrodynamic means and producing a radiative signature brighter in hard X-rays than the Novikov-Thorne model. Disk cooling is provided by a local blackbody prescription that allows the disk to evolve self-consistently to a temperature profile where hydrodynamic heating is balanced by radiative cooling. We find that the spiral shock structure is in agreement with the relativistic dispersion relation for tightly wound linear waves. We measure the shock-induced dissipation and find outward angular momentum transport corresponding to an effective alpha parameter of order 0.01. We perform ray-tracing image calculations from the simulations to produce theoretical minidisk spectra and viewing-angle-dependent images for comparison with observations.

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Binary Black-Hole Mergers in Magnetized Disks: Simulations in Full General Relativity

Cited by 138 publications

References 45 publications

General relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations of binary neutron star mergers with the APR4 equation of state

General relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations of binary neutron star mergers with the APR4 equation of state

Relativistic Dynamics and Mass Exchange in Binary Black Hole Mini-disks

Minidisks in Binary Black Hole Accretion

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