Dual Jet Interaction, Magnetically Arrested Flows, and Flares in Accreting Binary Black Holes
Supermassive binary black holes in galactic centers are potential multimessenger sources in gravitational waves and electromagnetic radiation. To find such objects, isolating unique electromagnetic signatures of their accretion flow is key. With the aid of three-dimensional general-relativistic magn...
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IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad9eb5 |
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| author | Sean M. Ressler Luciano Combi Bart Ripperda Elias R. Most |
| author_facet | Sean M. Ressler Luciano Combi Bart Ripperda Elias R. Most |
| author_sort | Sean M. Ressler |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Supermassive binary black holes in galactic centers are potential multimessenger sources in gravitational waves and electromagnetic radiation. To find such objects, isolating unique electromagnetic signatures of their accretion flow is key. With the aid of three-dimensional general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations that utilize an approximate, semianalytic, superimposed spacetime metric, we identify two such signatures for merging binaries. Both involve magnetic reconnection and are analogous to plasma processes observed in the solar corona. The first, like colliding flux tubes that can cause solar flares, involves colliding jets that form an extended reconnection layer, dissipating magnetic energy and causing the two jets to merge. The second, akin to coronal mass ejection events, involves the accretion of magnetic field lines onto both black holes; these magnetic fields then twist, inflate, and form a trailing current sheet, ultimately reconnecting and driving a hot outflow. We provide estimates for the associated electromagnetic emission for both processes, showing that they likely accelerate electrons to high energies and are promising candidates for continuous, stochastic, and/or quasi-periodic higher-energy electromagnetic emission. We also show that the accretion flows around each black hole can display features associated with the magnetically arrested state. However, simulations with black hole spins misaligned with the orbital plane and simulations with larger Bondi radii saturate at lower values of horizon-penetrating magnetic flux than standard magnetically arrested disks, leading to weaker, intermittent jets owing to feedback from the weak jets or equatorial flux tubes ejected by reconnecting field lines near the horizon. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-16105f3acbf7446b9f0fa27e412667a6 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2041-8205 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
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| series | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-16105f3acbf7446b9f0fa27e412667a62025-01-22T09:23:02ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal Letters2041-82052025-01-019792L2410.3847/2041-8213/ad9eb5Dual Jet Interaction, Magnetically Arrested Flows, and Flares in Accreting Binary Black HolesSean M. Ressler0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0220-5723Luciano Combi1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5427-1207Bart Ripperda2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7301-3908Elias R. Most3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0491-1210Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto , Toronto, ON M5S 3H8, CanadaPerimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics , Waterloo, ON N2L 2Y5, Canada; Department of Physics, University of Guelph , Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, CanadaCanadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto , Toronto, ON M5S 3H8, Canada; Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics , Waterloo, ON N2L 2Y5, Canada; David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy, University of Toronto , 50 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3H4, Canada; Department of Physics, University of Toronto , 60 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 1A7, CanadaTAPIR, Mailcode 350-17, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91125, USA; Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics , California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USASupermassive binary black holes in galactic centers are potential multimessenger sources in gravitational waves and electromagnetic radiation. To find such objects, isolating unique electromagnetic signatures of their accretion flow is key. With the aid of three-dimensional general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations that utilize an approximate, semianalytic, superimposed spacetime metric, we identify two such signatures for merging binaries. Both involve magnetic reconnection and are analogous to plasma processes observed in the solar corona. The first, like colliding flux tubes that can cause solar flares, involves colliding jets that form an extended reconnection layer, dissipating magnetic energy and causing the two jets to merge. The second, akin to coronal mass ejection events, involves the accretion of magnetic field lines onto both black holes; these magnetic fields then twist, inflate, and form a trailing current sheet, ultimately reconnecting and driving a hot outflow. We provide estimates for the associated electromagnetic emission for both processes, showing that they likely accelerate electrons to high energies and are promising candidates for continuous, stochastic, and/or quasi-periodic higher-energy electromagnetic emission. We also show that the accretion flows around each black hole can display features associated with the magnetically arrested state. However, simulations with black hole spins misaligned with the orbital plane and simulations with larger Bondi radii saturate at lower values of horizon-penetrating magnetic flux than standard magnetically arrested disks, leading to weaker, intermittent jets owing to feedback from the weak jets or equatorial flux tubes ejected by reconnecting field lines near the horizon.https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad9eb5Active galactic nucleiHigh energy astrophysicsSupermassive black holesAccretionMagnetohydrodynamical simulationsGeneral relativity |
| spellingShingle | Sean M. Ressler Luciano Combi Bart Ripperda Elias R. Most Dual Jet Interaction, Magnetically Arrested Flows, and Flares in Accreting Binary Black Holes The Astrophysical Journal Letters Active galactic nuclei High energy astrophysics Supermassive black holes Accretion Magnetohydrodynamical simulations General relativity |
| title | Dual Jet Interaction, Magnetically Arrested Flows, and Flares in Accreting Binary Black Holes |
| title_full | Dual Jet Interaction, Magnetically Arrested Flows, and Flares in Accreting Binary Black Holes |
| title_fullStr | Dual Jet Interaction, Magnetically Arrested Flows, and Flares in Accreting Binary Black Holes |
| title_full_unstemmed | Dual Jet Interaction, Magnetically Arrested Flows, and Flares in Accreting Binary Black Holes |
| title_short | Dual Jet Interaction, Magnetically Arrested Flows, and Flares in Accreting Binary Black Holes |
| title_sort | dual jet interaction magnetically arrested flows and flares in accreting binary black holes |
| topic | Active galactic nuclei High energy astrophysics Supermassive black holes Accretion Magnetohydrodynamical simulations General relativity |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad9eb5 |
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