2005/06/16 by Jonathan C. McKinney, McKinney, Jonathan C.
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics (astro-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.astro-ph/0506369
20 pages, 12 figures, submitted to ApJ. Figure 1 in the PDF is missing lines; please refer to the PS version for the correct figure
arxiv created 2005/06/16 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01
In a companion theory paper, we presented a unified model of jet formation. We suggested that primarily two types of relativistic jets form near accreting black holes: a potentially ultrarelativistic Poynting-dominated jet and a Poynting-baryon jet. We showed that, for the collapsar model, the neutrino-driven enthalpy flux (classic fireball model) is probably dominated by the Blandford-Znajek energy flux, which predicts a jet Lorentz factor of Γ∼ 100-1000. We showed that radiatively inefficient AGN, such as M87, are synchrotron-cooling limited to Γ∼ 2-10. Radiatively efficient x-ray binaries, such as GRS1915+105, are Compton-drag limited to Γ\lesssim 2, but the jet may be destroyed by Compton drag. However, the Poynting-baryon jet is a collimated outflow with Γ∼ 1-3. Here we present general relativistic hydromagnetic simulations of black hole accretion with pair creation used to simulate jet formation in GRBs, AGN, and x-ray binaries. Our collapsar model shows the development of a patchy ``magnetic fireball'' with typically Γ∼ 100-1000 and a Gaussian structure. Temporal variability of the jet is dominated by toroidal field instabilities for \gtrsim 102 gravitational radii. A broader Poynting-baryon jet with Γ∼ 1.5 could contribute to a supernova.