Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “BLACK”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 559 records · Page 31
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

The black hole mass of NGC 4151. II. Stellar dynamical measurement from near-infrared integral field spectroscopy

We present a revised measurement of the mass of the central black hole (M{sub BH} ) in the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 4151. The new stellar dynamical mass measurement is derived by applying an axisymmetric orbit-superposition code to near-infrared integral field data obtained using adaptive optics with the Gemini Near-infrared Integral Field Spectrograph (NIFS). When our models attempt to fit both the NIFS kinematics and additional low spatial resolution kinematics, our results depend sensitively on how χ{sup 2} is computed—probably a consequence of complex bar kinematics that manifest immediately outside the nuclear region. The most robust results are obtained when only the high spatial resolution kinematic constraints in the nuclear region are included in the fit. Our best estimates for the black hole mass and H-band mass-to-light ratio are M{sub BH} ∼ 3.76 ± 1.15 × 10{sup 7} M{sub ☉} (1σ error) and Y{sub H} ∼ 0.34 ± 0.03 M{sub ☉}/L{sub ☉} (3σ error), respectively (the quoted errors reflect the model uncertainties). Our black hole mass measurement is consistent with estimates from both reverberation mapping (3.57{sub −0.37}{sup +0.45}×10{sup 7} M{sub ⊙}) and gas kinematics (3.0{sub −2.2}{sup +0.75}×10{sup 7} M{sub ⊙}; 1σ errors), and our best-fit mass-to-light ratio is consistent with the photometric estimate of Y{sub H} = 0.4 ± 0.2 M{sub ☉}/L{sub ☉}. The NIFS kinematics give a central bulge velocity dispersion σ{sub c} = 116 ± 3 km s{sup –1}, bringing this object slightly closer to the M{sub BH}-σ relation for quiescent galaxies. Although NGC 4151 is one of only a few Seyfert 1 galaxies in which it is possible to obtain a direct dynamical black hole mass measurement—and thus, an independent calibration of the reverberation mapping mass scale—the complex bar kinematics makes it less than ideally suited for this purpose.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Causal extraction of black hole rotational energy by various kinds of electromagnetic fields

Recent general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) simulations have suggested that relativistic jets from active galactic nuclei (AGNs) have been powered by the rotational energy of central black holes. Some mechanisms for extraction of black hole rotational energy have been proposed, like the Penrose process, Blandford-Znajek mechanism, MHD Penrose process, and superradiance. The Blandford-Znajek mechanism is the most promising mechanism for the engines of the relativistic jets from AGNs. However, an intuitive interpretation of this mechanism with causality is not yet clarified, while the Penrose process has a clear interpretation for causal energy extraction from a black hole with negative energy. In this paper, we present a formula to build physical intuition so that in the Blandford-Znajek mechanism, as well as in other electromagnetic processes, negative electromagnetic energy plays an important role in causal extraction of the rotational energy of black holes.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

CONSTRAINTS ON THE SPACETIME GEOMETRY AROUND 10 STELLAR-MASS BLACK HOLE CANDIDATES FROM THE DISK'S THERMAL SPECTRUM

In a previous paper, one of us (C. Bambi) described a code to compute the thermal spectrum of geometrically thin and optically thick accretion disks around generic stationary and axisymmetric black holes, which are not necessarily of the Kerr type. As the structure of the accretion disk and the propagation of electromagnetic radiation from the disk to the distant observer depend on the background metric, the analysis of the thermal spectrum of thin disks can be used to test the actual nature of black hole candidates. In this paper, we consider the 10 stellar-mass black hole candidates for which the spin parameter has already been estimated from the analysis of the disk's thermal spectrum under the assumption of the Kerr background, and we translate the measurements reported in the literature into constraints on the spin parameter-deformation parameter plane. The analysis of the disk's thermal spectrum can be used to estimate only one parameter of the geometry close to the compact object; therefore, it is not possible to get independent measurements of both the spin and the deformation parameters. The constraints obtained here will be used in combination with other measurements in future work with the final goal of breaking the degeneracy between the spin and possible deviations from the Kerr solution and thus test the Kerr black hole hypothesis.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

STEADY GENERAL RELATIVISTIC MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC INFLOW/OUTFLOW SOLUTION ALONG LARGE-SCALE MAGNETIC FIELDS THAT THREAD A ROTATING BLACK HOLE

General relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) flows along magnetic fields threading a black hole can be divided into inflow and outflow parts, according to the result of the competition between the black hole gravity and magneto-centrifugal forces along the field line. Here we present the first self-consistent, semi-analytical solution for a cold, Poynting flux–dominated (PFD) GRMHD flow, which passes all four critical (inner and outer, Alfvén, and fast magnetosonic) points along a parabolic streamline. By assuming that the dominating (electromagnetic) component of the energy flux per flux tube is conserved at the surface where the inflow and outflow are separated, the outflow part of the solution can be constrained by the inflow part. The semi-analytical method can provide fiducial and complementary solutions for GRMHD simulations around the rotating black hole, given that the black hole spin, global streamline, and magnetizaion (i.e., a mass loading at the inflow/outflow separation) are prescribed. For reference, we demonstrate a self-consistent result with the work by McKinney in a quantitative level.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Evolution in the black hole–galaxy scaling relations and the duty cycle of nuclear activity in star-forming galaxies

We measure the location and evolutionary vectors of 69 Herschel-detected broad-line active galactic nuclei (BLAGNs) in the M{sub BH}−M{sub ∗} plane. BLAGNs are selected from the COSMOS and CDF-S fields, and span the redshift range 0.2⩽z<2.1. Black hole masses are calculated using archival spectroscopy and single-epoch virial mass estimators, and galaxy total stellar masses are calculated by fitting the spectral energy distribution (subtracting the BLAGN component). The mass-growth rates of both the black hole and galaxy are calculated using Chandra/XMM-Newton X-ray and Herschel far-infrared data, reliable measures of the BLAGN accretion and galaxy star formation rates, respectively. We use Monte Carlo simulations to account for biases in our sample, due to both selection limits and the steep slope of the massive end of the galaxy stellar-mass distribution. We find our sample is consistent with no evolution in the M{sub BH}−M{sub ∗} relation from z ∼ 2 to z ∼ 0. BLAGNs and their host galaxies which lie off the black hole mass–galaxy total stellar mass relation tend to have evolutionary vectors anti-correlated with their mass ratios: that is, galaxies with over-massive (under-massive) black holes tend to have a low (high) ratio of the specific accretion rate to the specific star formation rate. We also use the measured growth rates to estimate the preferred AGN duty cycle for our galaxies to evolve most consistently onto the local M{sub BH}−M{sub Bul} relation. Under reasonable assumptions of exponentially declining star formation histories, the data suggest a non-evolving (no more than a factor of a few) BLAGN duty cycle among star-forming galaxies of ∼10% (1σ range of 1–42% at z<1 and 2–34% at z>1).

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

ALIGNMENTS OF BLACK HOLES WITH THEIR WARPED ACCRETION DISKS AND EPISODIC LIFETIMES OF ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI

Warped accretion disks have attracted intense attention because of their critical role in shaping the spin of supermassive massive black holes (SMBHs) through the Bardeen–Petterson effect, a general relativistic effect that leads to final alignments or anti-alignments between black holes and warped accretion disks. We study such alignment processes by explicitly taking into account the finite sizes of accretion disks and the episodic lifetimes of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) that delineate the duration of gas fueling onto accretion disks. We employ an approximate global model to simulate the evolution of accretion disks, allowing us to determine the gravitomagnetic torque that drives the alignments in a simple way. We then track down the evolutionary paths for mass and spin of black holes both in a single activity episode and over a series of episodes. Given with randomly and isotropically oriented gas fueling over episodes, we calculate the spin evolution with different episodic lifetimes and find that it is quite sensitive to the lifetimes. We therefore propose that the spin distribution of SMBHs can place constraints on the episodic lifetimes of AGNs and vice versa. The applications of our results on the observed spin distributions of SMBHs and the observed episodic lifetimes of AGNs are discussed, although both measurements at present are too ambiguous for us to draw a firm conclusion. Our prescription can be easily incorporated into semi-analytic models for black hole growth and spin evolution.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

The 2013–2014 outburst of XTE J1908+094 observed with Swift and NuSTAR: Spectral evolution and black hole spin constraint

We present a spectral study of the black hole candidate XTE J1908+094 during its 2013–2014 outburst. We analyzed 36 Swift/XRT observations together with a NuSTAR observation taken along this period. The outburst evolution is similar to what is previously observed in other black hole transients. The source transited from an initial low/hard state to a high/soft state and then went back to the low/hard state. The low/hard-state spectra are dominated by a hard component, while the high/soft-state spectra are dominated by a soft component. In the high/soft state, we find that the disk bolometric luminosity deviates weakly from the standard T{sub in}{sup 4} dependence, exhibiting a flatter dependence as L{sub disk}∝T{sub in}{sup 2}. The radial temperature profile is found to be flatter than that of the standard accretion disk. These results suggest an advection-dominated slim disk. During the NuSTAR observation, the source was in the high/soft state. A flare is seen in the NuSTAR light curves. During the flare, a spectral softening occurs with an increase in power-law flux. We suggest that the flare may be associated with the relativistic jets. A broad Fe Kα line and a disk reflection component are observed in the spectra, providing an opportunity to measure the black hole spin via the Fe-line method. We have fitted the NuSTAR spectra with different relativistically blurred disk reflection models. However, the data do not allow us to constrain the spin of the black hole.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

String loops in the field of braneworld spherically symmetric black holes and naked singularities

We study motion of current-carrying string loops in the field of braneworld spherically symmetric black holes and naked singularities. The spacetime is described by the Reissner-Nordström geometry with tidal charge b reflecting the non-local tidal effects coming from the external dimension; both positive and negative values of the spacetime parameter b are considered. We restrict attention to the axisymmetric motion of string loops when the motion can be fully governed by an appropriately defined effective potential related to the energy and angular momentum of the string loops. In dependence on these two constants of the motion, the string loops can be captured, trapped, or can escape to infinity. In close vicinity of stable equilibrium points at the centre of trapped states the motion is regular. We describe how it is transformed to chaotic motion with growing energy of the string loop. In the field of naked singularities the trapped states located off the equatorial plane of the system exist and trajectories unable to cross the equatorial plane occur, contrary to the trajectories in the field of black holes where crossing the equatorial plane is always admitted. We concentrate our attention to the so called transmutation effect when the string loops are accelerated in the deep gravitational field near the black hole or naked singularity by transforming the oscillatory energy to the energy of the transitional motion. We demonstrate that the influence of the tidal charge can be substantial especially in the naked singularity spacetimes with b > 1 where the acceleration to ultrarelativistic velocities with Lorentz factor γ ∼ 100 can be reached, being more than one order higher in comparison with those obtained in the black hole spacetimes.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Is the firewall consistent? Gedanken experiments on black hole complementarity and firewall proposal

In this paper, we discuss the black hole complementarity and the firewall proposal at length. Black hole complementarity is inevitable if we assume the following five things: unitarity, entropy-area formula, existence of an information observer, semi-classical quantum field theory for an asymptotic observer, and the general relativity for an in-falling observer. However, large N rescaling and the AMPS argument show that black hole complementarity is inconsistent. To salvage the basic philosophy of the black hole complementarity, AMPS introduced a firewall around the horizon. According to large N rescaling, the firewall should be located close to the apparent horizon. We investigate the consistency of the firewall with the two critical conditions: the firewall should be near the time-like apparent horizon and it should not affect the future infinity. Concerning this, we have introduced a gravitational collapse with a false vacuum lump which can generate a spacetime structure with disconnected apparent horizons. This reveals a situation that there is a firewall outside of the event horizon, while the apparent horizon is absent. Therefore, the firewall, if it exists, not only does modify the general relativity for an in-falling observer, but also modify the semi-classical quantum field theory for an asymptotic observer.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Spectral methods in general relativity and large Randall-Sundrum II black holes

Using a novel numerical spectral method, we have found solutions for large static Randall-Sundrum II (RSII) black holes by perturbing a numerical AdS{sub 5}-CFT{sub 4} solution to the Einstein equation with a negative cosmological constant Λ that is asymptotically conformal to the Schwarzschild metric. We used a numerical spectral method independent of the Ricci-DeTurck-flow method used by Figueras, Lucietti, and Wiseman for a similar numerical solution. We have compared our black-hole solution to the one Figueras and Wiseman have derived by perturbing their numerical AdS{sub 5}-CFT{sub 4} solution, showing that our solution agrees closely with theirs. We have obtained a closed-form approximation to the metric of the black hole on the brane. We have also deduced the new results that to first order in 1/(−ΛM{sup 2}), the Hawking temperature and entropy of an RSII static black hole have the same values as the Schwarzschild metric with the same mass, but the horizon area is increased by about 4.7/(−Λ)

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Tidal capture of a primordial black hole by a neutron star: implications for constraints on dark matter

In a close encounter with a neutron star, a primordial black hole can get gravitationally captured by depositing a considerable amount of energy into nonradial stellar modes of very high angular number l. If the neutron-star equation of state is sufficiently stiff, we show that the total energy loss in the point-particle approximation is formally divergent. Various mechanisms — including viscosity, finite-size effects and the elasticity of the crust — can damp high-l modes and regularize the total energy loss. Within a short time, the black hole is trapped inside the star and disrupts it by rapid accretion. Estimating these effects, we predict that the existence of old neutron stars in regions where the dark-matter density ρ{sub DM}∼>10{sup 2}(σ/km s{sup −1}) GeV cm{sup −3} (where σ is the dark-matter velocity dispersion) limits the abundance of primordial black holes in the mass range 10{sup 17} g∼<m{sub PBH}∼<10{sup 24} g, which was previously unconstrained. In combination with existing limits, our results suggest that primordial black holes cannot be the dominant dark matter constituent.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Excluding black hole firewalls with extreme cosmic censorship

The AMPS argument for black hole firewalls seems to arise not only from the assumption of local effective field theory outside the stretched horizon but also from an overcounting of internal black hole states that include states that are singular in the past. Here I propose to exclude such singular states by Extreme Cosmic Censorship (the conjectured principle that the universe is entirely nonsingular, except for transient singularities inside black and/or white holes). I argue that the remaining set of nonsingular realistic states do not have firewalls but yet preserve information in Hawking radiation from black holes that form from nonsingular initial states.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Spectral line broadening in magnetized black holes

We consider weakly magnetized non-rotating black holes. In the presence of a regular magnetic field the motion of charged particles in the vicinity of a black hole is modified. As a result, the position of the innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO) becomes closer to the horizon. When the Lorentz force is repulsive (directed from the black hole) the ISCO radius can reach the gravitational radius. In the process of accretion charged particles (ions) of the accreting matter can be accumulated near their ISCO, while neutral particles fall down to the black hole after they reach 6M radius. The sharp spectral line Fe α, emitted by iron ions at such orbits, is broadened when the emission is registered by a distant observer. In this paper we study this broadening effect and discuss how one can extract information concerning the strength of the magnetic field from the observed spectrum.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Superradiance and black hole bomb in five-dimensional minimal ungauged supergravity

We examine the black hole bomb model which consists of a rotating black hole of five-dimenensional minimal ungauged supergravity and a reflecting mirror around it. For low-frequency scalar perturbations, we find solutions to the Klein-Gordon equation in the near-horizon and far regions of the black hole spacetime. To avoid solutions with logarithmic terms, we assume that the orbital quantum number l takes on nearly, but not exactly, integer values and perform the matching of these solutions in an intermediate region. This allows us to calculate analytically the frequency spectrum of quasinormal modes, taking the limits as l approaches even or odd integers separately. We find that all l modes of scalar perturbations undergo negative damping in the regime of superradiance, resulting in exponential growth of their amplitudes. Thus, the model under consideration would exhibit the superradiant instability, eventually behaving as a black hole bomb in five dimensions.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Signatures of non-gaussianity in the isocurvature modes of primordial black hole dark matter

Primordial black holes (PBHs) are black holes which may have formed very early on during the radiation dominated era in the early universe. We present here a method by which the large scale perturbations in the density of primordial black holes may be used to place tight constraints on non-gaussianity if PBHs account for dark matter (DM) . The presence of local-type non-gaussianity is known to have a significant effect on the abundance of primordial black holes, and modal coupling from the observed CMB scale modes can significantly alter the number density of PBHs that form within different regions of the universe, which appear as DM isocurvature modes. Using the recent Planck constraints on isocurvature perturbations, we show that PBHs are excluded as DM candidates for even very small local-type non-gaussianity, |f{sub NL}|≈0.001 and remarkably the constraint on g{sub NL} is almost as strong. Even small non-gaussianity is excluded if DM is composed of PBHs. If local non-Gaussianity is ever detected on CMB scales, the constraints on the fraction of the universe collapsing into PBHs (which are massive enough to have not yet evaporated) will become much tighter.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Black holes in a cubic Galileon universe

We find and study the properties of black hole solutions for a subclass of Horndeski theory including the cubic Galileon term. The theory under study has shift symmetry but not reflection symmetry for the scalar field. The Galileon is assumed to have linear time dependence characterized by a velocity parameter. We give analytic 3-dimensional solutions that are akin to the BTZ solutions but with a non-trivial scalar field that modifies the effective cosmological constant. We then study the 4-dimensional asymptotically flat and de Sitter solutions. The latter present three different branches according to their effective cosmological constant. For two of these branches, we find families of black hole solutions, parametrized by the velocity of the scalar field. These spherically symmetric solutions, obtained numerically, are different from GR solutions close to the black hole event horizon, while they have the same de-Sitter asymptotic behavior. The velocity parameter represents black hole primary hair.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Solving puzzles of GW150914 by primordial black holes

The black hole binary properties inferred from the LIGO gravitational wave signal GW150914 posed several serious problems. The high masses and low effective spin of black hole binary can be explained if they are primordial (PBH) rather than the products of the stellar binary evolution. Such PBH properties are postulated ad hoc but not derived from fundamental theory. We show that the necessary features of PBHs naturally follow from the slightly modified Affleck-Dine (AD) mechanism of baryogenesis. The log-normal distribution of PBHs, predicted within the AD paradigm, is adjusted to provide an abundant population of low-spin stellar mass black holes. The same distribution gives a sufficient number of quickly growing seeds of supermassive black holes observed at high redshifts and may comprise an appreciable fraction of Dark Matter which does not contradict any existing observational limits. Testable predictions of this scenario are discussed.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Wormholes versus black holes: quasinormal ringing at early and late times

Recently it has been argued that the phantom thin-shell wormholes matched with the Schwarzschild space-time near the Schwarzschild radius ring like Schwarzschild black holes at early times, but differently at late times [1]. Here we consider perturbations of the wormhole which was constructed without thin-shells: the Bronnikov-Ellis wormhole supported by the phantom matter and electromagnetic field. This wormhole solution is known to be stable under specific equation of state of the phantom matter. We show that if one does not use the above thin-shell matching, the wormhole, depending on the values of its parameters, either rings as the black hole at all times or rings differently also at all times . The wormhole's spectrum, investigated here, posses a number of distinctive features. In the final part we have considered general properties of scattering around arbitrary rotating traversable wormholes. We have found that symmetric and non-symmetric (with respect to the throat) wormholes are qualitatively different in this respect: first, superradiance is allowed only if for those non-symmetric wormholes for which the asymptotic values of the rotation parameters are different on both sides from the throat. Second, the symmetric wormholes cannot mimic effectively the ringing of a black hole at a few various dominant multipoles at the same time, so that the future observations of various events should easily tell the symmetric wormhole from a black hole.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗