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At least 685 records · Page 38
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DOE OSTI2011

HST WFC3/IR OBSERVATIONS OF ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS HOST GALAXIES AT z {approx} 2: SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLES GROW IN DISK GALAXIES

We present the rest-frame optical morphologies of active galactic nucleus (AGN) host galaxies at 1.5 < z < 3, using near-infrared imaging from the Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3, the first such study of AGN host galaxies at these redshifts. The AGNs are X-ray-selected from the Chandra Deep Field South and have typical luminosities of 10{sup 42} erg s{sup -1}<L{sub X} < 10{sup 44} erg s{sup -1}. Accreting black holes in this luminosity and redshift range account for a substantial fraction of the total space density and black hole mass growth over cosmic time; they thus represent an important mode of black hole growth in the universe. We find that the majority ({approx}80%) of the host galaxies of these AGNs have low Sersic indices indicative of disk-dominated light profiles, suggesting that secular processes govern a significant fraction of the cosmic growth of black holes. That is, many black holes in the present-day universe grew much of their mass in disk-dominated galaxies and not in early-type galaxies or major mergers. The properties of the AGN host galaxies are furthermore indistinguishable from their parent galaxy population and we find no strong evolution in either effective radii or morphological mix between z {approx} 2 and z {approx} 0.05.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

THE ANGULAR MOMENTA OF NEUTRON STARS AND BLACK HOLES AS A WINDOW ON SUPERNOVAE

It is now clear that a subset of supernovae displays evidence for jets and is observed as gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). The angular momentum distribution of massive stellar endpoints provides a rare means of constraining the nature of the central engine in core-collapse explosions. Unlike supermassive black holes, the spin of stellar-mass black holes in X-ray binary systems is little affected by accretion and accurately reflects the spin set at birth. A modest number of stellar-mass black hole angular momenta have now been measured using two independent X-ray spectroscopic techniques. In contrast, rotation-powered pulsars spin down over time, via magnetic braking, but a modest number of natal spin periods have now been estimated. For both canonical and extreme neutron star parameters, statistical tests strongly suggest that the angular momentum distributions of black holes and neutron stars are markedly different. Within the context of prevalent models for core-collapse supernovae, the angular momentum distributions are consistent with black holes typically being produced in GRB-like supernovae with jets and with neutron stars typically being produced in supernovae with too little angular momentum to produce jets via magnetohydrodynamic processes. It is possible that neutron stars are with high spin initially and rapidly spun down shortly after the supernova event, but the available mechanisms may be inconsistent with some observed pulsar properties.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

AN EXTREME X-RAY DISK WIND IN THE BLACK HOLE CANDIDATE IGR J17091-3624

Chandra spectroscopy of transient stellar-mass black holes in outburst has clearly revealed accretion disk winds in soft, disk-dominated states, in apparent anti-correlation with relativistic jets in low/hard states. These disk winds are observed to be highly ionized, dense, and to have typical velocities of {approx}1000 km s{sup -1} or less projected along our line of sight. Here, we present an analysis of two Chandra High Energy Transmission Grating spectra of the Galactic black hole candidate IGR J17091-3624 and contemporaneous Expanded Very Large Array (EVLA) radio observations, obtained in 2011. The second Chandra observation reveals an absorption line at 6.91 {+-} 0.01 keV; associating this line with He-like Fe XXV requires a blueshift of 9300{sup +500}{sub -400} km s{sup -1} (0.03c, or the escape velocity at 1000 R{sub Schw}). This projected outflow velocity is an order of magnitude higher than has previously been observed in stellar-mass black holes, and is broadly consistent with some of the fastest winds detected in active galactic nuclei. A potential feature at 7.32 keV, if due to Fe XXVI, would imply a velocity of {approx}14, 600 km s{sup -1} (0.05c), but this putative feature is marginal. Photoionization modeling suggests that the accretion disk wind in IGR J17091-3624 may originate within 43,300 Schwarzschild radii of the black hole and may be expelling more gas than it accretes. The contemporaneous EVLA observations strongly indicate that jet activity was indeed quenched at the time of our Chandra observations. We discuss the results in the context of disk winds, jets, and basic accretion disk physics in accreting black hole systems.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

FORCE-FEEDING BLACK HOLES

We propose that the growth of supermassive black holes is associated mainly with brief episodes of highly super-Eddington infall of gas ({sup h}yperaccretion{sup )}. This gas is not swallowed in real time, but forms an envelope of matter around the black hole that can be swallowed gradually, over a much longer timescale. However, only a small fraction of the black hole mass can be stored in the envelope at any one time. We argue that any infalling matter above a few percent of the hole's mass is ejected as a result of the plunge in opacity at temperatures below a few thousand degrees kelvin, corresponding to the Hayashi track. The speed of ejection of this matter, compared to the velocity dispersion {sigma} of the host galaxy's core, determines whether the ejected matter is lost forever or returns eventually to rejoin the envelope, from which it can be ultimately accreted. The threshold between matter recycling and permanent loss defines a relationship between the maximum black hole mass and {sigma} that resembles the empirical M{sub BH}-{sigma} relation.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

TEARING UP THE DISK: HOW BLACK HOLES ACCRETE

We show that in realistic cases of accretion in active galactic nuclei or stellar-mass X-ray binaries, the Lense-Thirring effect breaks the central regions of tilted accretion disks around spinning black holes into a set of distinct planes with only tenuous flows connecting them. If the original misalignment of the outer disk to the spin axis of the hole is 45 Degree-Sign {approx}< {theta} {approx}< 135 Degree-Sign , as in {approx}70% of randomly oriented accretion events, the continued precession of these disks sets up partially counterrotating gas flows. This drives rapid infall as angular momentum is canceled and gas attempts to circularize at smaller radii. Disk breaking close to the black hole leads to direct dynamical accretion, while breaking further out can drive gas down to scales where it can accrete rapidly. For smaller tilt angles breaking can still occur and may lead to other observable phenomena such as quasi-periodic oscillations. For such effects not to appear, the black hole spin must in practice be negligibly small, or be almost precisely aligned with the disk. Qualitatively similar results hold for any accretion disk subject to a forced differential precession, such as an external disk around a misaligned black hole binary.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

BLACK HOLE FORAGING: FEEDBACK DRIVES FEEDING

We suggest a new picture of supermassive black hole (SMBH) growth in galaxy centers. Momentum-driven feedback from an accreting hole gives significant orbital energy, but little angular momentum to the surrounding gas. Once central accretion drops, the feedback weakens and swept-up gas falls back toward the SMBH on near-parabolic orbits. These intersect near the black hole with partially opposed specific angular momenta, causing further infall and ultimately the formation of a small-scale accretion disk. The feeding rates into the disk typically exceed Eddington by factors of a few, growing the hole on the Salpeter timescale and stimulating further feedback. Natural consequences of this picture include (1) the formation and maintenance of a roughly toroidal distribution of obscuring matter near the hole; (2) random orientations of successive accretion disk episodes; (3) the possibility of rapid SMBH growth; (4) tidal disruption of stars and close binaries formed from infalling gas, resulting in visible flares and ejection of hypervelocity stars; (5) super-solar abundances of the matter accreting on to the SMBH; and (6) a lower central dark-matter density, and hence annihilation signal, than adiabatic SMBH growth implies. We also suggest a simple subgrid recipe for implementing this process in numerical simulations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

THE SPIN OF THE BLACK HOLE GS 1124–683: OBSERVATION OF A RETROGRADE ACCRETION DISK?

We re-examine archival Ginga data for the black hole binary system GS 1124–683, obtained when the system was undergoing its 1991 outburst. Our analysis estimates the dimensionless spin parameter a {sub *} = cJ/GM{sup 2} by fitting the X-ray continuum spectra obtained while the system was in the ''thermal dominant'' state. For likely values of mass and distance, we find the spin to be a{sub ∗}=−0.25{sub −0.64}{sup +0.05} (90% confidence), implying that the disk is retrograde (i.e., rotating antiparallel to the spin axis of the black hole). We note that this measurement would be better constrained if the distance to the binary and the mass of the black hole were more accurately determined. This result is unaffected by the model used to fit the hard component of the spectrum. In order to be able to recover a prograde spin, the mass of the black hole would need to be at least 15.25 M {sub ☉}, or the distance would need to be less than 4.5 kpc, both of which disagree with previous determinations of the black hole mass and distance. If we allow f {sub col} to be free, we obtain no useful spin constraint. We discuss our results in the context of recent spin measurements and implications for jet production.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

NEW CONSTRAINTS ON THE BLACK HOLE LOW/HARD STATE INNER ACCRETION FLOW WITH NuSTAR

We report on an observation of the Galactic black hole candidate GRS 1739–278 during its 2014 outburst, obtained with NuSTAR. The source was captured at the peak of a rising ''low/hard'' state, at a flux of ∼0.3 Crab. A broad, skewed iron line and disk reflection spectrum are revealed. Fits to the sensitive NuSTAR spectra with a number of relativistically blurred disk reflection models yield strong geometrical constraints on the disk and hard X-ray ''corona''. Two models that explicitly assume a ''lamp post'' corona find its base to have a vertical height above the black hole of h=5{sub −2}{sup +7} GM/c{sup 2} and h = 18 ± 4 GM/c {sup 2} (90% confidence errors); models that do not assume a ''lamp post'' return emissivity profiles that are broadly consistent with coronae of this size. Given that X-ray microlensing studies of quasars and reverberation lags in Seyferts find similarly compact coronae, observations may now signal that compact coronae are fundamental across the black hole mass scale. All of the models fit to GRS 1739–278 find that the accretion disk extends very close to the black hole—the least stringent constraint is r{sub in}=5{sub −4}{sup +3} GM/c{sup 2}. Only two of the models deliver meaningful spin constraints, but a = 0.8 ± 0.2 is consistent with all of the fits. Overall, the data provide especially compelling evidence of an association between compact hard X-ray coronae and the base of relativistic radio jets in black holes.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

Origin of Hund's multiplicity rule in singly excited helium: Existence of a conjugate Fermi hole in the lower spin state

The origin of Hund's multiplicity rule in the low-lying excited states of the helium atom has been studied by considering the two-dimensional helium atom. The internal part of the full configuration interaction wave functions for the (2s) and (2p) singlet-triplet pairs of states has been extracted and visualized in the three-dimensional internal space (r{sub 1},r{sub 2}, {phi}{sub -}). The internal wave function of the singlet states without electron repulsion has a significant probability around the origin of the internal space while the corresponding probability of the triplet wave function is negligible in this region due to the presence of a Fermi hole. The electron-electron repulsion potential has been visualized also in the internal space. It manifests itself by three striking poles penetrating exactly into the spatial region defined by the Fermi hole. Because of the existence of these strong potential poles in the vicinity of the Fermi hole a major part of the singlet probability migrates out of this region. In contrast, the corresponding triplet wave function is less affected by these poles due to the presence of the Fermi hole. The singlet probability is shown to migrate from its original region close to the origin to a region far away where either r{sub 1} or r{sub 2} are large. This results in a more diffuse electron density distribution and a smaller electron repulsion energy of the singlet state than of the corresponding triplet state. The mechanism of the evolution of the singlet probability toward the region of large r{sub i} (i =1, 2) in the presence of the electron repulsion potential has been rationalized on the basis of a new concept called conjugate Fermi hole.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2020

Eikonal black hole ringings in generalized energy-momentum squared gravity

In the scope of black hole spectroscopy, several attempts have been made in the past decades to test black holes or gravitational theories via black hole quasinormal modes. In the eikonal approximation, the quasinormal modes are generically associated with the photon ring of the black hole. This correspondence is valid for most cases in general relativity, but may not be true in other theories of gravity. In this paper, we consider the generalized energy-momentum squared gravity in which matter fields are nonminimally coupled to geometry. We investigate the axial perturbations of the charged black holes in this model, without assuming any explicit expression of the action functional. After obtaining the modified Klein-Gordon equation and the modified Maxwell equations, we perturb the gravitational equations and the modified Maxwell equations to derive the coupled master equations of the axial perturbations. In the presence of the nonminimal coupling between matter and geometry, the correspondence between the eikonal quasinormal modes and the photon ring is not satisfied in general. Also, the two coupled fields of the axial perturbations are found to propagate independently, and they do not share the same quasinormal frequencies in the eikonal limit.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

GW190412: Observation of a binary-black-hole coalescence with asymmetric masses

We report the observation of gravitational waves from a binary-black-hole coalescence during the first two weeks of LIGO's and Virgo's third observing run. The signal was recorded on April 12, 2019 at 05:30:44 UTC with a network signal-to-noise ratio of 19. The binary is different from observations during the first two observing runs most notably due to its asymmetric masses: A ~30 M ⊙ black hole merged with a ~8 M ⊙ black hole companion. The more massive black hole rotated with a dimensionless spin magnitude between 0.22 and 0.60 (90% probability). Asymmetric systems are predicted to emit gravitational waves with stronger contributions from higher multipoles, and indeed we find strong evidence for gravitational radiation beyond the leading quadrupolar order in the observed signal. A suite of tests performed on GW190412 indicates consistency with Einstein's general theory of relativity. While the mass ratio of this system differs from all previous detections, we show that it is consistent with the population model of stellar binary black holes inferred from the first two observing runs.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Black hole superradiance with dark matter accretion

Studies of black hole superradiance often focus on the growth of a cloud in isolation, accompanied by the spin-down of the black hole. Here, in this paper, we consider the additional effect of the accretion of matter and angular momentum from the environment. We show that, in many cases, the black hole evolves by drifting along the superradiance threshold, in which case the evolution of its parameters can be described analytically or semianalytically. We quantify the conditions under which accretion can serve as a mechanism to increase the cloud-to-black hole mass ratio, beyond the standard maximum of about 10%. This occurs by a process we call oversuperradiance, whereby accretion effectively feeds the superradiance cloud, by way of the black hole. We give two explicit examples: accretion from a vortex expected in wave dark matter and accretion from a baryonic disk. In the former case, we estimate the accretion rate by using an analytical fit to the asymptotic behavior of the confluent Heun function. Level transition, whereby one cloud level grows while the other shrinks, can be understood in a similar way.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Tidal Love numbers of analog black holes

Tidal Love numbers quantify the conservative static response of compact objects to external tidal fields, and are found to vanish exactly for asymptotically flat black holes in four-dimensional general relativity. Many aspects of the physics of black holes have an analog in the theory of supersonic acoustic flows, including the existence of an event horizon and associated phenomena, such as quasinormal modes and superradiance. In this paper, we investigate the tidal Love numbers of acoustic black holes in different number of dimensions. We find that they exhibit a number of similar properties as higher-dimensional general relativistic black holes, such as logarithmic running with radial distance, and vanishing tidal response for special multipole moments. As a result, we show that the latter is a consequence of ladder symmetries, analogous to those identified for black holes.

Classical black holes↗
DOE OSTI2010

Simulations of black-hole binaries with unequal masses or nonprecessing spins: Accuracy, physical properties, and comparison with post-Newtonian results

We present gravitational waveforms for the last orbits and merger of black-hole-binary systems along two branches of the black-hole-binary parameter space: equal-mass binaries with equal nonprecessing spins, and nonspinning unequal-mass binaries. The waveforms are calculated from numerical solutions of Einstein's equations for black-hole binaries that complete between six and ten orbits before merger. Along the equal-mass spinning branch, the spin parameter of each black hole is {chi}{sub i}=S{sub i}/M{sub i}{sup 2}(set-membership sign)[-0.85,0.85], and along the unequal-mass branch the mass ratio is q=M{sub 2}/M{sub 1}(set-membership sign)[1,4]. We discuss the construction of low-eccentricity puncture initial data for these cases, the properties of the final merged black hole, and compare the last 8-10 gravitational-wave cycles up to M{omega}=0.1 with the phase and amplitude predicted by standard post-Newtonian (PN) approximants. As in previous studies, we find that the phase from the 3.5PN TaylorT4 approximant is most accurate for nonspinning binaries. For equal-mass spinning binaries the 3.5PN TaylorT1 approximant (including spin terms up to only 2.5PN order) gives the most robust performance, but it is possible to treat TaylorT4 in such a way that it gives the best accuracy for spins {chi}{sub i}>-0.75. When high-order amplitude corrections are included, the PN amplitude of the (l=2, m={+-}2) modes is larger than the numerical relativity amplitude by between 2-4%.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2011

Particle motion around black hole in Horava-Lifshitz gravity

Analytical solutions of Maxwell equations around a black hole immersed in an external uniform magnetic field in the background of the Kehagias-Sfetsos (KS) asymptotically flat black hole solution of Horava-Lifshitz gravity have been found. The influence of a magnetic field on the effective potential of the radial motion of a charged test particle around a black hole immersed in an external magnetic field in Horava-Lifshitz gravity has been investigated by using the Hamilton-Jacobi method. An exact analytical solution for dependence of the minimal radius of the circular orbits r{sub mc} from KS parameter {omega} for motion of a test particle around a spherical symmetric black hole in Horava-Lifshitz gravity has been derived. The critical values of the particle's angular momentum for captured particles by a black hole in Horava-Lifshitz gravity have been obtained numerically. The comparison of the obtained numerical results with the astrophysical observational data on the radii of the innermost stable circular orbits gives us the estimation of the parameter as {omega}{approx_equal}3.6{center_dot}10{sup -24} cm{sup -2}.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

Black hole initial data in Gauss-Bonnet gravity: Momentarily static case

We study the method for generating the initial data of black hole systems in Gauss-Bonnet gravity. The initial data are assumed to be momentarily static and conformally flat. Although the equation for the conformal factor is highly nonlinear, it is successfully solved by numerical relaxation for one-black-hole and two-black-hole systems. The common apparent horizon is studied in the two-black-hole initial data, and the result suggests that the Penrose inequalities are satisfied in this system. This is the first step for simulating black hole collisions in higher-curvature theories.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2011

Transition from adiabatic inspiral to plunge into a spinning black hole

A test particle of mass {mu} on a bound geodesic of a Kerr black hole of mass M>>{mu} will slowly inspiral as gravitational radiation extracts energy and angular momentum from its orbit. This inspiral can be considered adiabatic when the orbital period is much shorter than the time scale on which energy is radiated, and quasicircular when the radial velocity is much less than the azimuthal velocity. Although the inspiral always remains adiabatic provided {mu}<<M, the quasicircular approximation breaks down as the particle approaches the innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO). In this paper, we relax the quasicircular approximation and solve the radial equation of motion explicitly near the ISCO. We use the requirement that the test particle's 4-velocity remains properly normalized to calculate a new contribution to the difference between its energy and angular momentum. This difference determines how a black hole's spin changes following a test-particle merger, and can be extrapolated to help predict the mass and spin of the final black hole produced in finite-mass-ratio black-hole mergers. Our new contribution is particularly important for nearly maximally spinning black holes, as it can affect whether a merger produces a naked singularity.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

Hidden conformal symmetry of a rotating black hole with four charges

Kerr/CFT correspondence exhibits many remarkable connections between the near-horizon Kerr black hole and a conformal field theory (CFT). Recently, Castro, Maloney, and Strominger showed that a hidden conformal symmetry exists in the solution space of a Kerr black hole. In this paper we investigate a rotating black hole with four independent U(1) charges derived from string theory which is known as the four-dimensional Cvetic-Youm solution, and we prove that the same hidden conformal symmetry also holds. We obtain the exact black hole entropy using the temperatures derived. The entropy and absorption cross section agree with the previous results [M. Cvetic and F. Larsen, Nucl. Phys. B506, 107 (1997).] and [M. Cvetic and F. Larsen, J. High Energy Phys. 09 (2009) 088.]. In addition, we clarify a previous explanation on the temperatures of the Cvetic-Youm solution's dual CFT. This work provides more robust derivation of the hidden conformal symmetry of Kerr-like black holes and as well as Kerr/CFT correspondence.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗