The outflows accelerated by the magnetic fields and radiation force of accretion disks

Journal Article · Sat Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 2014 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/783/1/51· OSTI ID:22351352

Cao, Xinwu ^[1]

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1. Key Laboratory for Research in Galaxies and Cosmology, Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 80 Nandan Road, Shanghai, 200030 (China)

The inner region of a luminous accretion disk is radiation-pressure-dominated. We estimate the surface temperature of a radiation-pressure-dominated accretion disk, Θ=c{sub s}{sup 2}/r{sup 2}Ω{sub K}{sup 2}≪(H/r){sup 2}, which is significantly lower than that of a gas-pressure-dominated disk, Θ ∼ (H/r){sup 2}. This means that the outflow can be launched magnetically from the photosphere of the radiation-pressure-dominated disk only if the effective potential barrier along the magnetic field line is extremely shallow or no potential barrier is present. For the latter case, the slow sonic point in the outflow will probably be in the disk, which leads to a slow circular dense flow above the disk. This implies that hot gas (probably in the corona) is necessary for launching an outflow from the radiation-pressure-dominated disk, which provides a natural explanation for the observational evidence that the relativistic jets are related to hot plasma in some X-ray binaries and active galactic nuclei. We investigate the outflows accelerated from the hot corona above the disk by the magnetic field and radiation force of the accretion disk. We find that with the help of the radiation force, the mass loss rate in the outflow is high, which leads to a slow outflow. This may be why the jets in radio-loud narrow-line Seyfert galaxies are in general mildly relativistic compared with those in blazars.

• OSTI ID: 22351352
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 783; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
ACCRETION DISKS
GALAXY NUCLEI
HOT PLASMA
LUMINOSITY
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MASS TRANSFER
PHOTOSPHERE
RADIATION PRESSURE
RELATIVISTIC RANGE
SEYFERT GALAXIES
STARS
STELLAR WINDS
SURFACES
X RADIATION