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Anders Johansen. Profile picture.

Anders Johansen

Professor

Anders Johansen. Profile picture.

Magnetically-levitating disks around supermassive black holes

Author

  • Evghenii Gaburov
  • Anders Johansen
  • Yuri Levin

Summary, in English

In this paper, we report on the formation of magnetically levitating accretion disks around supermassive black holes (SMBHs). The structure of these disks is calculated by numerically modeling tidal disruption of magnetized interstellar gas clouds. We find that the resulting disks are entirely supported by the pressure of the magnetic fields against the component of gravitational force directed perpendicular to the disks. The magnetic field shows ordered large-scale geometry that remains stable for the duration of our numerical experiments extending over 10% of the disk lifetime. Strong magnetic pressure allows high accretion rate and inhibits disk fragmentation. This in combination with the repeated feeding of magnetized molecular clouds to an SMBH yields a possible solution to the long-standing puzzle of black hole growth in the centers of galaxies.

Department/s

  • Lund Observatory - Undergoing reorganization

Publishing year

2012

Language

English

Publication/Series

Astrophysical Journal

Volume

758

Issue

2

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

American Astronomical Society

Topic

  • Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology

Keywords

  • fields
  • magnetic
  • ISM: clouds
  • accretion disks
  • accretion
  • Galaxy: nucleus
  • magnetohydrodynamics (MHD)
  • methods: numerical

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0004-637X