http://arxiv.org/abs/1605.09105
We perform one-dimensional radiation hydrodynamical simulations to solve spherically symmetric accretion flows onto massive black holes (BHs) with a very high rate. Assuming that photon trapping limits the luminosity emerging from the central region to $L\lesssim L_{\rm Edd}$, IHO16 have shown that a sufficiently rapid accretion flow settles to a “hyper-Eddington” solution, with a steady and isothermal ($T\simeq 8000$ K) Bondi profile reaching $\gtrsim 5000$ times the Eddington accretion rate $\dot{M}_{\rm Edd}\equiv L_{\rm Edd}/c^2$. Here we address the possibility that gas accreting with finite angular momentum forms a bright nuclear accretion disc, with a luminosity exceeding the Eddington limit ($1\lesssim L/L_{\rm Edd} \lesssim 100$). Combining our simulations with an analytic model, we find that a transition to steady hyper-Eddington accretion still occurs, as long as the luminosity of the central source remains below $L/L_{\rm Edd} \lesssim 35~(M_{\rm BH}/10^4~M_\odot)^{3/2} (n_\infty/10^5~{\rm cm^{-3}}) (T_\infty/10^4~{\rm K})^{-3/2} (r_{\star}/10^{14}~{\rm cm})^{-1/2}$, where $n_\infty$ and $T_\infty$ are the density and temperature of the ambient gas, and $r_\star$ is the radius of the photosphere, at which the radiation emerges. If the luminosity exceeds this value, accretion becomes strongly episodic. Our results can be accurately recovered in a toy model of an optically thick spherical shell, driven by radiation force into a rapidly collapsing medium. When the central source is dimmer than the above critical value, the expansion of the shell is halted and reversed by the ram pressure of the collapsing medium, and by the shell’s accumulating weight. Our results imply that rapid, unimpeded hyper-Eddington accretion is possible even if the luminosity of the central source far exceeds the Eddington limit, and can be either steady or strongly episodic.
Y. Sakurai, K. Inayoshi and Z. Haiman
Tue, 31 May 16
22/70
Comments: 9 pages, 9 figures, submitted to MNRAS