On electromagnetic observables from supermassive black hole accretion flows

Wong, George Nathaniel

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/112996 Copy

Description

Title

On electromagnetic observables from supermassive black hole accretion flows

Author(s)

Wong, George Nathaniel

Issue Date

2021-07-08

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Gammie, Charles F.

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Holder, Gilbert

Committee Member(s)

• Cooper, S. Lance
• Liu, Xin

Department of Study

Physics

Discipline

Physics

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• Black holes
• Accretion disks
• Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD)
• Astrophysics
• Radiative transfer
• General relativity (GR)

Abstract

Relativistic jets have been observed to originate from the centers of many galaxies. It is likely that the jets are powered by spinning supermassive black holes via a dynamical interaction between magnetic fields close to the hole and the warped spacetime predicted by general relativity. This dissertation describes a series of projects aimed at understanding and identifying signatures of the physical quantities relevant to the black hole–jet connection in both observational and theoretical contexts. I start with a review of astrophysical black hole accretion systems and the radiative physics that governs the generation of electromagnetic signals from hot leptons near the hole. I then describe the numerical tools I use to simulate the accretion and generate synthetic images and spectra, paying particular attention to my contributions and extensions to the code. Next, I discuss my contribution to the theoretical analysis of the first event-horizon-scale black hole accretion flow images, which were produced by the Event Horizon Telescope. The remainder of the dissertation covers projects designed to support a theory-based guide for the next generation of electromagnetic black hole observation in the context of the jet–hole connection. I begin by describing two projects focused on understanding the composition of the jet near the hole. The first project studies mass entrainment through the jet–disk boundary layer as a mechanism to feed the jet at small scales. The second project studies electron–positron drizzle pair creation due to the background radiation field produced by the hot accretion flow. I conclude with a discussion of black hole glimmer, a novel universal signature of black hole spin that can be measured from high-resolution black hole movies and used to determine the orientation and magnitude of a black hole’s angular momentum vector.

Graduation Semester

2021-08

Type of Resource

Thesis

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/112996

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2021 George Nathaniel Wong

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