Predicting X-Ray Spectra from Global 3D GRMHD Simulations of Accreting Black Holes
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Date
2019-08-28
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Johns Hopkins University
Abstract
The work which follows focuses mainly on the development and application of a technique to make predictions of the X-ray spectra of accreting black hole systems from numerical simulations thereof. We do this, as much as possible, with a first-principles approach: we combine a global three-dimensional General Relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulation code, a Monte Carlo geodesic-integrating radiation transport code, a deterministic radiative transfer solution, and a photoionization equilibrium code in order to capture all the relevant physics which are involved in the production and transport of the X-ray photons which make up the observed spectra of accreting black holes. This is a significant improvement over the usual methods by which such spectra are interpreted, and is a means by which to bridge the gap between the theory of black hole accretion flows and their observational study. In later chapters, we describe our efforts to introduce a more realistic, physical approach to coronal cooling, thereby improving the underlying simulations on which our spectral predictions are based. We find that, overall, our method generates spectra which are qualitatively similar to those observed, and---importantly---predicts Fe K-alpha emission line profiles with comparable strength and shape to real observations of this critical diagnostic feature.
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Keywords
black holes, MHD simulations, X-ray, Fe K-alpha, accretion disks