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The Production of Jets from Magnetized Accretion Disks: Simulation of the Blandford-Payne Mechanism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 May 2016

D.L. Meier
Affiliation:
1 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech, Pasadena, CA, USA
D.G. Payne
Affiliation:
2 Intel Scalable Systems Division, Pasadena, CA, USA
K.R. Lind
Affiliation:
3 Cray Research Inc., Livermore, CA, USA

Abstract

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We have used massively parallel supercomputer simulations to perform an extensive study of a plausible mechanism for producing the jets seen in extragalactic radio sources - acceleration and collimation by coronal magnetic fields in an accretion disk orbiting a central black hole. We find that such disks can propel jets for a wide range of coronal conditions. The terminal jet velocity is a strong function of the magnetic field equatorial component. Acceleration and collimation are produced by a tight azimuthal field coil generated in the corona, rather than by a stiff poloidal field extending to large distances. The jets are pressure-confined when the external medium pressure is high, but magnetically-confined when it is low.

Type
Radio Source Modelling and Emission Mechanisms
Copyright
Copyright © Kluwer 1996