Hot Accretion Flow in Two-Dimensional Spherical Coordinates: Considering Pressure Anisotropy and Magnetic Field

Abstract

For systems with extremely low accretion rate, such as Galactic Center Sgr A* and M87 galaxy, the ion collisional mean free path can be considerably larger than its Larmor radius. In this case, the gas pressure is anisotropic to magnetic field lines. In this paper, we pay attention to how the properties of outflow change with the strength of anisotropic pressure and the magnetic field. We use an anisotropic viscosity to model the anisotropic pressure. We solve the two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations in spherical coordinates and assume that the accretion flow is radially self-similar. We find that the work done by anisotropic pressure can heat the accretion flow. The gas temperature is heightened when anisotropic stress is included. The outflow velocity increases with the enhancement of strength of the anisotropic force. The Bernoulli parameter does not change much when anisotropic pressure is involved. However, we find that the energy flux of outflow can be increased by a factor of 20 in the presence of anisotropic stress. We find strong wind (the mass outflow is about 70% of the mass inflow rate) is formed when a relatively strong magnetic field is present. Outflows from an active galactic nucleus can interact with gas in its host galaxies. Our result predicts that outflow feedback effects can be enhanced significantly when anisotropic pressure and a relatively powerful magnetic field is considered.

Keywords

• accretion
• accretion discs
• black hole physics
• hydrodynamics