HFQPOs and discoseismic mode excitation in eccentric, relativistic discs. II. Magnetohydrodynamic simulations

Abstract

Trapped inertial oscillations (r-modes) provide a promising explanation for high-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations (HFQPOs) observed in the emission from black hole X-ray binary systems. An eccentricity (or warp) can excite r-modes to large amplitudes, but concurrently the oscillations are likely damped by magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence driven by the magnetorotational instability (MRI). We force eccentricity in global, unstratified, zero-net flux MHD simulations of relativistic accretion discs, and find that a sufficiently strong disc distortion generates trapped inertial waves despite this damping. In our simulations, eccentricities above ~ 0.03 in the inner disc excite trapped waves. In addition to the competition between r-mode damping and driving, we observe that larger amplitude eccentric structures modify and in some cases suppress MRI turbulence. Given the variety of distortions (warps as well as eccentricities) capable of amplifying r-modes, the robustness of trapped inertial wave excitation in the face of MRI turbulence in our simulations provides support for a discoseismic explanation for HFQPOs.

16 pages, 14 figures, accepted in MNRAS. Updated with grammatical, typographical, and superficial image corrections

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Cited by in corpus (14)

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• Radiation Transport Two-Temperature GRMHD Simulations of Warped Accretion Disks
• Nozzle Shocks, Disk Tearing and Streamers Drive Rapid Accretion in 3D GRMHD Simulations of Warped Thin Disks
• Investigating lack of accretion disk eccentricity growth in a global 3D MHD simulation of a superhump system
• Probing the eccentricity in protostellar discs -- Modeling kinematics and morphologies
• Dynamical structure of highly eccentric discs with applications to tidal disruption events
• Nonlinear evolution of the magnetorotational instability in eccentric disks
• Three-dimensional simulations of the magnetorotational instability in eccentric disks
• Dynamics of charged particles and quasi-periodic oscillations in the vicinity of a distorted, deformed compact object embedded in a uniform magnetic field
• Focusing of nonlinear eccentric waves in astrophysical discs. II. Excitation and damping of tightly-wound waves
• Linear and nonlinear eccentric mode evolution in unstratified MHD discs
• A Local Model for the Spherical Collapse/Expansion Problem
• X-ray Quasi-Periodic Oscillations in Active Galactic Nuclei and Their Implications for the Changing Look Phenomenon
• Evolution of a Mode of Oscillation Within Turbulent Accretion Disks