Numerical simulations

Our group is working on global, numerical magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of black hole accretion and the resulting outflows and jets. Our goal is to understand and model the connection between accretion, black hole spin, outflows and radiation from these systems.

We are currently modeling sub-Eddington black holes in the radiatively inefficient accretion flow (RIAF) state, which is relevant for understanding quiescent galaxies, low-luminosity AGNs and Sagittarius A*, the massive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. Soon we will also simulate super-Eddington systems — for which radiation affects the dynamics of the flow — and tidal disruption events.

raishin-grmhd-rendering-001
General relativistic MHD simulations of a rapidly spinning black hole (a/M = 0.95) accreting at low rates in the RIAF mode (Soares, Nemmen, in preparation). The panels display the density field (log), velocity and magnetic field streamlines, respectively. We used the RAISHIN code to perform this simulation, and Python for the rendering.

The group is currently using the public codes Pluto, RAISHIN and HARM which implement both Newtonian and general relativistic (GRMHD) simulations, as well as different radiative transfer codes.

University of São Paulo / Associate Professor

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