The biconical kiloparsec structure generated by nuclear starbursts

Two-dimensional calculations of the hydrodynamics produced by nuclear starbursts, taking into consideration the accretion or infall of disc matter on to the heart of the starburst, are here shown to lead to stationary solutions that naturally account for the kpc-scale biconical X-ray and optically detected filamentary structure. The calculated flows are critically compared with former models and with observations of nuclear starbursts. For the infall models, we find that the mechanical energy power of the nuclear cluster must exceed a threshold value, imposed by the rate of disc mass accretion, to undergo blowout. This, combined with an initial mass function (IMF), is shown to regulate the minimum amount of mass that a starburst needs to generate kpc-scale outflows.     

Black hole mergers: can gas discs solve the 'final parsec' problem?

We compute the effect of an orbiting gas disc in promoting the coalescence of a central supermassive black hole binary. Unlike earlier studies, we consider a finite mass of gas with explicit time dependence: we do not assume that the gas necessarily adopts a steady state or a spatially constant accretion rate, i.e. that the merging black hole was somehow inserted into a pre-existing accretion disc. We consider the tidal torque of the binary on the disc, and the binary's gravitational radiation. We study the effects of star formation in the gas disc in a simple energy feedback framework.
The disc spectrum differs in detail from that found before. In particular, tidal torques from the secondary black hole heat the edges of the gap, creating bright rims around the secondary. These rims do not in practice have uniform brightness either in azimuth or time, but can on average account for as much as 50 per cent of the integrated light from the disc. This may lead to detectable high-photon-energy variability on the relatively long orbital time-scale of the secondary black hole, and thus offer a prospective signature of a coalescing black hole binary.
We also find that the disc can drive the binary to merger on a reasonable time-scale only if its mass is at least comparable with that of the secondary black hole, and if the initial binary separation is relatively small, i.e.   a ₀≲ 0.05  pc. Star formation complicates the merger further by removing mass from the disc. In the feedback model we consider, this sets an effective limit to the disc mass. As a result, binary merging is unlikely unless the black hole mass ratio is ≲0.001. Gas discs thus appear not to be an effective solution to the 'last parsec' problem for a significant class of mergers.     

Shock waves with large energy losses by direct radiation from the front

Highly nonadiabatic shock waves are formed at an early stage of a supernova explosion inside a stellar wind because of the large energy losses by direct radiation from the front. The properties of such waves are considered for velocities of (5?25)×10³km s^?1 and gas densities of 10^?17?10^?10 g cm^?3. A critical energy flux going to “infinity” that separates two modes is shown to exist. If the flux is lower than the critical one, then energy losses cause even an increase in the post-shock temperature. An excess of the flux over its critical value results in an abrupt cooling and in a strong compression of the gas. For the flux equal to the critical one, the post-shock gas velocity matches the isothermal speed of sound. Approximate formulas are given for estimating the degree of gas compression and the post-shock radiation-to-gas pressure ratio at energy losses equal to the critical ones and for the limiting compression.     

Hydrodynamic simulations of propagating warps and bending waves in accretion discs

We present the results of a study of propagating warp or bending waves in accretion discs. Three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations were performed using smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH), and the results are compared with calculations based on the linear theory of warped discs.
We examine the response of a gaseous disc to an initially imposed warping disturbance under a variety of physical conditions. We consider primarily the physical regime in which the dimensionless viscosity parameter α < H r , where H r is the disc aspect ratio, so that bending waves are expected to propagate. We also performed calculations for disc models in which α > H r , where the warps are expected to evolve diffusively. Small-amplitude (linear) perturbations are studied in both Keplerian and slightly non-Keplerian discs, and we find that the results of the SPH calculations can be reasonably well fitted by those of the linear theory. The main results of these calculations are: (i) the warp in Keplerian discs when α < H r propagates with little dispersion, and damps at a rate expected from estimates of the code viscosity; (ii) warps evolve diffusively when α > H r ; (iii) the slightly non-Keplerian discs lead to a substantially more dispersive behaviour of the warps, which damp at a similar rate to the Keplerian case, when α < H r .
Initially imposed higher amplitude, non-linear warping disturbances were studied in Keplerian discs. The results indicate that non-linear warps can lead to the formation of shocks, and that the evolution of the warp becomes less wave-like and more diffusive in character.
This work is relevant to the study of the warped accretion discs that may occur around Kerr black holes or in misaligned binary systems, and is mainly concerned with discs in which α < H r . The results indicate that SPH can model the hydrodynamics of warped discs, even when using rather modest numbers of particles.     

Astrophysical applications of a boundary integral method for fluid dynamics

A boundary integral formulation for the dynamics of incompressible, inviscid, self-gravitating bodies is described. The method is applied to several problems of astrophysical interest: spheroidal equilibria (Maclaurin and Jeans), oscillations, and a simple version of tidal encounter and breakup.