Statistical study of magnetic reconnection in accretion disks systems around HMXBs

Luís H.S. Kadowaki, Elisabete M. De Gouveia Dal Pino, James M. Stone, Luís H.S. Kadowaki, Elisabete M. De Gouveia Dal Pino, James M. Stone

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Highly magnetized accretion disks are present in high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs). A potential mechanism to explain the transition between the High/Soft and Low/Hard states observed in HMXBs can be attributed to fast magnetic reconnection induced in the turbulent corona. In this work, we present results of global general relativistic MHD (GRMHD) simulations of accretion disks around black holes that show that fast reconnection events can naturally arise in the coronal region of these systems in presence of turbulence triggered by MHD instabilities, indicating that such events can be a potential mechanism to explain the transient non-thermal emission in HMXBs. To find the zones of fast reconnection, we have employed an algorithm to identify the presence of current sheets in the turbulent regions and computed statistically the magnetic reconnection rates in these locations obtaining average reconnection rates consistent with the predictions of the theory of turbulence-induced fast reconnection.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)273-276
Number of pages4
JournalProceedings of the International Astronomical Union
DOIs
StateAccepted/In press - 2019

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Medicine (miscellaneous)
  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Nutrition and Dietetics
  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
  • Space and Planetary Science

Keywords

  • accretion disks
  • instabilities
  • magnetic reconnection
  • magnetohydrodynamics (MHD)
  • turbulence

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