Energy, momentum and mass outflows and feedback from thick accretion discs around rotating black holes

Abstract

Using long-duration general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations of radiatively inefficient accretion discs, the energy, momentum and mass outflow rates from such systems are estimated. Outflows occur via two fairly distinct modes: a relativistic jet and a subrelativistic wind. The jet power depends strongly on the black hole spin and on the magnetic flux at the horizon. Unless these are very small, the energy output in the jet dominates over that in the wind. For a rapidly spinning black hole accreting in the magnetically arrested limit, it is confirmed that jet power exceeds the total rate of accretion of rest mass energy. However, because of strong collimation, the jet probably does not have a significant feedback effect on its immediate surroundings. The power in the wind is more modest and shows a weaker dependence on black hole spin and magnetic flux. Nevertheless, because the wind subtends a large solid angle, it is expected to provide efficient feedback on a wide range of scales inside the host galaxy. Empirical formulae are obtained for the energy and momentum outflow rates in the jet and the wind. © 2013 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.