Radiative plasma simulations of black hole accretion flow coronae in the hard and soft states

Joonas Nättilä ()
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Joonas Nättilä: University of Helsinki

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract Stellar-mass black holes in x-ray binary systems are powered by mass transfer from a companion star. The accreted gas forms an accretion disk around the black hole and emits x-ray radiation in two distinct modes: hard and soft state. The origin of the states is unknown. We perform radiative plasma simulations of the electron-positron-photon corona around the inner accretion flow. Our simulations extend previous efforts by self-consistently including all the prevalent quantum electrodynamic processes. We demonstrate that when the plasma is turbulent, it naturally generates the observed hard-state emission. In addition, we show that when soft x-ray photons irradiate the system—mimicking radiation from an accretion disk—the turbulent plasma transitions into a new equilibrium state that generates the observed soft-state emission. Our findings demonstrate that turbulent motions of magnetized plasma can power black-hole accretion flow coronae and that quantum electrodynamic processes control the underlying state of the plasma.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-51257-1

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