Simulations of the Disk-Jet Interaction in GRS 1915+105 and Other Systems

Abstract

After an X-ray binary experiences a transient jet ejection, it undergoes a phase in which its X-ray light curve is dominated, for some time, by thermal emission from an accretion disk surrounding the black hole. The accretion physics in the thermal-dominant state is understood better than in any other, and it is therefore the best state for comparing observations to theoretical models. Here, I present simulations that study the way a thermally-emitting disk might be expected to behave immediately after a large-scale, steady jet has been removed from the system in the form of a sudden ejection. I simulate the ejection's effect on the disk by allowing the strength of turbulence (modeled by the alpha parameter of Shakura and Sunyaev) to increase rapidly in time, and I show how this change can lead to an outburst in an otherwise-steady disk. The motivation for treating the jet removal in this way is the fact that many models for jets involve large-scale magnetic fields that should inhibit the magnetorotational instability believed to drive turbulence; this should naturally lead to a rapid increase in turbulence when the magnetic field is ejected from the system or otherwise destroyed during the ejection event. I show how the timescale and luminosity of the outburst can be controlled by the manner in which alpha is allowed to change, and I briefly discuss ways in which these simulations can be compared to observations of X-ray binaries, in particular GRS 1915+105, which shows the most complex and variable behavior of any black hole system in outburst.