0000000000161113
AUTHOR
Philippos Papadopoulos
Numerical Simulations of Relativistic Wind Accretion onto Black Holes Using Godunov-Type Methods
We have studied numerically the so-called Bondi-Hoyle (wind) accretion onto a rotating black hole in general relativity. We have used the Kerr-Schild form of the Kerr metric, free of coordinate singularities at the black hole horizon. The ‘test-fluid’ approximation has been adopted, assuming no dynamical evolution of the gravitational field. We have used a formulation of the relativistic hydrodynamic equations which casts them into a first-order hyperbolic system of conservation laws. Our studies were performed using a Godunov-type scheme based on Marquina’s flux-formula.
A "horizon adapted" approach to the study of relativistic accretion flows onto rotating black holes
We present a new geometrical approach to the study of accretion flows onto rotating (Kerr) black holes. Instead of Boyer-Lindquist coordinates, the standard choice in all existing numerical simulations in the literature, we employ the simplest example of a horizon adapted coordinate system, the Kerr-Schild coordinates. This choice eliminates boundary ambiguities and unphysical divergent behavior at the event horizon. Computations of Bondi-Hoyle accretion onto extreme Kerr black holes, performed here for the first time, demonstrate the key advantages of this procedure. We argue it offers the best approach to the numerical study of the, observationally, increasingly more accesible relativisti…
Axisymmetric core collapse simulations using characteristic numerical relativity
We present results from axisymmetric stellar core collapse simulations in general relativity. Our hydrodynamics code has proved robust and accurate enough to allow for a detailed analysis of the global dynamics of the collapse. Contrary to traditional approaches based on the 3+1 formulation of the gravitational field equations, our framework uses a foliation based on a family of outgoing light cones, emanating from a regular center, and terminating at future null infinity. Such a coordinate system is well adapted to the study of interesting dynamical spacetimes in relativistic astrophysics such as stellar core collapse and neutron star formation. Perhaps most importantly this procedure allo…