Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2004. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 115-124).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Montana State University--Bozeman, 2005. / Typescript. Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Sachiko Tsuruta. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 210-219).

In this thesis, I present 4 new, high-resolution observations of the Galactic microquasar SS 433, obtained from the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA). I show that we can resolve the same ejecta in successive observations separated by ~ 35 d. I will demonstrate a method to uniquely determine launch vectors of the jet bolides, and I use this unprecedented baseline in time to show that the expansion rate of these bolides may reach 0.03c. I also present the first scientific results from the study of the radio jets in a unique set of historic observations of SS 433: the 39 images that comprise the 2003 VLBA movie of Mioduszewski et al. (2004). This unmatched time sampling allows us to see daily changes in the dynamics of SS 433's jets. I present evidence that these observations caught SS 433 as it transitioned from quiescence into a flare, and I show that this manifests itself as an increase in both the jet launch speed and the brightness of the jet bolides. Using these data, I examine the evolution of the particle energies, densities and magnetic fields within the bolides. We see that the estimates of the mass-loss rates via the jets cannot be reconciled with the those inferred from X-ray or optical data, if we posit equipartition of energy in synchrotron emitting plasma. The time resolution of the 2003 data allows us to observe the flux evolution of the jet bolides, and I show that the bolides undergo a power law decay as t^−2.8. Lastly, I examine X-ray monitoring data from the Swift/BAT satellite and the MAXI All-Sky- Monitor. From these lightcurves, I examine the geometry of the X-ray emission from close to the compact object itself, and I discuss SS 433's place within the current paradigm of accretion in microquasars. Throughout, we will see that it is the accessible time scales of the SS 433 phenomenon that allow us to learn about its exciting, complex physics.

All massive nearby galaxies, including our own, host supermassive black holes. Active galactic nuclei (AGN) are seen when such black holes accrete, and when they produce powerful jets of synchrotron-emitting plasma, they are termed radio-loud AGN. The close correlation between black hole mass and galaxy bulge mass in elliptical galaxies indicates that AGN feedback may be the key to the regulation of galaxy formation. It is thus necessary to fully understand the structure of AGN, the way that they are fuelled, and their duty cycle, in order to study the feedback processes and get a clear picture of galaxy formation. In this thesis, independent methods are developed to constrain the accretion disk and radio jet angles to the line of sight. H IX emission from a sub-sample of high-redshift quasars is measured from near-infrared spectroscopy and modelled as sums of different components, including the characteristic double-peaked profile which results from a thin, rotating accretion disk. Comparing the models using Bayesian evidence, almost all quasars were found to have infrared spectra consistent with the presence of a disk. The jet inclination angles of the same set of quasars were constrained by fitting a model, including the effect of Doppler boosting and the receding torus model for dust obscuration, to the radio \ spectral energy distribution. The fitted disk and jet angles correlate strongly, and are consistent with a model in which the radio jets are launched orthogonally to the plane of the accretion disk, as expected if the jet is powered by energy drawn from the spin of the black hole. Both disk and jet angles correlate with the observed linear source size, which is a projection effect; when deprojected using the fitted angles, the distribution of source sizes agrees with a scenario in which the sources expand into the surrounding medium at a constant rate up to ~ 1 Mpc and then shut off, probably as the nuclei become quiescent. The accretion disk angle was found to correlate weakly with the low-frequency radio luminosity, which provides direct, albeit tenuous, evidence for the receding torus model.

The Magnetorotational Instability (MRI) is believed to be the primary mechanism for angular momentum transfer in astrophysical accretion disks. This instability, which exists in ionized disks in the presence of weak magnetic fields, can either transfer angular momentum directly, or give rise to anomalous viscosity via non-linear turbulence. While many previous analytical treatments are concerned with the local theory of the MRI, when the length scale of rotation shear is comparable to the length scale of the most unstable modes, a global analysis is necessary. In this dissertation we investigate the global theory of the linear MRI. In particular, we show how rotation shear can localize global modes and how the global growth rates can differ signicantly from the local approximation in certain cases. Changes in the equilibrium density are considered. In addition, the effects of Hall Magnetohydrodynamics on the MRI are studied in both the local and global cases. / text

published_or_final_version / Physics / Master / Master of Philosophy

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of St Andrews, May 2007.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2004. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 136-144).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (University of Texas Digital Repository, viewed on Sept. 9, 2009). Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

In the case of cold accretion disk, coupling between charge neutral gas and magnetic field is too weak such that the magneto-rotational instability will be less effective or even stop working. In such a situation it is of prime interest to investigate the pure hydrodynamic turbulence and transport phenomenon. As the Reynolds number increases, the relative importance of the non-linear term in the hydrodynamic equation increases and in the case of accretion disk where molecular viscosity is too small the Reynolds number is large enough for the non-linear term to bring new effects. We investigate a scenario, the ‘weakly non-linear’ evolution of amplitude of linear mode when the flow is bounded by two parallel walls. The unperturbed flow is similar to plane Couette flow but with Coriolis force included in the hydrodynamic equation. Although there is no exponentially growing eigenmode, due to self-interaction the least stable eigenmode will grow in an intermediate phase. Later on this will lead to higher order non-linearity and plausible turbulence. Although the non-linear term in the hydrodynamic equation is energy conserving, within the weakly non-linear analysis it is possible to define a lower bound of the energy needed for flow to transform to turbulent phase. Such an unstable phase is possible only if the Reynolds number ≥ 103−4. In Chapter-2 we set up equation of amplitude for the hydrodynamic perturbation and study the effect of weak non-linear evolution of linear mode for general angular momentum distribution, where Keplerian disk is obtained as a special case. As we know that to explain observed hard X-rays the choice of Keplerian angular momentum profile is not adequate, we consider the sub-Keplerian regime of the disk. In Chapter-3 we assume that the cooling mechanism is dominated by bremsstrahlung process (without any strict knowledge of the magnetic field structure).We show that in a range of Shakura-Sunyaev viscosity 0.2 ≥ α ≥ 0.0005, flow behavior varies widely, particularly by means of the size of disk, efficiency of cooling and corresponding temperatures of ions and electrons. We also show that the disk around a rotating black hole is hotter compared to that around a Schwarzschild black hole, rendering a larger difference between ion and electron temperatures in the former case. We finally reproduce the observed luminosities(L) of two extreme cases—the under-fed AGNs and quasars and ultra-luminous X-ray sources at different combinations of mass accretion rate, ratio of specific heats, Shakura-Sunyaev viscosity parameter and Kerr parameter. In Chapter-4 we investigate the viscous two temperature accretion disk flows around rotating blackholes. We describe the global solution of accretion flows, unlike that in Chapter-3, with a sub-Keplerian angular momentum profile, by solving the underlying conservation equations including explicit cooling processes self-consistently. Bremsstrahlung, synchrotron and inverse comptonization of soft photons are considered as possible cooling mechanisms. We focus on the set of solutions for sub-Eddington, Eddington and super-Eddington mass accretion rates around Schwarzschild and Kerr black holes with a Kerr parameter 0.998. We analyse various phases of advection–general advective paradigm to radiatively inefficient paradigm. The solution may potentially explain the hard X-rays and γ-rays emitted from AGNs and X-ray binaries. We also compare the solutions for two different regimes of viscosity. We finally reproduce the observed luminosities of the under-fed AGNs and quasars, ultra-luminous X-ray sources at different combinations of input parameters such as mass accretion rate and ratio of specific heats.