An accretion torus is an important astrophysical phenomenon which is be- lieved to account for various features of mass inflow and release of radiation on diverse scales near stellar-mass as well as supermassive black holes. When the stationary torus is perturbed it starts to oscillate and once some part of the torus overflows the closed equipotential surface, defined by the stationary solution, this material is accreted or ejected. These oscillations reveal both spacetime properties and the intrinsic characteristics of the torus model. We study the oscillation and accretion properties of geometrically thick accretion tori using general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations. Assuming axial symmetry these simulations are restricted to 2-D approximation. We discuss the impact of the presence of the large scale magnetic field and the profile of the specific angular momentum on the oscillation properties and on the accretion flow motion. 1

In the present work we study the properties of accretion tori orbiting black hole. Our approach to this problem comes from the solving of general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic equations, which follow from conservation of the energy-momentum tensor, the particle number and from Maxwell's equations. We solve these equations by numerical methods which are described in Chapter 1. The formalism of tori which we consider here is described in Chapter 2. We are interested in tori with constant density of angular momentum and Fishbone-Moncrief tori mainly. We study accretion rates in these tori when the mass of black hole is increased suddenly and so the equilibrium in the torus is corrupted. For tori with constant density of angular momentum we study the influence of the presence of toroidal magnetic field on accretion rates.

Axions are one of the best-motivated particles beyond the standard model of particle physics and a promising candidate for dark matter. Through the superradiant instability, axions can extract a significant amount of rotational energy from spinning black holes resulting in dense axion clouds. These axion clouds can imprint themselves on the spin of the black hole and even emit detectable gravitational waves, making them very potent tools in the search for axions. The considerable number of axions present in these clouds can also compensate for the weak coupling between the axion and the standard model particles. However, the interaction between the cloud and the astrophysical plasma that the black hole accretes is often assumed to be negligible. In this thesis, we examine this assumption by studying the interaction between the astrophysical plasma and the axion cloud to determine if it can cause any significant effects.  We find no new gravitational signatures and can conclude that the interaction is not effective enough to halt the evolution of the cloud. Therefore, the main focus of this work is the emitted low-frequency photons that the axions convert into through the interaction. We find that the emission from systems with typical accretion rates can reach up to 10^14 W and is most efficient around fast-spinning stellar black holes that accrete spherically without an accretion disk. However, we conclude that most of this emission will quickly be reabsorbed into the plasma and not cause any detectable signals.  We also study resonant conversion of axions, which can occur when the plasma frequency is comparable to the axion mass. We find that the low accretion rates that enable this are reachable around isolated stellar-mass black holes that travel rapidly through low-density regions of space. In these systems, the luminosity can reach 10^25 W, and possibly even higher if we include stimulation effects. We can, therefore, conclude that a population of fast-traveling isolated black holes can pose a new tool in the search for axions. / Axioner är en av de bäst motiverade partiklarna bortom standardmodellen för partikelfysik och en lovande kandidat för mörk materia. Genom superstrålning kan axioner extrahera en signifikant mängd rotationsenergi från svarta hål vilket kan resultera i täta axionmoln. Dessa axionmoln kan ge avtryck genom deras påverkan på spinnet hos svarta hål och till och med avge detekterbara gravitationsvågor. Detta gör axionmoln till kraftfulla verktyg i sökandet efter axioner. Den stora mängd axioner som dessa moln består av kan också kompensera för den svaga växelverkan mellan axionerna och partiklarna från standardmodellen. Växelverkan mellan molnet och den astrofysikaliska plasmat som det svarta hålet ackumulerar från omgivningen antas ändå ofta vara försumbar. I denna rapport undersöker vi detta antagande genom att studera växelverkan mellan den astrofysikaliska plasmat och axionmolnet för att avgöra om den kan orsaka några observerbara effekter. Vi finner inga nya gravitationella effekter och kan dra slutsatsen att växelverkan inte är tillräckligt effektiv för att påverka utvecklingen av axionmolnet. Därför är huvudfokus i detta arbete utstrålningen av de fotoner som resulterar från växelverkan. Vi finner att emissionen från system med typiska ackretionshastigheter kan nå upp till 10^14 W och är mest effektiv kring svarta hål med låg massa och högt spinn som ackumulerar sfäriskt utan att bilda en ackretionsskiva. Vi drar dock slutsatsen att det mesta av denna emission snabbt kommer att återabsorberas i plasmat och inte orsaka några detekterbara signaler. Vi studerar även konvertering av axioner via resonans, vilket kan inträffa när plasmafrekvensen är jämförbar med massan hos axionerna. Vi finner att de låga ackretionshastigheterna som möjliggör detta kan nås runt isolerade svarta hål som färdas snabbt genom delar av rymden med låg omgivande densitet. I dessa system kan luminositieten nå 10^25 W, och möjligen ännu högre om vi inkluderar stimuleringseffekter. Vi kan därför dra slutsatsen att en population av isolerade svarta hål med hög hastighet kan potentiellt användas i sökandet efter axioner.

Orientadores: Alberto Vazquez Saa, Marcus Aloizio Martinez de Aguiar / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Física Gleb Wataghin / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-27T13:28:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Vieira_RonaldoSavioliSume_D.pdf: 9121576 bytes, checksum: eab8bcedfd86d048afd51f4b65fe9501 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015 / Resumo: Neste trabalho analisamos aspectos dinâmicos de sistemas astrofísicos que possuem uma componente discoidal proeminente. Estudamos o movimento de partículas de teste (estrelas) que cruzam discos galácticos bidimensionais e axialmente simétricos, obtendo uma fórmula para o envelope das órbitas que depende somente da densidade superficial $\Sigma$ do disco. Essa fórmula nos dá uma terceira integral de movimento aproximada para o sistema. Também analisamos a estabilidade das órbitas circulares equatoriais nesses discos, chegando à condição de estabilidade vertical $\Sigma>0$. Esse formalismo é estendido para discos tridimensionais, assim como para a relatividade geral (em que obtivemos que a \textit{condição de energia forte} é suficiente para a estabilidade vertical das órbitas circulares em discos infinitesimais, no caso estático e axialmente simétrico). Trabalhamos também com a aproximação pós-newtoniana (1PN), obtendo o formalismo hamiltoniano para uma distribuição arbitrária de matéria, assim como as correções 1PN nas frequências epicíclicas radial e vertical para configurações estacionárias e axialmente simétricas e a terceira integral de movimento aproximada para discos infinitesimais (estacionários). Outro resultado obtido foi a dependência das frequências epicíclicas com a curvatura riemanniana do espaço-tempo para distribuições suaves de matéria-energia, no caso estático e axialmente simétrico em relatividade geral. A segunda parte desta tese corresponde aos resultados para discos de acreção. Analisamos o movimento de partículas de teste na métrica de Kehagias & Sfetsos (solução esfericamente simétrica da gravitação de Horava no caso em que o espaço-tempo é assintoticamente plano), na região de parâmetros em que a singularidade central é nua. Por fim, estudamos a espessura dos discos de acreção super-Eddington obtida por simulações globais recentes de radiation magnetohydrodynamics em relatividade geral. O resultado foi comparado com modelos de discos slim para taxas de acreção similares, levando à conclusão de que o estado final (estacionário) dos fluxos de acreção gerados por essas simulações é um disco slim, e não um disco espesso, como seria esperado pelas características das configurações iniciais do tipo Polish Doughnuts usualmente adotadas / Abstract: In this work, we analyze dynamical aspects of astrophysical systems containing a prominent discoidal component. We study the motion of test particles (stars) which cross bidimensional, axially symmetric galactic disks, obtaining a formula for the orbits' envelope which depends solely on the disk's surface density. This formula gives us an approximate third integral of motion for the system. We also analyze the stability of equatorial circular orbits in these disks, arriving at the vertical stability condition $\Sigma>0$. This formalism is extended to three-dimensional disks, as well as to general relativity (in which we obtained that the \textit{strong energy condition} is sufficient for vertical stability of circular orbits in infinitesimal disks, in the static and axially symmetric case). We also worked with the post-Newtonian approximation (1PN), obtaining the Hamiltonian formalism for an arbitrary matter distribution, as well as the 1PN corrections to the radial and vertical epicyclic frequencies for stationary and axially symmetric configurations, and the approximated third integral of motion for (stationary) infinitesimal disks. Another result obtained was the dependence of the epicyclic frequencies on the Riemannian spacetime curvature for smooth matter-energy distributions, in the static and axially symmetric case. The second part of this thesis corresponds to the results concerning accretion disks. We analyzed the motion of test particles in the Kehagias & Sfetsos metric (spherically symmetric solution to Horava's gravity in the case in which the spacetime is asymptotically flat), in the parameter region in which the singularity is naked. Finally, we studied the thickness of super-Eddington accretion disks, obtained via recent global radiation magnetohydrodynamics simulations in general relativity. The result was compared with slim-disk models for similar accretion rates, leading to the conclusion that the final (stationary) state of accretion flows generated by these simulations is a slim disk, and not a thick disk, as it would be expected by the characteristics of the usually adopted Polish Doughnuts initial configurations / Doutorado / Física / Doutor em Ciências