Numerical simulations of super-critical black hole accretion flows in general relativity

A new general relativistic radiation magnetohydrodynamical code KORAL is described, which employs the M1 scheme to close the radiation moment equations. The code has been successfully verified against a number of tests. Axisymmetric simulations of super-critical magnetized accretion on a non-rotating black hole (a ∗ = 0.0) and a spinning black hole (a ∗ = 0.9) are presented. The accretion rates in the two models are M ̇ ≈ 100 ÷ 200ṀEdd. These first general relativistic simulations of super-critical black hole accretion are poten-tially relevant to tidal disruption events and hyper-accreting supermassive black holes in the early universe. Both simulated models are optically and geometrically thick, and have funnels through which energy escapes in the form of relativistic gas, Poynting flux and radiative flux. The jet is significantly more powerful in the a ∗ = 0.9 run. The net energy outflow rate in the two runs correspond to efficiencies of 5 % (a ∗ = 0) and 33 % (a ∗ = 0.9), as measured with respect to the mass accretion rate at the black hole. These efficiencies agree well with those measured in previous simulations of non-radiative geometrically thick disks. Furthermore, in the a ∗ = 0.9 run, the outflow power appears to originate in the spinning black hole, suggestin