We present general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic numerical simulations of the accretion flow around the supermassive black hole in the Galactic Centre, Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*). The simulations include for the first time radiative cooling processes (synchrotron, bremsstrahlung and inverse Compton) self‐consistently in the dynamics, allowing us to test the common simplification of ignoring all cooling losses in the modelling of Sgr A*. We confirm that for Sgr A*, neglecting the cooling losses is a reasonable approximation if the Galactic Centre is accreting below ∼10−8 M⊙ yr−1, i.e. Ṁ<10−7trueṀ Edd . However, above this limit, we show that radiative losses should be taken into account as significant differences appear in the dynamics and the resulting spectra when comparing simulations with and without cooling. This limit implies that most nearby low‐luminosity active galactic nuclei are in the regime where cooling should be taken into account. We further make a parameter study of axisymmetric gas accretion around the supermassive black hole at the Galactic Centre. This approach allows us to investigate the physics of gas accretion in general, while confronting our results with the well‐studied and observed source, Sgr A*, as a test case. We confirm that the nature of the accretion flow and outflow is strongly dependent on the initial geometry of the magnetic field. For example, we find it difficult, even with very high spins, to generate powerful outflows from discs threaded with multiple, separate poloidal field loops.

We studied X-ray reverberation lags in the BHXRB GX 339-4 at the end of the 2014-2015 outburst. We analysed data from a XMM-Newton campaign covering the end of the transition from the soft to the hard state, and the decrease of luminosity in the hard state. During all the observations we detected, at high frequencies, significant disc variability, responding to variations of the power law emission with an average time delay of ∼ 0.009 ± 0.002 s. These new detections of disc thermal reverberation add to those previously obtained and suggest the lag to be always present in hard and hard-intermediate states. Our study reveals a net decrease of lag amplitude as a function of luminosity. We ascribe this trend to variations of the inner flow geometry. A possible scenario implies a decrease of the inner disc truncation radius as the luminosity increases at the beginning of the outburst, followed by an increase of the inner disc truncation radius as the luminosity decreases at the end of the outburst. Finally, we found hints of FeK reverberation (∼ 3σ significance) during the best quality observation of the XMM monitoring. The lag at the FeK energy has similar amplitude as that of the thermally reprocessed component, as expected if the same irradiated region of the disc is responsible for producing both the thermalized and reflected component. This finding suggests FeK reverberation in BHXRBs to be at the reach of current detectors provided observations of sufficiently long exposure are available.

Using the simultaneous Infra-Red (IR) and X-ray light curves obtained by Kalamkar et al. (2016), we perform a Fourier analysis of the IR/X-ray timing correlations of the black hole X-ray binary (BHB) GX 339-4. The resulting IR vs X-ray Fourier coherence and lag spectra are similar to those obtained in previous studies of GX 339-4 using optical light curves. In particular, above 1 Hz, the lag spectrum features an approximately constant IR lag of about 100 ms. We model simultaneously the radio to IR Spectral Energy Distribution (SED), the IR Power Spectral Density (PSD), and the coherence and lag spectra using the jet internal shock model ISHEM assuming that the fluctuations of the jet Lorentz factor are driven by the accretion flow. It turns out that most of the spectral and timing features, including the 100 ms lag, are remarkably well reproduced by this model. The 100 ms time-scale is then associated with the travel time from the accretion flow to the IR emitting zone. Our exploration of the parameter space favours a jet which is at most mildly relativistic (Γ < 3), and a linear and positive relation between the jet Lorentz factor and X-ray light curve i.e. Γ(t) −1 ∝ L X (t). The presence of a strong Low Frequency Quasi Periodic Oscillation (LFQPO) in the IR light curve could be caused by jet precession driven by Lense-Thirring precession of the jet-emitting accretion flow. Our simulations confirm that this mechanism can produce an IR LFQPO similar to that observed in GX 339-4.

The nature of black hole jets at the lowest detectable luminosities remains an open question, largely due to a dearth of observational constraints. Here, we present a new, nearly-simultaneous broadband spectrum of the black hole X-ray binary (BHXB) XTE J1118+480 at an extremely low Eddington ratio (L X ∼ 10 −8.5 L Edd ). Our new spectral energy distribution (SED) includes the radio, near-infrared, optical, ultraviolet, and X-ray wavebands. XTE J1118+480 is now the second BHXB at such a low Eddington ratio with a well-sampled SED, thereby providing new constraints on highly sub-Eddington accretion flows and jets, and opening the door to begin comparison studies between systems. We apply a multi-zone jet model to the new broadband SED, and we compare our results to previous fits to the same source using the same model at 4-5 decades higher luminosity. We find that after a BHXB transitions to the so-called quiescent spectral state, the jet base becomes more compact (by up to an order of magnitude) and slightly cooler (by at least a factor of two). Our preferred model fit indicates that jet particle acceleration is much weaker after the transition into quiescence. That is, accelerated non-thermal particles no longer reach high enough Lorentz factors to contribute significant amounts of synchrotron X-ray emission. Instead, the X-ray waveband is dominated by synchrotron self-Compton emission from a population of mildly relativistic electrons with a quasi-thermal velocity distribution that are associated with the jet base. The corresponding (thermal) synchrotron component from the jet base emits primarily in the infrared through ultraviolet wavebands. Our results on XTE J1118+480 are consistent with broadband modeling for A0620-00 (the only other comparably low Eddington ratio BHXB with a well-sampled SED) and for Sgr A* (the quiescent supermassive black hole at the Galactic center). The above could therefore represent a canonical baseline geometry for accreting black holes in quiescence. We conclude with suggestions for future studies to further investigate the above scenario.

Context. High resolution X-ray spectra of black hole X-ray binaries (BHBs) show blueshifted absorption lines suggesting the presence of outflowing winds. Furthermore, observations show that the disk winds are equatorial and they occur in the Softer (disk dominated) states of the outburst and are less prominent or absent in the Harder (power-law dominated) states. Aims. We want to test whether the self-similar magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) accretion-ejection models can explain the observational results for accretion disk winds in BHBs. In our models, the density at the base of the outflow from the accretion disk is not a free parameter. This mass loading is determined by solving the full set of dynamical MHD equations without neglecting any physical term. Thus, the physical properties of the outflow depend on and are controlled by the global structure of the disk. Methods. We studied different MHD solutions characterized by different values of the disk aspect ratio (ε) and the ejection efficiency (p). We also generate two kinds of MHD solutions depending on the absence (cold solution) or presence (warm solution) of heating at the disk surface. Such heating could be either from dissipation of energy due to MHD turbulence in the disk or from illumination of the disk surface. Warm solutions can have large (>0.1) values of p, which would imply larger wind mass loading at the base of the outflow. We use each of these MHD solutions to predict the physical parameters (distance, density, velocity, magnetic field, etc.) of an outflow. Motivated by observational results, we have put limits on the ionization parameter (ξ), column density, and timescales. Further constraints were derived for the allowed values of ξ from thermodynamic instability considerations, particularly for the Hard SED. These physical constraints were imposed on each of these outflows to select regions within it, which are consistent with the observed winds. Results. The cold MHD solutions are found to be inadequate and cannot account for winds because of their low ejection efficiency. On the contrary, warm solutions can have sufficiently high values of p( 0.1), which are required to explain the observed physical quantities in the wind. From our thermodynamic equilibrium curve analysis for the outflowing gas, we find that in the Hard state a range of ξ is unstable. This constraint makes it impossible to have any wind at all in the Hard state. Conclusions. Using the MHD outflow models we are able to explain the observed trends, i.e. that the winds are equatorial and that they are observable in the Soft states (and not expected in the Hard state) of the BHB outbursts.

We present the first spectral energy distributions produced self-consistently by 2.5D general relativistic magneto-hydrodynamical (GRMHD) numerical simulations, where radiative cooling is included in the dynamical calculation. As a case study, we focus on the accretion flow around the supermassive black hole in the Galactic Centre, Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), which has the best constrained physical parameters. We compare the simulated spectra to the observational data of Sgr A* and explore the parameter space of our model to determine the effect of changing the initial magnetic field configuration, ion to electron temperature ratio T i /T e and the target accretion rate. We find the best description of the data for a mass accretion rate of ∼ 10 −9 M ⊙ /yr, and rapid spin (0.7 < a * < 0.9). The submillimeter peak flux seems largely independent of initial conditions, while the higher energies can be very sensitive to the initial magnetic field configuration. Finally, we also discuss flaring features observed in some simulations, that may be due to artifacts of the 2D configuration.

Context. X-ray binaries display cycles of strong activity during which their luminosity varies across several orders of magnitude. The rising phase is characterized by a hard X-ray spectrum and radio emission due to jets (hard state), whereas the declining phase displays a soft X-ray spectrum and no jet signature (soft state). The origin of these correlated accretion-ejection and spectral hysteresis cycles is still under investigation. Aims. We elaborate on the previously described paradigm, where the increase and decrease in the disk accretion rate is accompanied by a modification of the disk magnetization μ, which in turn determines the dominant torque allowing accretion. For μ greater than some threshold, the accretion flow produces jets that vertically carry away the disk angular momentum (jet-emitting disk, or JED mode), whereas for smaller μ, the turbulence transfers the disk angular momentum outward in the radial direction (standard accretion disk, or SAD mode). The goal of this paper is to investigate the spectral signatures of the JED configurations. Methods. We have developed a two-temperature plasma code that computes the disk local thermal equilibria, taking into account the advection of energy in an iterative way. Our code addresses optically thin/thick transitions, both radiation and gas supported regimes, and computes in a consistent way the emitted spectrum from a steady-state disk. The optically thin emission is obtained using the BELM code, which provides accurate spectra for bremsstrahlung and synchrotron emission processes as well as for their local Comptonization. Results. For a range in radius and accretion rates, JEDs exhibit three thermal equilibria, one thermally unstable and two stable: a cold (optically thick and geometrically thin) and a hot (optically thin and geometrically thick) equilibrium. From the two thermally stable solutions, a hysteresis cycle is naturally obtained. However, standard outbursting X-ray binary cycles cannot be reproduced. Another striking feature of JEDs is their ability to reproduce luminous hard states. At high accretion rates, JEDs become slim, where the main cooling is advection. Conclusions. When the loss of angular momentum and power in jets is consistently taken into account (JED mode), accretion disks have spectral signatures that are consistent with hard states, up to high luminosities. When no jet is present (SAD mode), the spectral signature is consistent with the soft state. These two canonical spectral states of black hole binaries can be explained in terms of two completely different dynamical solutions, namely JED and SAD. The observed spectral cycles can therefore be directly understood in terms of dynamical transitions from one accretion mode to another. These transitions must involve states where some regions emit jets and others do not, however, which argues for hybrid disk configurations.

The black hole candidate MAXI J1836-194 was discovered in 2011 when it went into an outburst, and was the subject of numerous, quasi-simultaneous, multi-wavelength observations in the radio, infrared, optical and X-rays. In this paper, we model its multi-wavelength radio to optical spectral energy distributions (SEDs) with an internal shock jet model. The jet emission is modelled on five dates of the outburst, during which the source is in the hard and hard intermediate X-ray spectral states. The model assumes that fluctuations of the jet velocity are driven by the variability in the accretion flow which is traced by the observed X-ray timing properties of the source. While the global shape of the SED is well reproduced by this model for all the studied observations, the variations in bolometric flux and typical energies require at least two parameters to evolve during the outburst. Here we investigate variations of the jet power and mean Lorentz factor, which are both found to increase with the source luminosity. Our results are compatible with the evolution of the jet Lorentz factor reported in earlier studies of this source. However, due to the large degeneracy of the parameters of the ishem model, our proposed scenario is not unique.