Accretion Model of Sgr A* in Quiescence

Ramesh Narayan

Ultra-Dim Galactic Nuclei Sgr A* exemplifies an old and famous problem:

Why are SMBHs in the nuclei of normal (non-AGN) galaxies so dim?

True, the gas supply is less

But the gas supply is less by only a few orders of magnitude, not by

8 orders of magnitude as Sgr A*’s luminosity suggests

Apart from the ultra-low luminosity, the spectrum also suggests

something other than the usual thin accretion disk found in QSOs

and bright AGN

What is the mode of accretion, and what determines the luminosity?

If we could figure this out in Sgr A* it would help us to understand a

large class of galactic nuclei, and also to figure out quasar evolution

Luminosity of Sgr A*

MBH ~ 4x106 MSchodel et al. 2003;

Ghez et al. 2003)

Sgr A* is extremely dim:

(Baganoff et al. 2001ab; Genzel et

al. 2003; Ghez et al. 2003)

36 9Radio-submm Edd

35 10IR Edd

33 11X Edd

~ 10 erg/s ~ 3 10

~10 erg/s ~ 3 1

(brighter during flare

0

~ 2 10 erg/s 10

s)

L L

L L

L L

~

Sgr A*

Bondi Accretion Rate in Sgr A*

Thermal gas with kT~1 keV seen near Galactic Center. Gas with kT~ 4 keV spatially resolved at ~1 arcsec 105 RS around Sgr A*

Capture radius for Bondi accrn is ~105 RS , so

Bondi accrn rate can be estimated accurately:

The accretion is highly radiatively inefficient:

Even more true if some emission is from a jet, or if there are other sources of gas

6 1 3Bondi Edd

2 4Bondiacc acc Edd

9 11submm Edd, X Edd

3 10 yr 10

If L 0.1 L 10

But : 3 10 10

M M M

M c L

L L L L

e: :

: :

:

2Bondiacc 0.1L M c

=

Baganoff et al. (2001)

Two Kinds of AccretionThin Accretion

Disk(Shakura & Sunyaev 1973;

Novikov & Thorne 1973;…)

Radiatively efficient

Advection-Dominated Accretion Flow, ADAF

(Ichimaru 1977; Rees et al. 1982; Narayan & Yi 1994, 1995; Abramowicz et al. 1995)

Radiatively inefficient2

rad 0.1L M c

:2

rad

2adv

0.1

0.1

L M c

L M c

:

Why Is the Flow Advection-dominated? Radiation comes primarily from electrons At low , ion-electron (Coulomb) coupling is weak Plasma becomes two-temperature --- heat energy is locked up

in the ions and advected to the center Radiative efficiency of electrons is also low, so electrons also

advect their energy Very hot, optically thin gas. Quasi-spherical. Non-blackbody

spectrum

(Shapiro, Lightman & Eardley 1976; Ichimaru 1977; Bisnovatyi–

Kogan & Lovelace 1997; Quataert 1998; Gruzinov 1998; Quataert & Gruzinov 1998 ; Blackman 1998; Medvedev 2000)

1210 1110 K

~ , ~ 10 Ki eT Tr

M

ADAF Models of Sgr A* Melia (1992, 1994,…) (Bondi model, no rotn, 1-T) Narayan, Yi & Mahadevan (1995) Fabian & Rees (1995) Manmoto, Mineshige & Kusunose (1997) Narayan et al. (1998) Mahadevan (1998) Quataert & Narayan (1999) Manmoto (2000) Ozel, Psaltis & Narayan (2000) Quataert (2002) Yuan, Quataert & Narayan (2003)

Not All the Available Gas Accretes

ADAFs are likely to have strong outflows (Narayan & Yi 1994, 1995; Blandford & Begelman 1999; Stone et al. 1999; Igumenshchev et al. 1999, 2000; Hawley & Balbus 2002) and also to be strongly convective (Narayan & Yi 1994; Narayan, Igumenshchev & Abramowicz 2000; Quataert & Gruzinov 2000)

For both reasons, accretion onto the BH is significantly reduced (true also for Bondi accretion, cf. Igumenshchev & N 2001):

Radio polarization data (Aitken et al. 2000; Bower et al. 2003) constrain gas density at small radii (Quataert & Gruzinov 2000; Agol 2000) and help determine s

BH Bondi

3/ 2

~ /

( ) ~ ( ) /

s

S c

s

c c

R R

R R R R

M M

Quiescent Model of Sgr A*

Chandra gives density at capture radius because 50-100% of

X-rays is resolved (likely bremsstrahlung --- Baganoff et al.

2001)

Polarization data constrain density near the BH s ~ 0.3

Set viscosity parameter = 0.1 and magnetic field strength

plasma=10 (from MHD simulations), but results are insensitive

Need to choose , the fraction of viscous heat that goes into

electrons: ~ 0.5 is natural and works fine

Assume thermal distribution for the bulk of the electrons, but

allow a fraction of the electrons to be nonthermal

(Mahadevan 1998; Ozel et al. 2000; Yuan, Quataert &

Narayan 2003)

ADAF Model of Sgr A* with Only Thermal Electrons

Low luminosity is explained!! Sub-mm peak in the

spectrum explained naturally as synchrotron emission from thermal electrons near BH

X-ray emission is mostly bremsstrahlung from outer electrons

Disagreement in the radio can be explained with a small fraction of nonthermal electrons (Mahadevan 1998; Ozel et al. 2000)

This would also help fit the new quiescent IR data

Model with Both Thermal and Nonthermal Electrons

Assume that a fraction of the electrons have a power-law distribution with index p: n() ~ -p

Obtain a reasonable fit to the spectrum with = 0.015 and p = 3

Takes care of both the radio and IR data Yuan, Quataert & Narayan

(2003)

The Model Satisfies the Polarization Constraints

Bower et al. (2003); Yuan et al. (2003)

What Have We Learned from Sgr A*?

Accretion mode is different from a thin disk --- radiatively inefficient hot two-temperature accretion flow (ADAF). Dim galactic nuclei are not just dim versions of AGN. Different physics!!

Everything conspires to make Sgr A* ultra-dim: Less gas (bright AGN ~MdotEdd) Choked off accretion Radiatively inefficient

Mostly thermal electrons, but also an important fraction of nonthermal electrons

3 2BHacc 10L M c

2BH Bondi10M M

3Bondi Edd10M M

Accretion versus Jet Not much difference between the inner

regions of the accretion flow and the base of the jet

Some radiation may come from accretion flow and some from jet

If a large fraction of luminosity is from jet, then accretion flow is even dimmer!

All models are basically ADAFs: Bondi, RIAF, ADIOS, ADAF-jet,… Horizon swallows energy