The Analogous Structure of Accretion Flows in Supermassive and Stellar Mass Black Holes. (arXiv:1903.02553v1 [astro-ph.HE])
<a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Ruan_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">John J. Ruan</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Anderson_S/0/1/0/all/0/1">Scott F. Anderson</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Eracleous_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">Michael Eracleous</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Green_P/0/1/0/all/0/1">Paul J. Green</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Haggard_D/0/1/0/all/0/1">Daryl Haggard</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+MacLeod_C/0/1/0/all/0/1">Chelsea L. MacLeod</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Runnoe_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">Jessie C. Runnoe</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Sobolewska_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">Malgosia Sobolewska</a>
Black holes grow rapidly through the accretion of gas. As the accretion rate
onto a black hole decreases, the structure of its surrounding accretion flow is
believed to dramatically transition from a luminous thin disc to become
quasi-spherical and radiatively inefficient. These accretion state transitions
are commonly observed for stellar mass black holes in Galactic X-ray binary
systems, but it is unknown if this process occurs similarly for supermassive
black holes at the centres of galaxies. Here, we show that the geometry of the
accretion flow around supermassive and stellar mass black holes evolve
analogously during transitions between different accretion states. We use X-ray
and rest-UV observations of faded ‘changing-look’ quasars to probe the geometry
of the feeble accretion flows around their supermassive black holes, based on
the spectral changes as a function of Eddington ratio. We find that the
observed spectral evolution in fading quasars displays a remarkable similarity
to accretion state transitions in X-ray binary outbursts. Our results show that
the structures of black hole accretion flows directly scales across a factor of
10^8 in black hole mass, and enables us to apply theoretical models of X-ray
binaries to explain active galactic nuclei phenomenology.
Black holes grow rapidly through the accretion of gas. As the accretion rate
onto a black hole decreases, the structure of its surrounding accretion flow is
believed to dramatically transition from a luminous thin disc to become
quasi-spherical and radiatively inefficient. These accretion state transitions
are commonly observed for stellar mass black holes in Galactic X-ray binary
systems, but it is unknown if this process occurs similarly for supermassive
black holes at the centres of galaxies. Here, we show that the geometry of the
accretion flow around supermassive and stellar mass black holes evolve
analogously during transitions between different accretion states. We use X-ray
and rest-UV observations of faded ‘changing-look’ quasars to probe the geometry
of the feeble accretion flows around their supermassive black holes, based on
the spectral changes as a function of Eddington ratio. We find that the
observed spectral evolution in fading quasars displays a remarkable similarity
to accretion state transitions in X-ray binary outbursts. Our results show that
the structures of black hole accretion flows directly scales across a factor of
10^8 in black hole mass, and enables us to apply theoretical models of X-ray
binaries to explain active galactic nuclei phenomenology.
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