Caltech Astrophysicists Flip Black Hole Theories With Stunning New Simulations
Astounding simulation shows magnetic fields create fluffy, not flat, accretion disks around supermassive black holes, altering our understanding of black hole dynamics. A team of astrophysicists from Caltech has achieved a groundbreaking milestone by simulating the journey of primordial gas from the early universe to its incorporation into a disk of material feeding a supermassive black hole. This innovative simulation challenges theories about these disks that have persisted since the 1970s and opens new doors for understanding the growth and evolution of black holes and galaxies.
“Our new simulation marks the culmination of several years of work from two large collaborations started here at Caltech,” says Phil Hopkins, the Ira S. Bowen Professor of Theoretical Astrophysics.
Bridging the Scale Gap in Cosmic Simulations
The first project, called FIRE (Feedback in Realistic Environments), investigates large-scale cosmic phenomena such as galaxy formation and collisions. The second, known as STARFORGE, focuses on smaller-scale processes, like star formation within individual gas clouds. “But there was this big gap between the two,” Hopkins explains. “Now, for the first time, we have bridged that gap.” Achieving this required a simulation with over 1,000 times the resolution of any previous efforts in the field.
To the team’s surprise, as reported in The Open Journal of Astrophysics, the simulation revealed that magnetic fields play a much larger role than previously believed in forming and shaping the huge disks of material that swirl around and feed the supermassive black holes. “Our theories told us the disks should be flat like crepes,” Hopkins says. “But we knew this wasn’t right because astronomical observations reveal that the disks are actually fluffy—more like an angel cake. Our simulation helped us understand that magnetic fields are propping up the disk material, making it fluffier.”
Supercomputing Black Hole Accretion Disks
In the new simulation, the researchers performed what they call a “super zoom-in” on a single supermassive black hole, a monstrous object that lies at the heart of many galaxies, including our own Milky Way. These ravenous, mysterious bodies contain anywhere from thousands to billions of times the mass of the Sun, and thus exert a huge effect on anything that comes near.
Astronomers have known for decades that as gas and dust are pulled in by the tremendous gravity of these black holes, they are not immediately sucked in. Instead, the material first forms a rapidly swirling disk called an accretion disk. And as the material is just about to fall in, it radiates a huge amount of energy, shining with a brilliance unmatched by just about anything in the universe. But much is still not known about these active supermassive black holes, called quasars, and how the disks that feed them form and behave.
While disks around supermassive black holes have been imaged previously—the Event Horizon Telescope imaged disks circling black holes at the heart of our own galaxy in 2022 and Messier 87 in 2019—these disks are much closer and more tame than the ones that churn around quasars. To visualize what happens around these more active and distant black holes, astrophysicists turn to supercomputer simulations. They feed information about the physics at work in these galactic settings—everything from the basic equations that govern gravity to how to treat dark matter and stars—into thousands of computing processors that work in parallel. This input includes many algorithms, or series of instructions, for the computers to follow to recreate complicated phenomena. So, for example, the computers know that once gas becomes dense enough, a star forms. But the process is not that straightforward.
#BlackHoles #Astrophysics #SpaceScience #Caltech #Cosmology #Astronomy #Physics #SpaceExploration #ScientificBreakthrough #Simulations #BlackHoleTheories #Universe #ScienceInnovation #Research #AstronomicalDiscoveries
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Bridging the Scale Gap in Cosmic Simulations
The first project, called FIRE (Feedback in Realistic Environments), investigates large-scale cosmic phenomena such as galaxy formation and collisions. The second, known as STARFORGE, focuses on smaller-scale processes, like star formation within individual gas clouds. “But there was this big gap between the two,” Hopkins explains. “Now, for the first time, we have bridged that gap.” Achieving this required a simulation with over 1,000 times the resolution of any previous efforts in the field.
To the team’s surprise, as reported in The Open Journal of Astrophysics, the simulation revealed that magnetic fields play a much larger role than previously believed in forming and shaping the huge disks of material that swirl around and feed the supermassive black holes. “Our theories told us the disks should be flat like crepes,” Hopkins says. “But we knew this wasn’t right because astronomical observations reveal that the disks are actually fluffy—more like an angel cake. Our simulation helped us understand that magnetic fields are propping up the disk material, making it fluffier.”
Supercomputing Black Hole Accretion Disks
In the new simulation, the researchers performed what they call a “super zoom-in” on a single supermassive black hole, a monstrous object that lies at the heart of many galaxies, including our own Milky Way. These ravenous, mysterious bodies contain anywhere from thousands to billions of times the mass of the Sun, and thus exert a huge effect on anything that comes near.
Astronomers have known for decades that as gas and dust are pulled in by the tremendous gravity of these black holes, they are not immediately sucked in. Instead, the material first forms a rapidly swirling disk called an accretion disk. And as the material is just about to fall in, it radiates a huge amount of energy, shining with a brilliance unmatched by just about anything in the universe. But much is still not known about these active supermassive black holes, called quasars, and how the disks that feed them form and behave.
While disks around supermassive black holes have been imaged previously—the Event Horizon Telescope imaged disks circling black holes at the heart of our own galaxy in 2022 and Messier 87 in 2019—these disks are much closer and more tame than the ones that churn around quasars. To visualize what happens around these more active and distant black holes, astrophysicists turn to supercomputer simulations. They feed information about the physics at work in these galactic settings—everything from the basic equations that govern gravity to how to treat dark matter and stars—into thousands of computing processors that work in parallel. This input includes many algorithms, or series of instructions, for the computers to follow to recreate complicated phenomena. So, for example, the computers know that once gas becomes dense enough, a star forms. But the process is not that straightforward.
#BlackHoles #Astrophysics #SpaceScience #Caltech #Cosmology #Astronomy #Physics #SpaceExploration #ScientificBreakthrough #Simulations #BlackHoleTheories #Universe #ScienceInnovation #Research #AstronomicalDiscoveries
International Young Scientist Awards
Website link: youngscientistawards.com
Nomination Link: https://youngscientistawards.com/award-nomination/?ecategory=Awards&rcategory=Awardee
Contact Us: support@youngscientistawards.com _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Social Media:
Twitter : https://twitter.com/youngsc06963908
Linkedin- : https://www.linkedin.com/in/shravya-r...
Pinterest : https://in.pinterest.com/youngscienti...
Blog : https://youngscientistaward.blogspot....
Tumblr : https://www.tumblr.com/blog/shravya9v
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