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Main Authors: Hallur, Pravita, Medeiros, Lia, Christian, Pierre, Wong, George N.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.09746
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author Hallur, Pravita
Medeiros, Lia
Christian, Pierre
Wong, George N.
author_facet Hallur, Pravita
Medeiros, Lia
Christian, Pierre
Wong, George N.
contents We characterize the spatial power spectrum of density fluctuations in magnetohydrodynamic flows in a suite of high-resolution, long-time-span general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations. Extracting the local spatial power spectrum in curved spacetime directly from GRMHD simulations can be challenging for several conceptual and mechanical reasons, including choices of the reference frame, the non-uniform co-ordinate grid of the outputs and limited resolution. Taylor's frozen-in hypothesis describes a mapping between the temporal and spatial power spectrum of turbulence, which we apply to density fluctuations. We explore the validity of the assumptions underlying Taylor's hypothesis and evaluate its applicability in extracting spatial power spectra of density fluctuations of black hole accretion flows. Using outputs from the GRMHD code KORAL, we explore models with strong and ordered magnetic fields (MAD, Magnetically Arrested Disks) as well as weak and disordered magnetic fields (SANE, Standard and Normal Evolution). We explore the effects of black hole spin on the power spectra and characterize their spectral properties as a function of distance from the black hole. The observed power spectra follow a broken power law with two slopes separated by a break frequency. Our analysis shows a decrease in break frequency with increasing radius, with distinct trends between SANE and MAD flows. We also observe the first slope to be steeper for SANE flows and some notable distinctions between prograde and retrograde spins.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_09746
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Characterizing Power Spectra of Density Fluctuations in GRMHD Simulations of Black Hole Accretion Using Taylor's Frozen-in Hypothesis
Hallur, Pravita
Medeiros, Lia
Christian, Pierre
Wong, George N.
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
We characterize the spatial power spectrum of density fluctuations in magnetohydrodynamic flows in a suite of high-resolution, long-time-span general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations. Extracting the local spatial power spectrum in curved spacetime directly from GRMHD simulations can be challenging for several conceptual and mechanical reasons, including choices of the reference frame, the non-uniform co-ordinate grid of the outputs and limited resolution. Taylor's frozen-in hypothesis describes a mapping between the temporal and spatial power spectrum of turbulence, which we apply to density fluctuations. We explore the validity of the assumptions underlying Taylor's hypothesis and evaluate its applicability in extracting spatial power spectra of density fluctuations of black hole accretion flows. Using outputs from the GRMHD code KORAL, we explore models with strong and ordered magnetic fields (MAD, Magnetically Arrested Disks) as well as weak and disordered magnetic fields (SANE, Standard and Normal Evolution). We explore the effects of black hole spin on the power spectra and characterize their spectral properties as a function of distance from the black hole. The observed power spectra follow a broken power law with two slopes separated by a break frequency. Our analysis shows a decrease in break frequency with increasing radius, with distinct trends between SANE and MAD flows. We also observe the first slope to be steeper for SANE flows and some notable distinctions between prograde and retrograde spins.
title Characterizing Power Spectra of Density Fluctuations in GRMHD Simulations of Black Hole Accretion Using Taylor's Frozen-in Hypothesis
topic High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.09746