Warps in space-time split black hole disk in two

A new study recently published in The Astrophysical Journal by researchers at Northwestern University in Evanston, US, offers a revolutionary look at how supermassive black holes fuel themselves, according to Astrophysics.

Using a 3D model of “appearance-shifting” quasars, they simulated the erratic functioning of these massive galactic nuclei, which seemingly suddenly switch radiation jets on and off in short periods of time. This pause, which can last for years or months, goes against previous models that predicted a regular pattern of “eating.”

Called “dimmer switch quasars,” these clusters consist of a supermassive, hungry black hole and its nutrients, the gas and cosmic dust that form its accretion disk. This material feeds the black hole across the event horizon, like water flowing through an imaginary sewer for 10,000 years or more.

How were black holes’ warps in space-time simulated?

According to astrophysicist Nick Kaaz, first author of the study, “The gas that feeds these black holes doesn’t necessarily know which way this object is spinning, So why should they align automatically? Changing the alignment drastically changes the image,” he explains in a press release.

Some surprises emerged when the authors simulated a 3D computer model of the accretion disk spinning in the opposite direction of the black hole’s spin. Instead of acting like a pizza crust spinning on a pizza maker’s finger, the accretion disk began to stretch and tear, splitting into inner and outer sub-disks, spinning in opposite directions like a gyroscope.

Explaining some of the brightest objects in the universe

After the accretion disk splits into subdisks, black holes first “swallow” the inner ring. The resulting space is then quickly filled with debris from the outer subdisc. This process of general relativity, which occurs when a black hole rotates space-time around itself, is called “frame dragging”.

It is this frame drag that exerts a stronger pull on material orbiting closer to the black hole and a weaker pull on content orbiting further away. “When [os buracos negros] They spin, dragging the space around them like a giant carousel and forcing it to spin, too,” explains Kaaz.

A release from the university says the discovery could explain “the dramatic behavior of some of the brightest objects in the night sky.” Why do quasars appear and disappear without explanation?.

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