Flow-induced rotation of an S-shaped rotor is investigated using an adaptive numerical scheme based on a vortex particle method. The boundary integral equation with respect to Bernoulli’s function is ...solved using a panel method for obtaining the pressure distribution on the rotor surface which applies the torque to the rotor. The present work first addresses the validation of the scheme against the previous studies of a rotating circular cylinder. Then, we compute the automatic rotation start of an S-shaped rotor from a quiescent state for various values of the moment of inertia. The computed flow patterns where the rotor supplies (or is supplied with) the torque to (or from) the fluid are shown during one cycle of rotation. The vortex shedding from the tip of the advancing bucket is found to play a key role in generating positive torque on the rotor. A remarkable finding is the fact that, after the rotor reaches a stable rotation, the trajectory of the limit cycle in the present autonomous system accounts for the stable rotating movement of the rotor. Furthermore, the hydrodynamic scenario of the rotor automatically starting up from a quiescent state and entering the limit cycle is elucidated for various values of the moment of inertia and the initial angle of the rotor.
ABSTRACT We revisited the unusual wind in GRO J1655−40, detected with Chandra in 2005 April, using long-term Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer X-ray data and simultaneous optical/near-infrared photometric ...data. This wind is the most convincing case for magnetic driving in black hole binaries, as it has an inferred launch radius that is a factor of 10 smaller than the thermal wind prediction. However, the optical and near-infrared (OIR) fluxes monotonically increase around the Chandra observation, whereas the X-ray flux monotonically decreases from 10 days beforehand. Yet the optical and near-infrared fluxes are from the outer, irradiated disk, so for them to increase implies that the X-rays likewise increased. We applied a new irradiated disk model to the multi-wavelength spectral energy distributions. Fitting the OIR fluxes, we estimated the intrinsic luminosity at the Chandra epoch was , which is more than one order of magnitude larger than the observed X-ray luminosity. These results could be explained if a Compton-thick, almost completely ionized gas was present in the wind and strong scattering reduced the apparent X-ray luminosity. The effects of scattering in the wind should then be taken into account for discussion of the wind-driving mechanism. Radiation pressure and Compton heating may also contribute to powering the wind at this high luminosity.
The initial flow past an impulsively started translating circular cylinder is asymptotically analysed using a Brinkman penalization method on the Navier–Stokes equations. The asymptotic solution ...obtained shows that the tangential and normal slip velocities on the cylinder surface are of the order of $1/\sqrt {\lambda }$ and $1/\lambda$, respectively, within the second approximation of the present asymptotic analysis, where $\lambda$ is the penalization parameter. This result agrees with the estimation of Carbou & Fabrie (Adv. Diff. Equ., vol. 8, 2003, pp. 1453–1480). Based on the asymptotic solution, the influence of the penalization parameter $\lambda$ is discussed on the drag coefficient that is calculated using the adopted three formulae. It can then be found that the drag coefficient calculated from the integration of the penalization term exhibits a half-value of the results of Bar-Lev & Yang (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 72, 1975, pp. 625–647) as $\lambda \to \infty$.
ABSTRACT Heavily obscured accretion is believed to represent an important stage in the growth of supermassive black holes and to play an important role in shaping the observed spectrum of the cosmic ...X-ray background. Hard X-ray (E > 10 keV) selected samples are less affected by absorption than samples selected at lower energies, and are therefore one of the best ways to detect and identify Compton-thick (CT, ) active galactic nuclei (AGNs). In this letter we present the first results of the largest broadband (0.3-150 keV) X-ray spectral study of hard X-ray selected AGNs to date, focusing on the properties of heavily obscured sources. Our sample includes the 834 AGNs (728 non-blazar, average redshift z 0.055) reported in the 70-month catalog of the all-sky hard X-ray Swift/Burst Alert Monitor survey. We find 55 CT AGNs, which represent of our non-blazar sample. Of these, 26 are reported as candidate CT AGNs for the first time. We correct for selection bias and derive the intrinsic column density distribution of AGNs in the local universe in two different luminosity ranges. We find a significant decrease in the fraction of obscured Compton-thin AGNs for increasing luminosity, from 46 3% (for = 40-43.7) to 39 3% (for = 43.7-46). A similar trend is also found for CT AGNs. The intrinsic fraction of CT AGNs with = 24-25 normalized to unity in the = 20-25 range is 27 4%, and is consistent with the observed value obtained for AGNs located within 20 Mpc.
Recent X-ray observations show absorbing winds with velocities up to mildly relativistic values of the order of ∼0.1c in a limited sample of six broad-line radio galaxies. They are observed as ...blueshifted Fe xxv–xxvi K-shell absorption lines, similarly to the ultrafast outflows (UFOs) reported in Seyferts and quasars. In this work we extend the search for such Fe K absorption lines to a larger sample of 26 radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGN) observed with XMM–Newton and Suzaku. The sample is drawn from the Swift Burst Alert Telescope 58-month catalogue and blazars are excluded. X-ray bright Fanaroff–Riley Class II radio galaxies constitute the majority of the sources. Combining the results of this analysis with those in the literature we find that UFOs are detected in >27 per cent of the sources. However, correcting for the number of spectra with insufficient signal-to-noise ratio, we can estimate that the incidence of UFOs is this sample of radio-loud AGN is likely in the range f ≃ (50 ± 20) per cent. A photoionization modelling of the absorption lines with xstar allows us to estimate the distribution of their main parameters. The observed outflow velocities are broadly distributed between v
out ≲ 1000 km s−1 and v
out ≃ 0.4c, with mean and median values of v
out ≃ 0.133c and v
out ≃ 0.117c, respectively. The material is highly ionized, with an average ionization parameter of logξ ≃ 4.5 erg s−1 cm, and the column densities are larger than N
H > 1022 cm−2. Overall, these characteristics are consistent with the presence of complex accretion disc winds in a significant fraction of radio-loud AGN and demonstrate that the presence of relativistic jets does not preclude the existence of winds, in accordance with several theoretical models.
We report on an X-ray observing campaign of the ultraluminous X-ray source IC 342 X-1 with NuSTAR and Swift in 2016 October, in which we captured the very moment when the source showed spectral ...variation. The Swift/XRT spectrum obtained in October 9-11 has a power-law shape and is consistent with those observed in the coordinated XMM-Newton and NuSTAR observations in 2012. In October 16-17, when the 3-10 keV flux became 4 times higher, we performed simultaneous NuSTAR and Swift observations. In this epoch, the source showed a more round-shaped spectrum like that seen with ASCA23 years ago. Thanks to the wide energy coverage and high sensitivity of NuSTAR, we obtained hard X-ray data covering up to ∼30 keV for the first time during the high-luminosity state of IC 342 X-1. The observed spectrum has a broader profile than the multi-color disk blackbody model. The X-ray flux decreased again in the last several hours of the NuSTAR observation, when the spectral shape approached those seen in 2012 and 2016 October 9-11. The spectra obtained in our observations and in 2012 can be commonly described with disk emission and its Comptonization in cool (Te 4 keV), optically thick (τ 5) plasma. The spectral turnover seen at around 5-10 keV shifts to higher energies as the X-ray luminosity decreases. This behavior is consistent with that predicted from recent numerical simulations of super-Eddington accretion flows with Compton-thick outflows. We suggest that the spectral evolution observed in IC 342 X-1 can be explained by a smooth change in mass-accretion rate.
ABSTRACT
The merger of two or more galaxies can enhance the inflow of material from galactic scales into the close environments of active galactic nuclei (AGNs), obscuring and feeding the ...supermassive black hole (SMBH). Both recent simulations and observations of AGN in mergers have confirmed that mergers are related to strong nuclear obscuration. However, it is still unclear how AGN obscuration evolves in the last phases of the merger process. We study a sample of 60 luminous and ultra-luminous IR galaxies (U/LIRGs) from the GOALS sample observed by NuSTAR. We find that the fraction of AGNs that are Compton thick (CT; $N_{\rm H}\ge 10^{24}\rm \, cm^{-2}$) peaks at $74_{-19}^{+14}{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ at a late merger stage, prior to coalescence, when the nuclei have projected separations (dsep) of 0.4–6 kpc. A similar peak is also observed in the median NH $(1.6\pm 0.5)\times 10^{24}\rm \, cm^{-2}$. The vast majority ($85^{+7}_{-9}{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$) of the AGNs in the final merger stages (dsep ≲ 10 kpc) are heavily obscured ($N_{\rm H}\ge 10^{23}\rm \, cm^{-2}$), and the median NH of the accreting SMBHs in our sample is systematically higher than that of local hard X-ray-selected AGN, regardless of the merger stage. This implies that these objects have very obscured nuclear environments, with the $N_{\rm H}\ge 10^{23}\rm \, cm^{-2}$ gas almost completely covering the AGN in late mergers. CT AGNs tend to have systematically higher absorption-corrected X-ray luminosities than less obscured sources. This could either be due to an evolutionary effect, with more obscured sources accreting more rapidly because they have more gas available in their surroundings, or to a selection bias. The latter scenario would imply that we are still missing a large fraction of heavily obscured, lower luminosity ($L_{2-10}\lesssim 10^{43}\rm \, erg\, s^{-1}$) AGNs in U/LIRGs.
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