Direction of a jet from an accreting black hole
Abstract
An important problem of astrophysics is whether a jet from an accreting black hole is aligned with the black hole spin axis or the accretion disk angular momentum vector. An answer to this question can provide important information about the jet triggering mechanism, disk-jet coupling, and the high energy radiation mechanisms in a black hole system. Tidal Disruption Event (TDE) of a star by a supermassive spinning black hole provides a unique astrophyical laboratory to study the jet alignment through the possibility of Lense-Thirring precession of the jet. In this work, we investigate the Swift XRT light curve of the most well sampled jetted TDE, Swift J1644+57. In the thick disk regime of the light curve, we estimate, using a known optimistic method and a new conservative method developed by us, the tilt angle of the jet with respect to the black hole spin axis as a function of the black hole spin parameter. We find that the jet in Swift J1644+57 is more likely to be aligned with the black hole spin axis.
- Publication:
-
42nd COSPAR Scientific Assembly
- Pub Date:
- July 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018cosp...42E.335B