Hydromagnetic flows from rapidly rotating compact objects. I - Cold relativistic flows from rapid rotators
Abstract
The flow properties of semirelativistic winds driven by rapid rotators are analyzed with a relativistic MHD approach. The situation is that of the injection of accreting matter into the magnetosphere of a rapidly rotating compact object such as a pulsar. Injection occurs when the inner edge of the accretion disk lies between the corotation radius and the light cylinder radius. Flow within a flux tube is treated in terms of conservation laws for the angular velocity of the field lines, the total energy, the particle flux power per unit flux tube, and the total angular momentum. The conservation laws serve as bases for general relativistic solutions for the plasma energy, the specific angular momentum of the plasma and the toroidal magnetic field. The general relativistic Mach number and the general relativistic Alfven point are then calculated. It is shown that the associated poloidal wind can achieve a velocity that is a significant fraction of light speed if the asymptotic Poynting flux approximates the total energy flux, the latter including the rest mass. Implications of the calculations for quasar models are discussed.
- Publication:
-
Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Pub Date:
- July 1986
- Bibcode:
- 1986A&A...162...32C
- Keywords:
-
- Astrophysics;
- Magnetohydrodynamic Flow;
- Quasars;
- Relativistic Effects;
- Rotating Matter;
- Stellar Rotation;
- Conservation Laws;
- Cosmic Plasma;
- Minkowski Space;
- Pulsars;
- Stellar Mass Accretion;
- Topology;
- Astrophysics