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Paper: Numerical Relativity Simulations of the Papaloizou–Pringle Instability in Black Hole–Torus Systems
Volume: 459, 6th International Conference of Numerical Modeling of Space Plasma Flows (ASTRONUM 2011)
Page: 67
Authors: Font, J. A.; Kiuchi, K.; Shibata, M.; Montero, P.
Abstract: Astrophysical systems composed by a black hole surrounded by a thick accretion disk (or torus) are the most promising candidates to account for the central engine of gamma-ray bursts, both resulting from the (failed) collapse of a massive star or from the merger of a compact binary system formed by two neutron stars or by a black hole and a neutron star. Such systems are also possibly formed following the collapse of supermassive stars to supermassive black holes. We present here three-dimensional general relativistic numerical simulations of such systems and show that an m = 1 nonaxisymmetric instability grows for a wide range of self-gravitating tori orbiting black holes. The long-lived asymmetry present in the torus turns it into a significant source of large amplitude, quasiperiodic gravitational waves, potentially detectable by forthcoming ground-based and spacecraft detectors.
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