Accretion Disks Flashcards
In terms of accretion, what would happen if there was no friction?
Matter would not lose angular momentum and thus not fall in. There would also be very little energy generated.
How is energy extracted from the infalling gas?- What
role does ‘friction’ play ?
How does the inflowing material form a disk? what is the
role of angular momentum ?
What effect does the innermost radius
have on how we interpret the emission from the accretion disk that we
detect ?
The emitted spectrum and the emitted total energy depend on the innermost radius as the spectrum of a disk is the sum of its blackbody components, with an increasing temperature and luminosity from a decreasing area as its RADIUS decreases.
Why is it so difficult to calculate from first principles the way
an accretion disk works?
For the simple model, where does the highest energy photons get
emitted? What complexities do you think General Relativity has on the
spectrum?
What is the source of friction in BH accretion disks? Is this the same
as ‘normal’ friction?
