Date:
Tue, 22/11/201612:30-13:30
Radiative magnetohydrodynamics simulations of IR and UV radiative pressure on dusty AGN tori
Substantial evidence points to dusty, geometrically thick tori obscuring the central engines of AGNs, but so far no mechanism satisfactorily explains why cool dust in the torus remains in a puffy geometry. IR and UV radiation pressure on dust can play a significant role in shaping the torus, yet the separation of hydrodynamic evolution from radiative transfer in previous work on radiation-supported tori precluded a self-consistent picture. Here we present the first three-dimensional radiative hydrodynamics and magnetohydrodynamics simulations of dusty AGN tori subject to point-source UV and diffuse IR radiative acceleration. Our simulations are distinguished by their use of high-quality radiative transfer for both IR and UV radiation. We discuss the implications of our results for torus morphology and dynamics, for the kinematics of torus inflows and outflows, as well as for AGN obscuration.
Substantial evidence points to dusty, geometrically thick tori obscuring the central engines of AGNs, but so far no mechanism satisfactorily explains why cool dust in the torus remains in a puffy geometry. IR and UV radiation pressure on dust can play a significant role in shaping the torus, yet the separation of hydrodynamic evolution from radiative transfer in previous work on radiation-supported tori precluded a self-consistent picture. Here we present the first three-dimensional radiative hydrodynamics and magnetohydrodynamics simulations of dusty AGN tori subject to point-source UV and diffuse IR radiative acceleration. Our simulations are distinguished by their use of high-quality radiative transfer for both IR and UV radiation. We discuss the implications of our results for torus morphology and dynamics, for the kinematics of torus inflows and outflows, as well as for AGN obscuration.