About the project
Black holes grow by accreting material through a disc which is bright across the EM spectrum. There is good theoretical and observational evidence that the accretion disc will likely be misaligned with the spin axis of the black hole although this is presently hard to pin down due to a lack of models which deal with such an effect.
Due to misalignment, the resulting general relativistic effect of frame dragging leads to Lense-Thirring torques which drive an increase in the accretion rate onto the hole itself and changes the way it should appear at high photon energies. The details of this process can be explored both analytically and numerically, the latter using simulations of magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) with radiation and GR explicitly included.
Using analytical descriptions of accretion, You will create the first model which describes the emission from a misaligned accretion disc, apply this to data from X-ray satellites and attempt to constrain misalignment directly. You will also have the opportunity to explore new GR-RMHD simulations which are being carried out by Prof Middleton’s group and explore misaligned accretion at super-Eddington rates.
