The Impact of Plasma Angular Momentum on Magnetically Arrested Flows and Relativistic Jets in Hot Accretion Flows Around Black Holes

Abstract: In certain scenarios, the accreted angular momentum of plasma onto a black hole could be low; however, how the accretion dynamics depend on the angular momentum content of the plasma is still not fully understood. We present three-dimensional, general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations of low angular momentum accretion flows around rapidly spinning black holes (with spin $a = +0.9$). The initial condition is a Fishbone-Moncrief (FM) torus threaded by a large amount of poloidal magnetic flux, where the angular velocity is a fraction $f$ of the standard value. For $f = 0$, the accretion flow becomes magnetically arrested and launches relativistic jets but only for a very short duration. After that, free-falling plasma breaks through the magnetic barrier, loading the jet with mass and destroying the jet-disk structure. Meanwhile, magnetic flux is lost via giant, asymmetrical magnetic bubbles that float away from the black hole. The accretion then exits the magnetically arrested state. For $f = 0.1$, the dimensionless magnetic flux threading the black hole oscillates quasi-periodically. The jet-disk structure shows concurrent revival and destruction while the gas outflow efficiency at the event horizon changes accordingly. For $f \geq 0.3$, we find that the dynamical behavior of the system starts to approach that of a standard accreting FM torus. Our results thus suggest that the accreted angular momentum is an important parameter that governs the maintenance of a magnetically arrested flow and launching of relativistic jets around black holes.