The Properties of Reconnection Current Sheets in GRMHD Simulations of Radiatively Inefficient Accretion Flows

Understand

Non-ideal MHD effects may play a significant role in determining the dynamics, thermal properties, and observational signatures of radiatively inefficient accretion flows onto black holes.

• In particular, particle acceleration during magnetic reconnection events may influence black hole spectra and flaring properties.
• We use representative GRMHD simulations of black hole accretion flows to identify and explore the structures and properties of current sheets as potential sites of magnetic reconnection.
• In the case of standard and normal (SANE) disks, we find that, in the reconnection sites, the plasma beta ranges from $0.1$ to $1000$, the magnetization ranges from $10^{-4}$ to $1$, and the guide fields are weak compared to the reconnecting fields.