Two-moment scheme for general-relativistic radiation hydrodynamics: a systematic description and new applications

Abstract

ABSTRACT We provide a systematic description of the steps necessary – and of the potential pitfalls to be encountered – when implementing a two-moment scheme within an implicit–explicit (IMEX) scheme to include radiative-transfer contributions in numerical simulations of general-relativistic (magneto-)hydrodynamics (GRMHD). We make use of the M1 closure, which provides an exact solution for the optically thin and thick limits, and an interpolation between these limits. Special attention is paid to the efficient solution of the emerging set of implicit conservation equations. In particular, we present an efficient method for solving these equations via the inversion of a 4 × 4-matrix within an IMEX scheme. While this method relies on a few approximations, it offers a very good compromise between accuracy and computational efficiency. After a large number of tests in special relativity, we couple our new radiation code, frac, with the GRMHD code bhac to investigate the radiative Michel solution, namely, the problem of spherical accretion on to a black hole in the presence of a radiative field. By performing the most extensive exploration of the parameter space for this problem, we find that the accretion’s efficiency can be expressed in terms of physical quantities such as temperature, T, luminosity, L, and black hole mass, M, via the expression $\varepsilon =(L/L_{\rm Edd})/(\dot{M}/\dot{M}_{\rm Edd})= 7.41\times 10^{-7}\left(T/10^6\, \mathrm{K}\right)^{0.22} \left(L/L_\odot \right)^{0.48} \left(M/M_\odot \right)^{0.48}$, where LEdd and $\dot{M}_{\mathrm{Edd}}$ are the Eddington luminosity and accretion rate, respectively. Finally, we also consider the accretion problem away from spherical symmetry, finding that the solution is stable under perturbations in the radiation field.