Disk truncation triggers relativistic jet launching of a highly accreting supermassive black hole
Abstract
Relativistic jets are among the most energetic phenomena in the Universe and influence galaxy evolution through energetic feedback, yet the physical connection between accretion flows and jet launching remains unresolved. Jet production is widely attributed to the Blandford-Znajek mechanism, which extracts black hole rotational energy via large-scale magnetic fields sustained by an accretion flow. Although this mechanism is observationally well supported for hot, geometrically-thick accretion flows, highly accreting environments with strong jets present a paradox, as they are typically dominated by cold, geometrically-thin disks incapable of sustaining large-scale magnetic fields. Here, we report coordinated X-ray microcalorimeter spectroscopy achieved by X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) and millimeter/radio interferometric observations by Global Millimeter VLBI Array (GMVA), Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), and East Asian VLBI Network (EAVN) on the broad-line radio galaxy 3C120. High-resolution X-ray spectroscopy reveals a relativistically-broadened Fe-Kα line, indicating that the cold, geometrically-thin disk is truncated at ∼ 20 Rg (Rg is the gravitational radius), with the inner region replaced by a hot, geometrically-thick flow. Concurrently, radio imaging indicates that jet profile extrapolation toward the black hole horizon yields a radius comparable to or even narrower than the disk truncation radius. These results demonstrate that, even at high accretion rates, jet launching is linked to a hot inner flow, possibly via the Blandford-Znajek process, providing evidence for a universal disk-jet connection via geometric transition.
Related
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BibTeX
@misc{noda2026disk,
title = {{Disk truncation triggers relativistic jet launching of a highly accreting supermassive black hole}},
author = {Hirofumi Noda and Kazuhiro Hada and Hiroto Maruyama and Taishu Kayanoki and Kenji Toma and Taiki Kawamuro and Yoshiyuki Inoue and Tomohisa Kawashima and Soyeon Yeo and Ilje Cho and Keiichi Asada and Yasushi Fukazawa and Yoshihiro Ueda},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.27057},
eprint = {2609.27057},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.27057},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Disk truncation triggers relativistic jet launching of a highly accreting supermassive black hole
AU - Hirofumi Noda
AU - Kazuhiro Hada
AU - Hiroto Maruyama
AU - Taishu Kayanoki
AU - Kenji Toma
AU - Taiki Kawamuro
AU - Yoshiyuki Inoue
AU - Tomohisa Kawashima
AU - Soyeon Yeo
AU - Ilje Cho
AU - Keiichi Asada
AU - Yasushi Fukazawa
AU - Yoshihiro Ueda
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/22
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.27057
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.27057
AB - Relativistic jets are among the most energetic phenomena in the Universe and influence galaxy evolution through energetic feedback, yet the physical connection between accretion flows and jet launching remains unresolved. Jet production is widely attributed to the Blandford-Znajek mechanism, which extracts black hole rotational energy via large-scale magnetic fields sustained by an accretion flow. Although this mechanism is observationally well supported for hot, geometrically-thick accretion flows, highly accreting environments with strong jets present a paradox, as they are typically dominated by cold, geometrically-thin disks incapable of sustaining large-scale magnetic fields. Here, we report coordinated X-ray microcalorimeter spectroscopy achieved by X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) and millimeter/radio interferometric observations by Global Millimeter VLBI Array (GMVA), Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), and East Asian VLBI Network (EAVN) on the broad-line radio galaxy 3C120. High-resolution X-ray spectroscopy reveals a relativistically-broadened Fe-Kα line, indicating that the cold, geometrically-thin disk is truncated at ∼ 20 R_g (R_g is the gravitational radius), with the inner region replaced by a hot, geometrically-thick flow. Concurrently, radio imaging indicates that jet profile extrapolation toward the black hole horizon yields a radius comparable to or even narrower than the disk truncation radius. These results demonstrate that, even at high accretion rates, jet launching is linked to a hot inner flow, possibly via the Blandford-Znajek process, providing evidence for a universal disk-jet connection via geometric transition.
ER -