Skip to content
DraconiticResearch
Search Sources API
186,546 studies31 sourcesUpdated 55 min ago
PreprintCC BY 4.0arXiv

From Choked to Successful: The Role of Black Hole Spin in Collapsar Jet Breakout

  • Rushikesh Sonawane
  • Krishna Kumar
  • Shabnam Iyyani
Open at sourcePDFDOICite

Abstract

Long gamma-ray bursts (LGRBs) are believed to originate from the core collapse of massive Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars, leading to the formation of a spinning black hole that powers a relativistic jet. The prompt emission is produced once the jet emerges from the stellar envelope. We perform 2D axisymmetric RHD simulations using the PLUTO code to model semi-self-consistent, accretion-powered jets launched by Kerr black holes. For the two progenitor models, we adopt black hole masses of 4 M⊙ and 5 M⊙ corresponding to WR stars of 10 M⊙ and 25 M⊙, respectively. Unlike previous studies, our simulations employ continuous jet injection, with the injected power linked to black hole spin and accretion through an empirical relation motivated by GRMHD simulations, enabling a controlled exploration of jet energetics over 1048-1052 erg s−1. We investigate jet breakout for WR progenitors of 10 M⊙ and 25 M⊙ and identify a critical spin threshold: jets are choked for a ≤ 0.001 and successfully break out for a > 0.001. The breakout time (tB) shows a correlation with jet luminosity (Ljet) and spin (a), revealing three regimes: Newtonian (a ≲ 0.03), relativistic (a ≳ 0.3), and intermediate. A dichotomy is observed in jet head velocity at breakout, with βh ≳ 0.8 for high-spin and βh ∼ 0.35-$0.8$ for lower spins. In the Newtonian regime, simulations yield tB ∝ Ljet−0.48, steeper than analytical predictions, with systematically longer breakout times indicating modified jet-head scaling. In the relativistic regime, calibrated analytical models show improved agreement, with simulations indicating efficient jet propagation.

Related

  1. Chaotic accretion can (still) explain early supermassive black hole growth
    K. Zubovas, M. Tartėnas
    Astronomy & AstrophysicsPeer-reviewedPublisher termsGalaxiesCrossref
  2. JWST reveals two overmassive black hole candidates in dwarf galaxies at z~0.7. Pushing black hole searches into the dwarf-galaxy regime
    E. Iani, P. Rinaldi, A. Torralba +35
    Astronomy & AstrophysicsPeer-reviewedPublisher termsSolar & stellar physicsCrossref
  3. Parameter Estimation for Eccentric Supermassive Black Hole Binaries with Pulsar Timing Arrays
    Sara Manzini, Stanislav Babak
    HALPreprintLicence not statedGeneral astronomyGeneral physicsHAL
  4. Satellite stellar-to-halo mass relations in primordial black hole universes
    Patricio Colazo, Nelson Padilla, Federico Stasyszyn
    Astronomy & AstrophysicsPeer-reviewedPublisher termsGalaxiesCrossref
  5. Primordial black hole interpretation of the subsolar merger event S251112cm
    Md Riajul Haque, Fabio Iocco, Luca Visinelli
    Physics Letters BPeer-reviewedCC BY 4.0High-energy astrophysicsCrossref

Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@misc{sonawane2026from,
  title = {{From Choked to Successful: The Role of Black Hole Spin in Collapsar Jet Breakout}},
  author = {Rushikesh Sonawane and Krishna Kumar and Shabnam Iyyani},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.34940},
  eprint = {2609.34940},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.34940},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - UNPB
TI  - From Choked to Successful: The Role of Black Hole Spin in Collapsar Jet Breakout
AU  - Rushikesh Sonawane
AU  - Krishna Kumar
AU  - Shabnam Iyyani
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/28
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.34940
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.34940
AB  - Long gamma-ray bursts (LGRBs) are believed to originate from the core collapse of massive Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars, leading to the formation of a spinning black hole that powers a relativistic jet. The prompt emission is produced once the jet emerges from the stellar envelope. We perform 2D axisymmetric RHD simulations using the PLUTO code to model semi-self-consistent, accretion-powered jets launched by Kerr black holes. For the two progenitor models, we adopt black hole masses of 4 M_⊙ and 5 M_⊙ corresponding to WR stars of 10 M_⊙ and 25 M_⊙, respectively. Unlike previous studies, our simulations employ continuous jet injection, with the injected power linked to black hole spin and accretion through an empirical relation motivated by GRMHD simulations, enabling a controlled exploration of jet energetics over 10^48-10^52 erg s^−1. We investigate jet breakout for WR progenitors of 10 M_⊙ and 25 M_⊙ and identify a critical spin threshold: jets are choked for a ≤ 0.001 and successfully break out for a > 0.001. The breakout time (t_B) shows a correlation with jet luminosity (L_jet) and spin (a), revealing three regimes: Newtonian (a ≲ 0.03), relativistic (a ≳ 0.3), and intermediate. A dichotomy is observed in jet head velocity at breakout, with β_h ≳ 0.8 for high-spin and β_h ∼ 0.35-$0.8$ for lower spins. In the Newtonian regime, simulations yield t_B ∝ L_jet^−0.48, steeper than analytical predictions, with systematically longer breakout times indicating modified jet-head scaling. In the relativistic regime, calibrated analytical models show improved agreement, with simulations indicating efficient jet propagation.
ER  -