Photon surfing and magic speed re-revisited: Generalized terminal speed under gravity
光子冲浪与魔幻速度再探:引力下的广义终端速度
Due to radiation drag, radiatively driven gaseous matter above a luminous source-photon surfing-has a terminal speed, where the radiative force and the radiation drag force are in balance. This magical speed <inline-formula><tex-math id="TM0001" notation="LaTeX">$\beta _{\rm m}$</tex-math></inline-formula> (<inline-formula><tex-math id="TM0002" notation="LaTeX">$=v_{\rm m}/c$</tex-math></inline-formula>) in photon surfing was first proposed by Icke (1989) for various source geometries, including an infinite flat radiator, where <inline-formula><tex-math id="TM0003" notation="LaTeX">$\beta _{\rm m}=(4-\sqrt{7})/3 \sim 0.45$</tex-math></inline-formula>. For more realistic astrophysical applications, the effects of gravity and a finite extension of the central object are also important. We thus re-examine the magic terminal speed for optically thin outflows from a central luminous gravitating body with mass M, radius R, and luminosity L under the special relativistic framework. In this case the magic speed is determined by the balance among the radiative force, the radiation drag one, and the central gravitational one. As a result, the magic speed <inline-formula><tex-math id="TM0007" notation="LaTeX">$\beta _{\rm m}$</tex-math></inline-formula> depends on L and M as well as the radial distance r (or the direction cosine of the source subtended angle, <inline-formula><tex-math id="TM0011" notation="LaTeX">$\mu _* = \sqrt{1-R^2/r^2}$</tex-math></inline-formula>). We then find the velocity law <inline-formula><tex-math id="TM0012" notation="LaTeX">$\beta =\beta (\mu _*; \Gamma )=\beta (r/R; \Gamma )$</tex-math></inline-formula>, which is expressed as a function of <inline-formula><tex-math id="TM0013" notation="LaTeX">$\mu _*$</tex-math></inline-formula> and the Eddington parameter <inline-formula><tex-math id="TM0014" notation="LaTeX">$\Gamma$</tex-math></inline-formula> (<inline-formula><tex-math id="TM0015" notation="LaTeX">$=L/L_{\rm E}$</tex-math></inline-formula>), <inline-formula><tex-math id="TM0016" notation="LaTeX">$L_{\rm E}$</tex-math></inline-formula> being the Eddington luminosity of the central object. We further find, for a spherical source with gravity, the generalized terminal speed <inline-formula><tex-math id="TM0017" notation="LaTeX">$v_\infty$</tex-math></inline-formula> is expressed as <inline-formula><tex-math id="TM0018" notation="LaTeX">$\beta _{\rm m \infty } = v_{\rm m \infty }/c = (\Gamma -1)/(\Gamma +1)$</tex-math></inline-formula>. This limitation on the terminal speed can explain the prominent observational facts; various radiative outflows in active galaxies and X-ray binaries often show the subrelativistic speed at around 0.1<inline-formula><tex-math id="TM0019" notation="LaTeX">$\, c$</tex-math></inline-formula>-0.4<inline-formula><tex-math id="TM0020" notation="LaTeX">$\, c$</tex-math></inline-formula>.
展开 ▾将经典无引力光子冲浪魔幻速度推广到含中心引力和有限源大小,得到简洁解析上限 βm∞=(Γ−1)/(Γ+1),可解释活动星系核和X射线双星中0.1c–0.4c的亚相对论外流。
Icke 1989 最早在无引力、不同源几何下提出光子冲浪的魔幻速度,例如无限平板源给出 βm≈0.45,此后相关工作多关注辐射阻力平衡。本文在此基础上引入中心发光引力体的质量、半径和光度,在狭义相对论框架下考察辐射力、辐射拖曳力和中心引力三者的平衡。结果将魔幻速度从固定常数推广为随半径/方向余弦和爱丁顿参数 Γ 变化的速度律,球源渐进终端速度为 βm∞=(Γ−1)/(Γ+1)。这一广义速度上限可自然解释活动星系核和 X 射线双星辐射外流常观测到的 0.1c–0.4c 亚相对论速度。未来有望将该框架推广至非球形源、多辐射成分或含相对论流体模拟,以连接吸积外流与喷流的多尺度观测。
刊出 2026-09-11 · 收录 2026-09-14