The formation of the coronal flow/ADAF

Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik, Karl- Schwarzschildstr. 1, 85740 Garching, Germany

Corresponding author: E. Meyer-Hofmeister, emm@mpa-garching.mpg.de

Received: 23 December 2002
Accepted: 21 February 2003

Abstract

We develop a new method to describe the accretion flow in the corona above a thin disk around a black hole in vertical and radial extent. The model is based on the same physics as the earlier one-zone model, but now modified including inflow and outflow of mass, energy and angular momentum from and towards neighboring zones. We determine the radially extended coronal flow for different mass flow rates in the cool disk resulting in the truncation of the thin disk at different distance from the black hole. Our computations show how the accretion flow gradually changes to a pure vertically extended coronal or advection-dominated accretion flow (ADAF). Different regimes of solutions are discussed. For some cases wind loss causes an essential reduction of the mass flow.