Image Details
Caption: Figure 2.
Snapshots of the azimuthally averaged (top left) density, (top middle) gas temperature, (top right) magnetic pressure, and (bottom) radiation energy density for three example frequency groups. The poloidal magnetic field lines are also shown in white on the magnetic-pressure plot. The radiation energy density plots have the poloidal radiation flux streamlines for the corresponding frequency bins overplotted in black. The white lines in the Er plots show the effective photosphere, where τeffective = 1, and the blue lines show the absorption photosphere, where τabs = 1, for the corresponding frequency bins. The inner r < 50rg semi-circular region in black shows the inner boundary carved out from the simulation domain, the center of which we place the SMBH. The dense midplane region is cold, whereas the envelope region is generally warmer by approximately half an order of magnitude. The magnetic field lines are turbulent in the disk and envelope region. For higher frequencies, the photospheres appear at higher altitudes since the optical depth in the envelope region increases.
© 2026. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.