Three-dimensional simulations of black hole tori

The global hydrodynamic nonaxisymmetric instabilities in thick constant angular momentum (l) accretion gas tori in orbit around a Schwarzschild black hole are investigated via 2D and 3D numerical simulations. A radially-wide torus is found to develop and m = 1 nonaxisymmetric density perturbation near the pressure maximum and a trailing spiral wave that extends through the outer part of the torus. This global wave transports angular momentum through the torus, causing the average angular momentum distribution to evolve slowly away from l = constant. The unstable mode drives an accretion flow from the torus into the black hole. The role of accretion is investigated by modeling a wide torus with an inner boundary at the cusp of the Schwarzschild effective potential. In such a torus, accretion is present throughout the evolution; only modest unstable mode growth is observed, and saturation occurs at low amplitude. Comparison simulations performed in the torus equatorial plane show qualitative similarities between the 2D and 3D system, although the 3D modes have a function dependence on height.