Abstract

We present results from three-dimensional, numerical relativity simulations of a tilted black hole-thick accretion disc system. The simulations are analysed using tracer particles in the disc which are advected with the flow. Such tracers, which we employ in these new simulations for the first time, provide a powerful means to analyse in detail the complex dynamics of tilted black hole–torus systems. We show how its use helps to gain insight into the overall dynamics of the system, discussing the origin of the observed black hole precession and the development of a global non-axisymmetric m = 1 mode in the disc. Our three-dimensional simulations show the presence of quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) in the instantaneous accretion rate, with frequencies in a range compatible with those observed in low-mass X-ray binaries with either a black hole or a neutron star component. The frequency ratio of the dominant low-frequency peak and the first overtone is o1/f ∼ 1.9, a frequency ratio not attainable when modelling the QPOs as p-mode oscillations in axisymmetric tori.