Non-axisymmetric relativistic Bondi-Hoyle accretion onto a Schwarzschild black hole

We present the results of an exhaustive numerical study of fully relativistic non-axisymmetric Bondi-Hoyle accretion onto a moving Schwarzschild black hole. We have solved the equations of general relativistic hydrodynamics with a high-resolution shock-capturing numerical scheme based on a linearized Riemann solver. The numerical code was previously used to study axisymmetric flow configurations past a Schwarzschild hole. We have analyzed and discussed the flow morphology for a sample of asymptotically high Mach number models. The results of this work reveal that initially asymptotic uniform flows always accrete onto the hole in a stationary way which closely resembles the previous axisymmetric patterns. This is in contrast with some Newtonian numerical studies where violent flip-flop instabilities were found. As discussed in the text, the reason can be found in the initial conditions used in the relativistic regime, as they can not exactly duplicate the previous Newtonian setups where the instability appeared. The dependence of the final solution with the inner boundary condition as well as with the grid resolution has also been studied. Finally, we have computed the accretion rates of mass and linear and angular momentum.