External sources of Poynting flux in magnetohydrodynamic simulations of black hole ergospheres

This article investigates the physics that is responsible for creating the outgoing Poynting flux emanating from the ergosphere of a rotating black hole in the limit that the magnetic energy density greatly exceeds the plasma rest mass density (magnetically dominated limit). The underlying physics i...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 2006-02, Vol.366 (1), p.29-38
Main Author: Punsly, Brian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Astronomy
black hole physics
Black holes
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
Magnetic fields
methods: numerical
Physics
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This article investigates the physics that is responsible for creating the outgoing Poynting flux emanating from the ergosphere of a rotating black hole in the limit that the magnetic energy density greatly exceeds the plasma rest mass density (magnetically dominated limit). The underlying physics is derived from published 3D simulations that obey the general relativistic equations of perfect magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). It is found that the majority of the outgoing radial Poynting flux emitted from the magnetically dominated regions of the ergosphere is injected into the magnetosphere by a source outside the event horizon. It is concluded that the primary source of the Poynting flux is associated with inertial forces in the magnetically dominated region proper or in the lateral boundaries of the region. However, the existing numerical data do not rule out the possibility that large computational errors are actually the primary source of the Poynting flux.
ISSN:0035-8711
1365-2966
DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2005.09800.x