384 research outputs found
Superradiant scattering of electromagnetic waves emitted from disk around Kerr black holes
We study electromagnetic perturbations around a Kerr black hole surrounded by
a thin disk on the equatorial plane. Our main purpose is to reveal the black
hole superradiance of electromagnetic waves emitted from the disk surface. The
outgoing Kerr-Schild field is used to describe the disk emission, and the
superradiant scattering is represented by a vacuum wave field which is added to
satisfy the ingoing condition on the horizon. The formula to calculate the
energy flux on the disk surface is presented, and the energy transport in the
disk-black hole system is investigated. Within the low-frequency approximation
we find that the energy extracted from the rotating black hole is mainly
transported back to the disk, and the energy spectrum of electromagnetic waves
observed at infinity is also discussed.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in Physical Review
Quantum Fluctuations of Black Hole Geometry
By using the minisuperspace model for the interior metric ofstatic black
holes, we solve the Wheeler-DeWitt equation to study quantum mechanics of the
horizon geometry. Our basic idea is to introduce the gravitational mass and the
expansions of null rays as quantum operators. Then, the exact wave function is
found as a mass eigenstate, and the radius of the apparent horizon is
quantum-mechanically defined. In the evolution of the metric variables, the
wave function changes from a WKB solution giving the classical trajectories to
a tunneling solution. By virtue of the quantum fluctuations of the metric
evolution beyond the WKB approximation, we can observe a static black hole
state with the apparent horizon separating from the event horizon.Comment: 18 pages, DPNU-93-3
Asymptotic power-law tails of massive scalar fields in Reissner-Nordstr\"{o}m background
We investigate dominant late-time tail behaviors of massive scalar fields in
nearly extreme Reissner-Nordstr\"{o}m background. It is shown that the
oscillatory tail of the scalar fields has the decay rate of at
asymptotically late times. The physical mechanism by which the asymptotic
tail yields and the relation between the field mass and the time
scale when the tail begins to dominate, are discussed in terms of resonance
backscattering due to spacetime curvature.Comment: 18 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in Physical Review
The double-Kerr equilibrium configurations involving one extreme object
We demonstrate the existence of equilibrium states in the limiting cases of
the double-Kerr solution when one of the constituents is an extreme object. In
the `extreme-subextreme' case the negative mass of one of the constituents is
required for the balance, whereas in the `extreme-superextreme' equilibrium
configurations both Kerr particles may have positive masses. We also show that
the well-known relation |J|=M^2 between the mass and angular momentum in the
extreme single Kerr solution ceases to be a characteristic property of the
extreme Kerr particle in a binary system.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Class. Quantum Gra
Black Hole Magnetospheres Around Thin Disks Driving Inward and Outward Winds
We construct a simple model for stationary, axisymmetric black-hole
magnetospheres, in which the poloidal magnetic field is generated by a toroidal
electric current in a thin disk with the inner edge, by solving the vacuum
Maxwell equations in Schwarzschild background. In this work, to obtain a
concise analytical form of the magnetic stream function, we use the
approximation that the inner edge is far distant from the event horizon. The
global magnetospheric structure with the closed-loop and open field lines
threading the inner and outer parts of the disk is explicitly shown, claiming
that the model is useful as a starting point to study astrophysical problems
involving inward disk-driven winds to a black hole and outward ones to
infinity. The asymptotic shape of the field lines at the event horizon becomes
nearly cylindrical, while at infinity it becomes conical. The magnetic spot in
the disk connected with the black hole through the loop field lines occupies a
very narrow region with the ring area roughly equal to the horizon area. By
taking account of the existence of a uniform (external) magnetic field, we also
obtain the model for collimated open field lines. Then, it is found that the
magnetic connection between the black hole and the disk breaks down if the
uniform field is strong enough. Considering slow rotation of the magnetosphere
and angular momentum transfer by inward winds from the disk, the final
discussion is devoted to gradual disruption of the closed loops due to radial
accretion of disk plasma toward the black hole.Comment: 15 pages 4 figures accepted for publication in Ap
Instability of toroidal magnetic field in jets and plerions
Jets and pulsar-fed supernova remnants (plerions) tend to develop highly
organized toroidal magnetic field. Such a field structure could explain the
polarization properties of some jets, and contribute to their lateral
confinement. A toroidal field geometry is also central to models for the Crab
Nebula - the archetypal plerion - and leads to the deduction that the Crab
pulsar's wind must have a weak magnetic field. Yet this `Z-pinch' field
configuration is well known to be locally unstable, even when the magnetic
field is weak and/or boundary conditions slow or suppress global modes. Thus,
the magnetic field structures imputed to the interiors of jets and plerions are
unlikely to persist.
To demonstrate this, I present a local analysis of Z-pinch instabilities for
relativistic fluids in the ideal MHD limit. Kink instabilities dominate,
destroying the concentric field structure and probably driving the system
toward a more chaotic state in which the mean field strength is independent of
radius (and in which resistive dissipation of the field may be enhanced). I
estimate the timescales over which the field structure is likely to be
rearranged and relate these to distances along relativistic jets and radii from
the central pulsar in a plerion.
I conclude that a concentric toroidal field is unlikely to exist well outside
the Crab pulsar's wind termination shock. There is thus no dynamical reason to
conclude that the magnetic energy flux carried by the pulsar wind is much
weaker than the kinetic energy flux. Abandoning this inference would resolve a
long-standing puzzle in pulsar wind theory.Comment: 28 pages, plain TeX. Accepted for publication in Ap
Asymptotic tails of massive scalar fields in Schwarzschild background
We investigate the asymptotic tail behavior of massive scalar fields in
Schwarzschild background. It is shown that the oscillatory tail of the scalar
field has the decay rate of at asymptotically late times, and the
oscillation with the period for the field mass is modulated by the
long-term phase shift. These behaviors are qualitatively similar to those found
in nearly extreme Reissner-Nordstr\"{o}m background, which are discussed in
terms of a resonant backscattering due to the space-time curvature.Comment: 21 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in Phys.Rev.
Physical interpretation of NUT solution
We show that the well-known NUT solution can be correctly interpreted as
describing the exterior field of two counter-rotating semi-infinite sources
possessing negative masses and infinite angular momenta which are attached to
the poles of a static finite rod of positive mass.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, submitted to Classical and Quantum Gravit
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