A recent paper from the JETSET collaboration studies the possibility of extracting rotational energy from black holes by means of plasma and electromagnetic fields. The authors performed the most comprehensive campaign of two-dimensional kinetic particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations in the spacetime of a spinning black hole using a newly developed code called Frankfurt-PIC (FPIC).
The new code allowed the authors to simulate the dynamics of a black-hole magnetosphere formed by a plasma of electrons and positrons in a realistic manner and starting from first principles.
Magnetospheres are regions in the close environment of an astrophysical body dominated by intense magnetic fields. When the astrophysical body is a black hole, the magnetic field dynamics is deeply affected by the strong gravity of the black hole, and effects related to the spacetime curvature are non-negligible. This study, a new cornerstone achieved by JETSET, showed that the electromagnetic luminosity just outside the event horizon is in extremely good agreement with previous theoretical studies on the Blandford-Znajek mechanism, according to which a magnetosphere can electromagnetically extract the rotational energy of a black hole and power the spectacular astrophysical jets launched by some black holes such as M87*.
Magnetospheres are regions in the close environment of an astrophysical body that are dominated by intense magnetic fields. When the astrophysical body is a black hole, the magnetic field dynamics is deeply affected by its strong gravity, and the effects related to the spacetime curvature are non-negligible. This study, a new cornerstone achieved by JETSET, showed that the electromagnetic luminosity just outside the event horizon is in extremely good agreement with previous theoretical studies on the Blandford-Znajek mechanism, according to which a magnetosphere can electromagnetically extract the rotational energy of a black hole and power the spectacular astrophysical jets launched by some black holes such as M87*.
Together with the Blandford-Znajek mechanism, the authors observed turbulent phenomena in the black hole equatorial plane, that result in magnetic reconnection and the emergence of coherent plasma structures called plasmoids. These highly dynamical entities have been recently considered as a possible origin of the intense flaring activity observed around Sgr A*, and the preliminary results obtained in this new study seem to point to the fact that all the necessary ingredients necessary for a Penrose process involving plasmoids to occur are indeed present in the black hole environment.
This article demonstrates the full potential of the new FPIC code to investigate the astrophysical environment around supermassive black holes such as M87* and Sgr A*, in particular for what concerns the launching of relativistic jets, the emission of flares as well and other type of process that can tap the black hole rotational energy.
While new exciting progress are under development a preprint version of the article can be found here.
