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Black Hole Magnetospheres

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The Formation and Disruption of Black Hole Jets

Part of the book series: Astrophysics and Space Science Library ((ASSL,volume 414))

Abstract

This chapter compares and contrasts winds and jets driven by the two distinct components of the black magnetosphere: the event horizon magnetosphere (the large scale magnetic field lines that thread the event horizon) and the ergospheric disk magnetosphere associated with poloidal magnetic flux threading plasma near the equatorial plane of the ergosphere. The power of jets from the two components as predicted from single-fluid, perfect MHD numerical simulations are compared. The decomposition of the magnetosphere into these two components depends on the distribution of large scale poloidal magnetic flux in the ergosphere. However, the final distribution of magnetic flux in a black hole magnetosphere depends on physics beyond these simple single-fluid treatments, non-ideal MHD (eg, the dynamics of magnetic field reconnection and radiation effects) and two-fluid effects (eg, ion coupled waves and instabilities in the inner accretion flow). In this chapter, it is emphasized that magnetic field line reconnection is the most important of these physical elements. Unfortunately, in single-fluid perfect MHD simulations, reconnection is a mathematical artifact of numerical diffusion and is not determined by physical processes. Consequently, considerable calculational progress is required before we can reliably assess the role of each of these components of black hole magnetospheres in astrophysical systems.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1415 Granvia Altamira, Palos Verdes Estates, CA, USA, 90274

    Brian Punsly

  2. ICRANet, Piazza della Repubblica 10, Pescara, 65100, Italy

    Brian Punsly

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  1. Brian Punsly
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Correspondence to Brian Punsly .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Ioannis Contopoulos

  2. Physics Department, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland

    Denise Gabuzda

  3. Department of Physics, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece

    Nikolaos Kylafis

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Punsly, B. (2015). Black Hole Magnetospheres. In: Contopoulos, I., Gabuzda, D., Kylafis, N. (eds) The Formation and Disruption of Black Hole Jets. Astrophysics and Space Science Library, vol 414. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10356-3_6

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