Force-Free Electrodynamics around Extreme Kerr Black Holes

Abstract

Plasma-filled magnetospheres can extract energy from a spinning black hole and provide the power source for a variety of observed astrophysical phenomena. These magnetospheres are described by the highly nonlinear equations of force-free electrodynamics, or FFE. Typically these equations can only be solved numerically. In this paper we consider the FFE equations very near the horizon of a maximally spinning black hole, where the energy extraction takes place. Thanks to an enhanced conformal symmetry which appears in this near-horizon region, we are able to analytically obtain several infinite families of exact solutions of the full nonlinear equations.

24 pages. v2: minor edits, matches published version. Related videos available at http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsrfyTK-g7cP-_8F7A5Zb71K_94_gaXgn