The force-free magnetosphere of a rotating black hole

Research Center for Astronomy and Applied Mathematics, Academy of Athens, Athens 11527, Greece

^a e-mail: icontop@academyofathens.gr

Published online: 9 December 2013

Abstract

We explore the analogy with pulsars and investigate the structure of the force-free magnetosphere around a Kerr black hole. We propose that the source of the black hole magnetic field is the Poynting-Robertson effect on the plasma electrons at the inner edge of the surrounding accretion disk, the so called Cosmic Battery. The magnetospheric solution is characterized by the distributions of the magnetic field angular velocity and the poloidal electric current. These are not arbitrary. They are determined self-consistently by requiring that magnetic field lines cross smoothly the two singular surfaces of the problem, the inner ‘light surface’ located inside the ergosphere, and the outer ‘light surface’ which is the generalization of the pulsar light cylinder. The black hole forms a relativistic jet only if it is surrounded by a thick disk and/or extended disk outflows.