Physics of Pair Producing Gaps in Black Hole Magnetospheres
Abstract
In some low-luminosity accreting supermassive black hole systems, the supply of plasma in the funnel region can be a problem. It is believed that a local region with an unscreened electric field can exist in the black hole magnetosphere, accelerating particles and producing high-energy gamma-rays that can create e ± pairs. We carry out time-dependent self-consistent 1D PIC simulations of this process, including inverse-Compton scattering and photon tracking. We find a highly time-dependent solution where a macroscopic gap opens quasi-periodically to create e ± pairs and high-energy radiation. If this gap is operating at the base of the jet in M87, we expect an intermittency on the order of a few r g /c, which coincides with the timescale of the observed TeV flares from the same object. For Sagittarius A* the gap electric field can potentially grow to change the global magnetospheric structure, which may explain the lack of a radio jet at the center of our galaxy.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- August 2018
- DOI:
- 10.3847/2041-8213/aad8ab
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1805.11039
- Bibcode:
- 2018ApJ...863L..31C
- Keywords:
-
- acceleration of particles;
- black hole physics;
- plasmas;
- radiation mechanisms: non-thermal;
- relativistic processes;
- Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
- E-Print:
- 3 figures, submitted to ApJL