Electromagnetic extraction of energy from merging black holes

Maxim Lyutikov

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arXiv · 1010.6254

Electromagnetic extraction of energy from merging black holes

Maxim Lyutikov

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Abstract

We calculate the evolution of the prompt intrinsic Poynting power generated by merging black holes. Orbiting black holes induce rotation of the space-time. In a presence of magnetic field supported by an accretion disk outside of the orbit, this results in a generation of an electromagnetic outflow via the Blandford-Znajek-type process with luminosity $L_{EM} \sim G^3 M^3 B^2/(c^5 R_{orb}) $ and reaching a fairly low maximum values of $L_{EM} = 10^{37}-10^{39} m_6 $ erg s$^{-1}$ ($m_6$ is the masses of black holes in millions of Solar mass) at the time of the merger. Dissipation of the wind power may produce two types of observed signatures: a highly variable collimated emission coming from the internal dissipation within the jets and a broad-band near-isotropic emission generated at the termination shocks.

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Maxim Lyutikov. 2010-10-29. Electromagnetic extraction of energy from merging black holes. https://arxiv.org/abs/1010.6254

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