Jet Formation in the magnetospheres of supermassive black holes: analytic solutions describing energy loss through Blandford-Znajek processes

TL;DR

This paper derives exact, monopole-free solutions for energy extraction from rotating black holes, describing jet-like electromagnetic outflows via the Blandford-Znajek process.

Contribution

It presents novel analytic solutions for black hole magnetospheres that are free of magnetic monopoles and exhibit jet-like energy fluxes, expanding understanding of black hole energy extraction.

Findings

Solutions show energy flux predominantly along the polar axis.

Magnetospheres are free of magnetic monopoles everywhere.

Energy extraction is described via electromagnetic and matter currents.

Abstract

In this paper, we provide exact solutions for the extraction of energy from a rotating black hole via both the electromagnetic Poynting flux and matter currents. By appropriate choice of a radially independent poloidal function $\Lambda(\theta)$, we find solutions where the dominant outward energy flux is along the polar axis, consistent with a jet-like collimated outflow, but also with a weaker flux of energy along the equatorial plane. Unlike all the previously obtained solutions (Blandford & Znajek (1977), Menon & Dermer (2005)), the magnetosphere is free of magnetic monopoles everywhere.