Physics of Pair Producing Gaps in Black Hole Magnetospheres II -- General Relativity

TL;DR

This paper presents time-dependent general relativistic PIC simulations of pair-producing gaps in black hole magnetospheres, showing quasi-periodic bursts of pairs and radiation that could explain observed TeV flares in M87.

Contribution

It introduces a fully general relativistic, time-dependent PIC simulation of pair gaps in black hole magnetospheres, incorporating inverse Compton scattering and photon tracking.

Findings

Quasi-periodic vacuum gaps produce bursts of pairs and high-energy radiation.

Simulated light curves and spectra match observed features of TeV flares in M87.

Model suggests pair gaps could explain variability in low-luminosity black hole systems.

Abstract

This is the second paper in a series where we examine the physics of pair producing gaps in low-luminosity accreting supermassive black hole systems. In this paper, we carry out time-dependent self-consistent fully general relativistic 1D PIC simulations of the gap, including full inverse Compton scattering and photon tracking. Similar to the previous paper, we find a highly time-dependent solution where a macroscopic vacuum gap can open quasi-periodically, producing bursts of $e^\pm$ pairs and high energy radiation. We present the light curve, particle and photon spectra from this process. Using an empirical scaling relation, we rescale the parameters to the inferred values at the base of the jet in M87, and find that the observed TeV flares could potentially be explained by this model under certain parameter assumptions.