Magnetocentrifugal mechanism of pair creation in AGN

TL;DR

This paper investigates how the centrifugal mechanism in rotating black holes of AGNs efficiently produces electron-positron pairs when the electrostatic field reaches the Schwinger threshold, impacting observable gamma-ray features.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of pair creation via the centrifugal mechanism in Kerr black holes, highlighting its efficiency across various AGN parameters.

Findings

Pair creation is highly efficient in AGNs with significant centrifugal effects.

The mechanism predicts strong annihilation lines in the MeV range.

The process is effective over a wide range of AGN luminosities and black hole masses.

Abstract

In the manuscript, we study the efficiency of pair creation by means of the centrifugal mechanism. The strong magnetic field and the effects of rotation, which always take place in Kerr-type black holes, guarantee the frozen-in condition, leading to the generation of an exponentially amplifying electrostatic field. This field, when reaching the Schwinger threshold, leads to efficient pair production. The process has been studied for a wide range of AGN luminosities and black hole masses, and it was found that the mechanism is very efficient, indicating that for AGNs where centrifugal effects are significant, the annihilation lines in the MeV range will be very strong.