Kavli Affiliate: Roger Blandford
| First 5 Authors: Roger Blandford, Noemie Globus, , ,
| Summary:
We interpret the 1.3mm VLBI observations made by the Event Horizon Telescope
of the black hole in M87. It is proposed that, instead of being a torus of
accreting gas, the observed annular ring is a rotating, magnetically-dominated
ergomagnetosphere that can transmit electromagnetic angular momentum and energy
outward to the disc through a combination of large scale magnetic torque and
small scale instabilities. It is further proposed that energy can be extracted
by magnetic flux threading the ergosphere through the efficient emission of
long wavelength electromagnetic disturbances onto negative energy orbits, when
the invariant $B^2-E^2$ becomes negative. In this way, the spinning black hole
and its ergosphere not only power the jets but also the ejection disc so as to
drive away most of the gas supplied near the Bondi radius. This outflow takes
the form of a MHD wind, extending over many decades of radius, with a
unidirectional magnetic field, that is collimated by the infalling gas across a
magnetopause. This wind, in turn, collimates the relativistic jets and the
emission observed from the jet sheath may be associated with a return current.
A model for the global flow of mass, angular momentum, energy and current, on
scales from the horizon to the Bondi radius, is presented and discussed.
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