Electromagnetic partner of the gravitational signal during accretion onto black holes

Abstract

We investigate the generation of electromagnetic and gravitational radiation in the vicinity of a perturbed Schwarzschild black hole. The gravitational perturbations and the electromagnetic field are studied by solving the Teukolsky master equation with sources, which we take to be locally charged, radially infalling, matter. Our results show that, in addition to the gravitational wave generated as the matter falls into the black hole, there is also a burst of electromagnetic radiation. This electromagnetic field has a characteristic set of quasinormal frequencies, and the gravitational radiation has the quasinormal frequencies of a Schwarzschild black hole. This scenario allows us to compare the gravitational and electromagnetic signals that are generated by a common source.

12 pages, six figures

References in corpus (5)

• Collisions of charged black holes
• On the accretion-induced QNM excitation of a Schwarzschild black hole
• Linking optical and infrared observations with gravitational wave sources through variability
• One dimensional description of the gravitational perturbation in a Kerr background
• Gravitational waves from a dust disk around a Schwarzschild black hole