Analytic properties of force-free jets in the Kerr spacetime -- III: uniform field solution

Zhen Pan; Cong Yu; Lei Huang

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aa5c36

paper

Analytic properties of force-free jets in the Kerr spacetime -- III: uniform field solution

arXiv:1702.00513 · doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aa5c36

Abstract

The structure of steady axisymmetric force-free magnetosphere of a Kerr black hole (BH) is governed by a second-order partial differential equation of $A_{ϕ}$ depending on two "free" functions $Ω (A_{ϕ})$ and $I (A_{ϕ})$ , where $A_{ϕ}$ is the $ϕ$ component of the vector potential of the electromagnetic field, $Ω$ is the angular velocity of the magnetic field lines and $I$ is the poloidal electric current. In this paper, we investigate the solution uniqueness. Taking asymptotically uniform field as an example, analytic studies imply that there are infinitely many solutions approaching uniform field at infinity, while only a unique one is found in general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations. To settle down the disagreement, we reinvestigate the structure of the governing equation and numerically solve it with given constraint condition and boundary condition. We find that the constraint condition (field lines smoothly crossing the light surface (LS)) and boundary conditions at horizon and at infinity are connected via radiation conditions at horizon and at infinity, rather than being independent. With appropriate constraint condition and boundary condition, we numerically solve the governing equation and find a unique solution. Contrary to naive expectation, our numerical solution yields a discontinuity in the angular velocity of the field lines and a current sheet along the last field line crossing the event horizon. We also briefly discuss the applicability of the perturbation approach to solving the governing equation.

Analytic properties of force-free jets in the Kerr spacetime -- III: uniform field solution

Abstract

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