Current sheet alignment in oblique black hole magnetospheres -- a black hole pulsar?

Abstract

We study the magnetospheric evolution of a non-accreting spinning black hole (BH) with an initially inclined split monopole magnetic field by means of three-dimensional general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics simulations. This serves as a model for a neutron star (NS) collapse or a BH-NS merger remnant after the inherited magnetosphere has settled into a split monopole field creating a striped wind. We show that the initially inclined split monopolar current sheet aligns over time with the BH equatorial plane. The inclination angle evolves exponentially towards alignment, with an alignment timescale that is inversely proportional to the square of the BH angular velocity, where higher spin results in faster alignment. Furthermore, magnetic reconnection in the current sheet leads to exponential decay of event horizon penetrating magnetic flux with nearly the same timescale for all considered BH spins. In addition, we present relations for the BH mass and spin in terms of the period and alignment timescale of the striped wind. The explored scenario of a rotating, aligning and reconnecting current sheet can potentially lead to multimessenger electromagnetic counterparts to a gravitational wave event due to the acceleration of particles powering high-energy radiation, plasmoid mergers resulting in coherent radio signals, and pulsating emission due to the initial misalignment of the BH magnetosphere.

16 pages, 9 figures

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• OSIRIS-GR: General relativistic activation of the polar cap of a compact neutron star
• Three-dimensional GRMHD simulations of jet formation and propagation in self-gravitating collapsing stars
• On the universality of the split monopole black hole magnetosphere
• General Grad-Shafranov Equation