Related papers: Gravitational Wave Evidence of Spin Energy Extract…
It has for long been an article of faith among astrophysicists that black hole spin energy is responsible for powering the relativistic jets seen in accreting black holes. Two recent advances have strengthened the case. First, numerical…
The launching of astrophysical jets provides the most compelling observational evidence for direct extraction of black hole (BH) spin energy via the Blandford-Znajek (BZ) mechanism. Whilst it is known that spinning Kerr BHs within general…
Collapsing stars constitute the main black hole (BH) formation channel, and are occasionally associated with the launch of relativistic jets that power $ \gamma $-ray bursts (GRBs). Thus, collapsars offer an opportunity to infer the natal…
Black holes generate collimated, relativistic jets which have been observed in gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), microquasars, and at the center of some galaxies (active galactic nuclei; AGN). How jet physics scales from stellar black holes in GRBs…
We describe global, 3D, time-dependent, non-radiative, general-relativistic, magnetohydrodynamic simulations of accreting black holes (BHs). The simulations are designed to transport a large amount of magnetic flux to the center, more than…
The presence of a strong, large-scale magnetic field in an accretion flow leads to extraction of the rotational energy of the black hole (BH) through the Blandford-Znajek (BZ) process, believed to power relativistic jets in various…
M87 has been the target of numerous astronomical observations across the electromagnetic spectrum and Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) resolved an edge-brightened jet. However, the origin and formation of its jets remain unclear. In…
It has been thought for decades that rotating black holes (BHs) power the energetic gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and active galactic nuclei (AGNs), but the mechanism that extracts the BH energy has remained elusive. We here show that the…
The spins of stellar-mass black holes (BHs) and the power outputs of their jets are measurable quantities. Unfortunately, the currently employed methods do not agree and the results are controversial. Two major issues concern the…
Two related topics are discussed. 1. Accretion onto black holes at low and high (though not very high) rates is believed to proceed adiabatically ({\em ie} non-radiatively). It is argued that the liberated energy is carried off by an…
The mechanisms that produce and power relativistic jets are fundamental open questions in black hole (BH) astrophysics. In order to constrain these mechanisms, we analyze the energy efficiency of jet production 'eta' based on archival…
Black-hole driven relativistic astrophysical jets, such as blazars and gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), are powerful sources of electromagnetic radiation. Their emission is powered by some energy dissipation and particle acceleration mechanism…
Recent advances in general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic modeling of jets offer unprecedented insights into the inner workings of accreting black holes that power the jets in active galactic nuclei (AGN) and other accretion systems. I…
Relativistic collimated outflows, or jets, provide a crucial mode of active galactic nucleus feedback. Although jets extract their energy from the black hole (BH) rotation, their effect on the BH spin is poorly understood. Because the spin…
The first direct detections of gravitational waves (GWs) from black hole (BH) mergers, GW150914, GW151226 and LVT151012, give a robust lower limit $\sim 70000$ on the number of merged, highly-spinning BHs in our Galaxy. The total spin…
Black hole (BH) mergers are natural sources of gravitational waves (GWs) and are possibly associated with electromagnetic events. Such events from a charged rotating BH with an accretion on to it could be more energetic and…
Relativistic jets from black holes can extract energy not only from accretion but also directly from the black hole's spin, as described by the Blandford-Znajek mechanism. A longstanding question is whether magnetic flux can accumulate near…
Since the seminal work of Penrose (1969) and Blandford & Znajek (1977), it has been realized that black hole spin may be an important energy source in astrophysics. The radio-loud/radio-quiet dichotomy in the AGN population is usually…
The spin of a black hole retains the memory of how the black hole grew, and can be a potent source of energy for powering relativistic jets. To understand the diagnostic power and astrophysical significance of black hole spin, however, we…
The spin of a newly formed black hole (BH) at the center of a massive star evolves from its natal value due to two competing processes: accretion of gas angular momentum that increases the spin, and extraction of BH angular momentum by…