0000000000890612
AUTHOR
Carles Bona
Intrinsic characterization of space‐time symmetric tensors
This paper essentially deals with the classification of a symmetric tensor on a four‐dimensional Lorentzian space. A method is given to find the algebraic type of such a tensor. A system of concomitants of the tensor is constructed, which allows one to know the causal character of the eigenspace corresponding to a given eigenvalue, and to obtain covariantly their eigenvectors. Some algebraic as well as differential applications are considered.
The role of the ergosphere in the Blandford-Znajek process
The Blandford-Znajek process, one of the most promising model for powering the relativistic jets from black holes, was initially introduced as a mechanism in which the magnetic fields extract energy from a rotating black hole. We study the evolution of force-free electromagnetic fields on regular spacetimes with an ergosphere, which are generated by rapidly rotating stars. Our conclusive results confirm previous works, claiming that the Blandford-Znajek mechanism is not directly related to the horizon of the black hole. We also show that the radiated energy depends exponentially on the compactness of the star.
Almost-Killing conserved currents: A general mass function
A new class of conserved currents, describing non-gravitational energy-momentum density, is presented. The proposed currents do not require the existence of a (timelike) Killing vector, and are not restricted to spherically symmetric spacetimes (or similar ones, in which the Kodama vector can be defined). They are based instead on almost-Killing vectors, which could in principle be defined on generic spacetimes. We provide local arguments, based on energy density profiles in highly simplified (stationary, rigidly-rotating) star models, which confirm the physical interest of these 'almost-Killing currents'. A mass function is defined in this way for the spherical case, qualitatively differen…
The role of the ergosphere in the Blandford-Znajek process
The Blandford-Znajek process, one of the most promising model for powering the relativistic jets from black holes, was initially introduced as a mechanism in which the magnetic fields extract energy from a rotating black hole. We study the evolution of force-free electromagnetic fields on regular spacetimes with an ergosphere, which are generated by rapidly rotating stars. Our conclusive results confirm previous works, claiming that the Blandford-Znajek mechanism is not directly related to the horizon of the black hole. We also show that the radiated energy depends exponentially on the compactness of the star.