Can black hole superradiance be induced by galactic plasmas?
Highly spinning Kerr black holes with masses $M = 1 - 100\ M_{\odot}$ are subject to an efficient superradiant instability in the presence of bosons with masses $\mu \sim 10^{-10} - 10^{-12} eV$. We observe that this precisely matches the effective plasma-induced photon mass in diffuse galactic or i...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
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Elsevier
2018
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| _version_ | 1826284852469563392 |
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| author | Conlon, J Herdeiro, C |
| author_facet | Conlon, J Herdeiro, C |
| author_sort | Conlon, J |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Highly spinning Kerr black holes with masses $M = 1 - 100\ M_{\odot}$ are subject to an efficient superradiant instability in the presence of bosons with masses $\mu \sim 10^{-10} - 10^{-12} eV$. We observe that this precisely matches the effective plasma-induced photon mass in diffuse galactic or intracluster environments ($\omega_{pl} \sim 10^{-10} - 10^{-12}\ eV$). This suggests that bare Kerr black holes within galactic or intracluster environments, possibly even including the one produced in GW150914, are unstable to formation of a photon cloud that may contain a significant fraction of the mass of the original black hole. At maximal efficiency, the instability timescale for a massive vector is milliseconds, potentially leading to a transient rate of energy extraction from a black hole as large as $\sim 10^{55} erg \, s^{-1}$. We discuss mechanisms for releasing the energy in the photon cloud, including a possible connection to Fast Radio Bursts. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T01:20:04Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:9001f528-5925-49d5-919a-4626fb639add |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T01:20:04Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:9001f528-5925-49d5-919a-4626fb639add2022-03-26T23:08:34ZCan black hole superradiance be induced by galactic plasmas?Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:9001f528-5925-49d5-919a-4626fb639addSymplectic Elements at OxfordElsevier2018Conlon, JHerdeiro, CHighly spinning Kerr black holes with masses $M = 1 - 100\ M_{\odot}$ are subject to an efficient superradiant instability in the presence of bosons with masses $\mu \sim 10^{-10} - 10^{-12} eV$. We observe that this precisely matches the effective plasma-induced photon mass in diffuse galactic or intracluster environments ($\omega_{pl} \sim 10^{-10} - 10^{-12}\ eV$). This suggests that bare Kerr black holes within galactic or intracluster environments, possibly even including the one produced in GW150914, are unstable to formation of a photon cloud that may contain a significant fraction of the mass of the original black hole. At maximal efficiency, the instability timescale for a massive vector is milliseconds, potentially leading to a transient rate of energy extraction from a black hole as large as $\sim 10^{55} erg \, s^{-1}$. We discuss mechanisms for releasing the energy in the photon cloud, including a possible connection to Fast Radio Bursts. |
| spellingShingle | Conlon, J Herdeiro, C Can black hole superradiance be induced by galactic plasmas? |
| title | Can black hole superradiance be induced by galactic plasmas? |
| title_full | Can black hole superradiance be induced by galactic plasmas? |
| title_fullStr | Can black hole superradiance be induced by galactic plasmas? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Can black hole superradiance be induced by galactic plasmas? |
| title_short | Can black hole superradiance be induced by galactic plasmas? |
| title_sort | can black hole superradiance be induced by galactic plasmas |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT conlonj canblackholesuperradiancebeinducedbygalacticplasmas AT herdeiroc canblackholesuperradiancebeinducedbygalacticplasmas |