The role of the ergosphere in the Blandford-Znajek process

Abstract

The Blandford-Znajek process, one of the most promising models for powering 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, which are generated by rapidly rotating stars, on regular space-times with an ergosphere. 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. © 2012 The Authors Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society © 2012 RAS.