Jonathan Scott
Gold Member
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As far as I know, there is no known mechanism by which gravitational waves could give rise to electromagnetic waves in empty space. There is of course no definitive theory which covers both gravity and quantum effects, but one would not expect to get anywhere near quantum effects in this situation, as the energy density is many orders of magnitude lower than that involved for example in neutron stars.
It would be difficult to extract much energy from a gravitational wave into a solid object. As I said before, if the GRB is real, it seems it must have been created separately as part of some aspect of the merger event, not driven by the gravitational wave.
Black holes are not supposed to be able to maintain any significant magnetic fields (unlike neutron stars in general, and certainly unlike magnetars), so magnetic field effects are not expected to be relevant.
It would be difficult to extract much energy from a gravitational wave into a solid object. As I said before, if the GRB is real, it seems it must have been created separately as part of some aspect of the merger event, not driven by the gravitational wave.
Black holes are not supposed to be able to maintain any significant magnetic fields (unlike neutron stars in general, and certainly unlike magnetars), so magnetic field effects are not expected to be relevant.