Two black holes separated by more than one Schwarzschild radii

Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the gravitational interactions and potential fields of two black holes that are separated by more than one Schwarzschild radius. Participants explore the implications of their separation on gravitational potential, the behavior of matter between the black holes, and the nature of jets emitted from black holes in this context. The conversation touches on theoretical aspects of general relativity and Newtonian gravitation.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions whether the gravitational potential at various locations near two black holes would be less than if the black holes were isolated, considering the opposing gravitational pulls.
  • Another participant seeks clarification on the initial question, indicating confusion about the statement regarding the separation of black holes.
  • A participant provides a mathematical representation of gravitational forces and potentials, referencing an Excel file to illustrate their points.
  • One participant challenges the use of the term "potential," suggesting that a clearer definition is needed in the context of general relativity versus Newtonian gravitation.
  • There is mention of equipotential surfaces and their shapes in both Newtonian and general relativity contexts, with references to specific mathematical discussions related to gravitational fields.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express varying levels of understanding and interpretation of the concepts discussed, leading to some confusion and disagreement about the definitions and implications of gravitational potential in the context of two black holes.

Contextual Notes

There are limitations in the discussion regarding the assumptions made about the nature of gravitational potential and the mathematical representations provided. The conversation also reflects a dependency on definitions that may not be universally agreed upon.

kmarinas86
Messages
974
Reaction score
1
If you have two black holes separated by more than one Schwarzschild radii, given a location at:
  1. The event horizon of one of the black holes.
  2. A location between both black holes
  3. A location on the axis that passes the centers of both black holes.

Wouldn't the potential there actually be less than it would be if the objects were isolated?

First, note the black holes are pulling in opposite directions, so this isn't simply the sum of the gravitational potentials (is it?), but rather a sum of their vectors! If two black holes were about to collide, couldn't the matter that is between them race out between black holes A and B? Surely the velocity the particle will encounter will only increase. With respect to our frame of reference (and time perspective), is it possible that the matter (which appears to be forever collapsing to the Schwarzschild radius) appear to us as being sucked out as the black holes approach each other?

Could the jet coming out of a black "hole" actually be the stream of particles exiting the region near the axis of rotation of two black holes? Remember that from our time perspective (our time coordinate), the matter falling in never seems to cross the Schwarzschild radius, so in a finite amount of time, the matter may be expected to be jutted out in jets (because the black holes would be orbiting each other and the vectors between them cancel). If the masses were unequal, would this stream (between the unequal masses) actually be jutted outside the axis of rotation, causing the jet to be a helix in shape? If the particles were charged a certain way, then helix could expand and become very wide. Because of their relativistic velocity, the expansion would be mostly horizontal rather than vertical.

Perhaps I am wrong when I say the vectors cancel each other. If they don't cancel, then what do they do?
 
Last edited:
Astronomy news on Phys.org
separated by < one swarzchild radii ? Are they identical ?
i really culdn't understand that question statement only...
 
http://www.geocities.com/kmar86/gravitationalfield.xls

I made an Excel file that I think represents what I'm talking about. Here is the math behind it:

[itex]F_x^2+F_y^2=F_r^2[/itex]

[itex]\left(F_r cos\left(\theta\right)\right)^2+\left(F_r*sin\left(\theta\right)\right)^2=F_r^2[/itex]

[itex]F_r\propto\frac{1}{r^2}=\frac{1}{x^2+y^2}[/itex]

[itex]cos\left(\theta\right)=\frac{x}{r}=\frac{x}{\sqrt{x^2+y^2}}[/itex]

[itex]sin\left(\theta\right)=\frac{y}{r}=\frac{y}{\sqrt{x^2+y^2}}[/itex]

[itex]F_x\propto}\frac{x}{\left(x^2+y^2\right)^{\frac{3}{2}}}[/itex]

[itex]F_y\propto}\frac{y}{\left(x^2+y^2\right)^{\frac{3}{2}}}[/itex]

[itex]F_x\propto\frac{1}{1-\frac{r_s}{r}}[/itex]

[itex]F_y\propto\frac{1}{1-\frac{r_s}{r}}[/itex]
 
Are you sure you mean "potential" here?

Hi, kmarinas86,

kmarinas86 said:
If you have two black holes separated by more than one Schwarzschild radii, given a location at:
  1. The event horizon of one of the black holes.
  2. A location between both black holes
  3. A location on the axis that passes the centers of both black holes.

Wouldn't the potential there actually be less than it would be if the objects were isolated?

You'd have to explain what you mean by "potential" in the context of gtr, but in Newtonian gravitation, if you have an isolated system composed of two roughly spherical objects, then indeed, if you plot the equipotential surfaces in "space" in a comoving coordinate system, these look like nested Casini ovals, i.e. in cross section, a sepatrix shaped like a figure eight separates two separate sets of nested equipotentials shrinking onto the two objects, from exterior equipotentials which rapidly become spherelike as you move away from our isolated system.

See also http://www.math.ucr.edu/home/baez/RelWWW/weylvac.html for a discussion of a kind of potential which can be defined (with suitable caveats) for static axisymmetric vacuum solutions in gtr (the Weyl vacuums). As it happens, in a Newtonian context, the picture of "the Potential for Two Positive Mass Monopoles on a Massless Spring" happens to shows the above mentioned exterior equipotentials becoming approximately spherical as you move away from the isolated system.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Similar threads

  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
4K
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
3K
  • · Replies 17 ·
Replies
17
Views
6K
  • · Replies 11 ·
Replies
11
Views
2K
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
3K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
3K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
  • · Replies 14 ·
Replies
14
Views
3K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
3K
  • · Replies 12 ·
Replies
12
Views
2K