- #1
Robert Friz
- 36
- 9
- TL;DR Summary
- What causes the high energy jet to emanate from a quasar -- magnetism, frame dragging, or both?
Given that a quasar is a super massive black hole with an accretion disk rotating at some significant percentage of the speed of light, what is the mechanism that generates the enormously luminous jet that emanates from the "poles" of the black hole that has become a quasar?
a. The magnetic field produced by the spinning accretion disk rotates at high velocity, accumulates energy from the disk and focuses the energy into an enormously luminous jet.
b. The frame dragging produced by the spinning accretion disk accumulates energy from the disk and focuses energy into an enormously luminous jet.
c. The rotating magnetic field accumulates energy from the disk and the frame dragging focuses the energy into an enormously luminous jet.
d. The rotating magnetic field and the frame dragging both contribute to accumulating energy from the disk and both combine to focus the energy into an enormously luminous jet.
e. The rotating magnetic field and the frame dragging should be considered the same phenomenon/mechanism that accumulates energy from the disk and focuses the energy into an enormously luminous jet.
My vote is d.
PS: "Accumulates energy from the disk" is, in my view, a simplification. In addition to energy gathered from the accretion disk, I believe that black hole evaporation (Hawking radiation) is likely to add to the energy that is accumulated and focused into the jet.
a. The magnetic field produced by the spinning accretion disk rotates at high velocity, accumulates energy from the disk and focuses the energy into an enormously luminous jet.
b. The frame dragging produced by the spinning accretion disk accumulates energy from the disk and focuses energy into an enormously luminous jet.
c. The rotating magnetic field accumulates energy from the disk and the frame dragging focuses the energy into an enormously luminous jet.
d. The rotating magnetic field and the frame dragging both contribute to accumulating energy from the disk and both combine to focus the energy into an enormously luminous jet.
e. The rotating magnetic field and the frame dragging should be considered the same phenomenon/mechanism that accumulates energy from the disk and focuses the energy into an enormously luminous jet.
My vote is d.
PS: "Accumulates energy from the disk" is, in my view, a simplification. In addition to energy gathered from the accretion disk, I believe that black hole evaporation (Hawking radiation) is likely to add to the energy that is accumulated and focused into the jet.