Ergomagnetosphere, ejection disc, magnetopause in M87 – I. Global flow of mass, angular momentum, energy, and current

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ABSTRACT We interpret the 1.3 mm VLBI observations made by the Event Horizon Telescope of the black hole in M87. It is proposed that, instead of being a torus of accreting gas, the observed annular ring is a rotating, magnetically dominated ergomagnetosphere that can transmit electromagnetic angular momentum and energy outward to the disc through a combination of large scale magnetic torque and small scale instabilities. It is further proposed that energy may be extracted by magnetic flux threading the ergosphere through the efficient emission of long wavelength electromagnetic disturbances on to negative energy orbits, after the invariant B2 − E2 approaches zero on small scales. In this way, the spinning black hole and its ergosphere not only power the jets but also the ejection disc so as to drive away most of the gas supplied near the Bondi radius. This outflow takes the form of an MHD wind, extending over many decades of radius, with a unidirectional magnetic field, that is collimated by the infalling gas across a magnetopause. This wind, in turn, collimates the relativistic jets and the emission observed from the jet sheath may be associated with a return current. A model for the global flow of mass, angular momentum, energy, and current, on scales from the horizon to the Bondi radius, is outlined and discussed.