Extracting Energy from a Black Hole through the Transition Region

Abstract

A new scenario for extracting energy from a Kerr black hole is proposed. With magnetic field lines connecting plasma particles inside the ergosphere with remote loads, the frame dragging twists the field lines so that energy and angular momentum are extracted from the plasma particles. If the magnetic field is strong enough, the energy extracted from the particles can be so large that the particles have negative energy as they fall into the black hole. So, effectively, the energy is extracted from the black hole. The particles inside the ergosphere can be continuously replenished with accretion from a disk surrounding the black hole, so a transition region with a sufficient amount of plasma is formed between the black hole's horizon and the inner edge of the disk. Thus, the energy can be continuously extracted from the black hole through the transition region. This may be the most efficient way for extracting energy from a Kerr black hole: in principle, almost all of the rotational energy (up to ≈29% of the total energy of the black hole) can be extracted.