Penrose pair production in massive, extreme Kerr black holes

Journal Article · Wed Nov 15 04:00:00 EST 1978 · Astrophys. J.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1086/156581· OSTI ID:6774610

Leiter, D; Kafatos, M

We show that in the case of very massive (M>10/sup 8/ M/sub sun/) Kerr black holes with extreme ranges of angular momentum 1> or =a/M>0.998, the possibility of photon-induced Penrose pair production (PPP) in the ergosphere is very plausible. The pairs that escape the ergosphere are very high energy and on the order of GeV rest mass of the Penrose accreted protons which participate in the photon-induced pair production process. Application of this model to the case of quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) is shown to lead to reasonable predictions about their masses, lifetimes, and luminosities. The physical mechanism is very general, and also can be applied to other types of active galactic nuclei.

• Research Organization: Department of Physics, George Mason University
• OSTI ID: 6774610
• Journal Information: Astrophys. J.; (United States), Journal Name: Astrophys. J.; (United States) Vol. 226:1; ISSN ASJOA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640105* -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Galaxies
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ANGULAR MOMENTUM
BLACK HOLES
COSMIC RADIO SOURCES
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
GALAXIES
INTERACTIONS
KERR METRIC
MASSLESS PARTICLES
METRICS
MOTION
NUCLEAR REACTIONS
PAIR PRODUCTION
PHOTONS
PHOTONUCLEAR REACTIONS
QUASARS
ROTATION