A strong magnetic field around the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Galaxy

Magnetic field reversal in the turbulent environment around a repeating fast radio burst

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are brief, intense flashes of radio waves from unidentified extragalactic sources. Polarized FRBs originate in highly magnetized environments. We report observations of the repeating FRB 20190520B spanning 17 months, which show that the FRB's Faraday rotation is highly variable and twice changes sign. The FRB also depolarizes below radio frequencies of about 1 to 3 gigahertz. We interpret these properties as being due to changes in the parallel component of the magnetic field integrated along the line of sight, including reversing direction of the field. This could result from propagation through a turbulent magnetized screen of plasma, located 10^-5 to [Formula: see text] parsecs from the FRB source. This is consistent with the bursts passing through the stellar wind of a binary companion of the FRB source.

Electromagnetic Fields around Black Holes in Einstein Æther Gravity

Axial symmetry and stationary properties of spacetime allow to find exact analytical solutions of differential equations describing fields and particles in a gravitational background. The present work is mainly devoted to derivation of exact solutions of Maxwell’s equations for magnetic fields generated by current loops around static black holes (BHs) in Einstein-aether gravity based on the spacetime symmetries in both regions: (i) interior and (ii) exterior to the current loop for a proper observer. The spacetime symmetries are applied in separating variables to solve the second order ordinary differential equation for vector potential of electromagnetic field and the equations of motion of test particles around the aether BH. We also study effects of the aether field on innermost stable circular orbits (ISCOs) of the test particles assuming the current loop position is placed there. It is obtained that the ISCO radius, as well as dipole magnetic moment of the current loop decrease with the increase of the aether parameter c14. Moreover, the performed analysis indicates that the aether field causes a decrease in the magnetic field inside and outside the current loop due to the change of its position.

Dynamics of Charged Particles Moving around Kerr Black Hole with Inductive Charge and External Magnetic Field

We mainly focus on the effects of small changes of parameters on the dynamics of charged particles around Kerr black holes surrounded by an external magnetic field, which can be considered as a tidal environment. The radial motions of charged particles on the equatorial plane are studied via an effective potential. It is found that the particle energies at the local maxima values of the effective potentials increase with an increase in the black hole spin and the particle angular momenta, but decrease with an increase of one of the inductive charge parameter and magnetic field parameter. The radii of stable circular orbits on the equatorial plane also increase, whereas those of the innermost stable circular orbits decrease. On the other hand, the effects of small variations of the parameters on the orbital regular and chaotic dynamics of charged particles on the non-equatorial plane are traced by means of a time-transformed explicit symplectic integrator, Poincaré sections and fast Lyapunov indicators. It is shown that the dynamics sensitivity depends on small variations in the inductive charge parameter, magnetic field parameter, energy, and angular momentum. Chaos occurs easily as each of the inductive charge parameter, magnetic field parameter, and energy increases but is weakened as the angular momentum increases. When the dragging effects of the spacetime increase, the chaotic properties are not always weakened under some circumstances.

Neutron Stars and Dark Matter

Neutron stars change their structure with accumulation of dark matter. We study how their mass is influenced from the environment. Close to the sun, the dark matter accretion from the neutron star does not have any effect on it. Moving towards the galactic center, the density increase in dark matter results in increased accretion. At distances of some fraction of a parsec, the neutron star acquire enough dark matter to have its structure changed. We show that the neutron star mass decreases going towards the galactic centre, and that dark matter accumulation beyond a critical value collapses the neutron star into a black hole. Calculations cover cases varying the dark matter particle mass, self-interaction strength, and ratio between the pressure of dark matter and ordinary matter. This allow us to constrain the interaction cross section, σdm, between nucleons and dark matter particles, as well as the dark matter self-interaction cross section.

Diverse polarization angle swings from a repeating fast radio burst source

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are millisecond-duration radio transients^1,2 of unknown origin. Two possible mechanisms that could generate extremely coherent emission from FRBs invoke neutron star magnetospheres^3-5 or relativistic shocks far from the central energy source^6-8. Detailed polarization observations may help us to understand the emission mechanism. However, the available FRB polarization data have been perplexing, because they show a host of polarimetric properties, including either a constant polarization angle during each burst for some repeaters^9,10 or variable polarization angles in some other apparently one-off events^11,12. Here we report observations of 15 bursts from FRB 180301 and find various polarization angle swings in seven of them. The diversity of the polarization angle features of these bursts is consistent with a magnetospheric origin of the radio emission, and disfavours the radiation models invoking relativistic shocks.

Influence of Cosmic Repulsion and Magnetic Fields on Accretion Disks Rotating around Kerr Black Holes

We present a review of the influence of cosmic repulsion and external magnetic fields on accretion disks rotating around rotating black holes and on jets associated with these rotating configurations. We consider both geometrically thin and thick disks. We show that the vacuum energy represented by the relic cosmological constant strongly limits extension of the accretion disks that is for supermassive black holes comparable to extension of largest galaxies, and supports collimation of jets at large distances from the black hole. We further demonstrate that an external magnetic field crucially influences the fate of ionized Keplerian disks causing creation of winds and jets, enabling simultaneously acceleration of ultra-high energy particles with energy up to 10 21 eV around supermassive black holes with M ∼ 10 10 M ⊙ surrounded by sufficiently strong magnetic field with B ∼ 10 4 G. We also show that the external magnetic fields enable existence of “levitating” off-equatorial clouds or tori, along with the standard equatorial toroidal structures, if these carry a non-vanishing, appropriately distributed electric charge.

Physical implications of electroweak monopole

The electroweak monopole in the standard model, the existence, characteristic features, cosmological production and physical implications are discussed. The discovery of the Higgs particle has been thought to be the 'final' test of the standard model. If the standard model is correct, however, it must have the electroweak monopole as the electroweak generalization of the Dirac monopole. This means that the detection of this monopole should become the final and topological test of the standard model. If detected, it becomes the first magnetically charged and stable topological elementary particle in the history of physics. Moreover, it has deep implications in physics. In cosmology, it could generate the primordial magnetic black holes which could explain the dark matter, become the seed of the large-scale structures of the universe, and be the source of the intergalactic magnetic field. Just as importantly, it could generate the hitherto unknown magnetic current which could have huge practical applications. Furthermore, the existence of the monopole requires us to reformulate the perturbative expansion in quantum field theory. This makes the detection of the electroweak monopole a most urgent issue. We discuss useful tips for the MoEDAL detector at LHC and similar experiments on how to detect the monopole successfully. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Topological avatars of new physics'.

Observational diversity of magnetized neutron stars

Young and rotation-powered neutron stars (NSs) are commonly observed as rapidly-spinning pulsars. They dissipate their rotational energy by emitting pulsar wind with electromagnetic radiation and spin down at a steady rate, according to the simple steadily-rotating magnetic dipole model. In reality, however, multiwavelength observations of radiation from the NS surface and magnetosphere have revealed that the evolution and properties of NSs are highly diverse, often dubbed as 'NS zoo'. In particular, many of young and highly magnetized NSs show a high degree of activities, such as sporadic electromagnetic outbursts and irregular changes in pulse arrival times. Importantly, their magnetic field, which are the strongest in the universe, makes them ideal laboratories for fundamental physics. A class of highly-magnetized isolated NSs is empirically divided into several subclasses. In a broad classification, they are, in the order of the magnetic field strength (B) from the highest, 'magnetars' (historically recognized as soft gamma-ray repeaters and/or anomalous x-ray pulsars), 'high-B pulsars', and (nearby) x-ray isolated NSs. This article presents an introductory review for non-astrophysicists about the observational properties of highly-magnetized NSs, and their implications. The observed dynamic nature of NSs must be interpreted in conjunction with transient magnetic activities triggered during magnetic-energy dissipation process. In particular, we focus on how the five fundamental quantities of NSs, i.e. mass, radius, spin period, surface temperature, and magnetic fields, as observed with modern instruments, change with evolution of, and vary depending on the class of, the NSs. They are the foundation for a future unified theory of NSs.

Determining the rotation direction in pulsars

Pulsars are rotating neutron stars emitting lighthouse-like beams. Owing to their unique properties, pulsars are a unique astrophysical tool to test general relativity, inform on matter in extreme conditions, and probe galactic magnetic fields. Understanding pulsar physics and emission mechanisms is critical to these applications. Here we show that mechanical-optical rotation in the pulsar magnetosphere affects polarisation in a way which is indiscernible from Faraday rotation in the interstellar medium for typical GHz observations frequency, but which can be distinguished in the sub-GHz band. Besides being essential to correct for possible systematic errors in interstellar magnetic field estimates, this result offers a unique means to determine the rotation direction of pulsars, providing additional constraints on magnetospheric physics. With the ongoing development of sub-GHz observation capabilities, our finding promises discoveries, such as the spatial distribution of pulsars rotation directions, which could exhibit potentially interesting, but presently invisible, correlations or features.

Fifty Years of Energy Extraction from Rotating Black Hole: Revisiting Magnetic Penrose Process

Magnetic Penrose process (MPP) is not only the most exciting and fascinating process mining the rotational energy of black hole but it is also the favored astrophysically viable mechanism for high energy sources and phenomena. It operates in three regimes of efficiency, namely low, moderate and ultra, depending on the magnetization and charging of spinning black holes in astrophysical setting. In this paper, we revisit MPP with a comprehensive discussion of its physics in different regimes, and compare its operation with other competing mechanisms. We show that MPP could in principle foot the bill for powering engine of such phenomena as ultra-high-energy cosmic rays, relativistic jets, fast radio bursts, quasars, AGNs, etc. Further, it also leads to a number of important observable predictions. All this beautifully bears out the promise of a new vista of energy powerhouse heralded by Roger Penrose half a century ago through this process, and it has today risen in its magnetically empowered version of mid 1980s from a purely thought experiment of academic interest to a realistic powering mechanism for various high-energy astrophysical phenomena.

An X-ray chimney extending hundreds of parsecs above and below the Galactic Centre

Evidence has mounted in recent decades that outflows of matter and energy from the central few parsecs of our Galaxy have shaped the observed structure of the Milky Way on a variety of larger scales¹. On scales of 15 parsecs, the Galactic Centre has bipolar lobes that can be seen in both the X-ray and radio parts of the spectrum^2,3, indicating broadly collimated outflows from the centre, directed perpendicular to the Galactic plane. On larger scales, approaching the size of the Galaxy itself, γ-ray observations have revealed the so-called 'Fermi bubble' features⁴, implying that our Galactic Centre has had a period of active energy release leading to the production of relativistic particles that now populate huge cavities on both sides of the Galactic plane. The X-ray maps from the ROSAT all-sky survey show that the edges of these cavities close to the Galactic plane are bright in X-rays^4-6. At intermediate scales (about 150 parsecs), radio astronomers have observed the Galactic Centre lobe, an apparent bubble of emission seen only at positive Galactic latitudes^7,8, but again indicative of energy injection from near the Galactic Centre. Here we report prominent X-ray structures on these intermediate scales (hundreds of parsecs) above and below the plane, which appear to connect the Galactic Centre region to the Fermi bubbles. We propose that these structures, which we term the Galactic Centre 'chimneys', constitute exhaust channels through which energy and mass, injected by a quasi-continuous train of episodic events at the Galactic Centre, are transported from the central few parsecs to the base of the Fermi bubbles⁴.

Radio Signals from Axion Dark Matter Conversion in Neutron Star Magnetospheres

We show that axion dark matter may be detectable through narrow radio lines emitted from neutron stars. Neutron star magnetospheres host both a strong magnetic field and a plasma frequency that increases towards the neutron star surface. As the axions pass through the magnetosphere, they can resonantly convert into radio photons when the plasma frequency matches the axion mass. We solve the axion-photon mixing equations, including a full treatment of the magnetized plasma, to obtain the conversion probability. We discuss possible neutron star targets and how they may probe the QCD-axion parameter space in the mass range of ∼0.2-40  μeV.

Testing the Universality of Free Fall towards Dark Matter with Radio Pulsars

The violation of the weak equivalence principle (EP) in the gravitational field of Earth, described by the Eötvös parameter η_{⊕}, was recently constrained to the level |η_{⊕}|≲10^{-14} by the MICROSCOPE space mission. The Eötvös parameter η_{DM}, pertaining to the differential couplings of dark matter (DM) and ordinary matter, was only tested to the level |η_{DM}|≲10^{-5} by the Eöt-Wash group and lunar laser ranging. This test is limited by the EP-violating driving force in the solar neighborhood that is determined by the galactic distribution of DM. Here we propose a novel celestial experiment using the orbital dynamics from radio timing of binary pulsars, and obtain a competing limit on η_{DM} from a neutron-star-white-dwarf (NS-WD) system, PSR J1713+0747. The result benefits from the large material difference between the NS and the WD and the large gravitational binding energy of the NS. If we can discover a binary pulsar within ∼10  pc of the galactic center, where the driving force is much larger in the expected DM spike, precision timing will improve the test of the universality of free fall towards DM and constrain various proposed couplings of DM to the standard model by several orders of magnitude. Such a test probes the hypothesis that gravity is the only long-range interaction between DM and ordinary matter.

An extreme magneto-ionic environment associated with the fast radio burst source FRB 121102

Fast radio bursts are millisecond-duration, extragalactic radio flashes of unknown physical origin. The only known repeating fast radio burst source-FRB 121102-has been localized to a star-forming region in a dwarf galaxy at redshift 0.193 and is spatially coincident with a compact, persistent radio source. The origin of the bursts, the nature of the persistent source and the properties of the local environment are still unclear. Here we report observations of FRB 121102 that show almost 100 per cent linearly polarized emission at a very high and variable Faraday rotation measure in the source frame (varying from +1.46 × 10⁵ radians per square metre to +1.33 × 10⁵ radians per square metre at epochs separated by seven months) and narrow (below 30 microseconds) temporal structure. The large and variable rotation measure demonstrates that FRB 121102 is in an extreme and dynamic magneto-ionic environment, and the short durations of the bursts suggest a neutron star origin. Such large rotation measures have hitherto been observed only in the vicinities of massive black holes (larger than about 10,000 solar masses). Indeed, the properties of the persistent radio source are compatible with those of a low-luminosity, accreting massive black hole. The bursts may therefore come from a neutron star in such an environment or could be explained by other models, such as a highly magnetized wind nebula or supernova remnant surrounding a young neutron star.

Magnetars: the physics behind observations. A review

Magnetars are the strongest magnets in the present universe and the combination of extreme magnetic field, gravity and density makes them unique laboratories to probe current physical theories (from quantum electrodynamics to general relativity) in the strong field limit. Magnetars are observed as peculiar, burst-active x-ray pulsars, the anomalous x-ray pulsars (AXPs) and the soft gamma repeaters (SGRs); the latter emitted also three 'giant flares', extremely powerful events during which luminosities can reach up to 10(47) erg s(-1) for about one second. The last five years have witnessed an explosion in magnetar research which has led, among other things, to the discovery of transient, or 'outbursting', and 'low-field' magnetars. Substantial progress has been made also on the theoretical side. Quite detailed models for explaining the magnetars' persistent x-ray emission, the properties of the bursts, the flux evolution in transient sources have been developed and confronted with observations. New insight on neutron star asteroseismology has been gained through improved models of magnetar oscillations. The long-debated issue of magnetic field decay in neutron stars has been addressed, and its importance recognized in relation to the evolution of magnetars and to the links among magnetars and other families of isolated neutron stars. The aim of this paper is to present a comprehensive overview in which the observational results are discussed in the light of the most up-to-date theoretical models and their implications. This addresses not only the particular case of magnetar sources, but the more fundamental issue of how physics in strong magnetic fields can be constrained by the observations of these unique sources.

Dynamically important magnetic fields near accreting supermassive black holes

Accreting supermassive black holes at the centres of active galaxies often produce 'jets'--collimated bipolar outflows of relativistic particles. Magnetic fields probably play a critical role in jet formation and in accretion disk physics. A dynamically important magnetic field was recently found near the Galactic Centre black hole. If this is common and if the field continues to near the black hole event horizon, disk structures will be affected, invalidating assumptions made in standard models. Here we report that jet magnetic field and accretion disk luminosity are tightly correlated over seven orders of magnitude for a sample of 76 radio-loud active galaxies. We conclude that the jet-launching regions of these radio-loud galaxies are threaded by dynamically important fields, which will affect the disk properties. These fields obstruct gas infall, compress the accretion disk vertically, slow down the disk rotation by carrying away its angular momentum in an outflow and determine the directionality of jets.