No Arabic abstract
We compute the scattering cross section of Reissner-Nordstrom black holes for the case of an incident electromagnetic wave. We describe how scattering is affected by both the conversion of electromagnetic to gravitational radiation, and the parity-dependence of phase shifts induced by the black hole charge. The latter effect creates a helicity-reversed scattering amplitude that is non-zero in the backward direction. We show that from the character of the electromagnetic wave scattered in the backward direction it is possible, in principle, to infer if a static black hole is charged.
The gravitational-wave GW170817 is associated to the inspiral phase of a binary neutron star coalescence event. The LIGO-Virgo detectors sensitivity at high frequencies was not sufficient to detect the signal corresponding to the merger and post-merger phases. Hence, the question whether the merger outcome was a prompt black hole formation or not must be answered using either the pre-merger gravitational wave signal or electromagnetic counterparts. In this work we present two methods to infer the probability of prompt black hole formation, using the analysis of the inspiral gravitational-wave signal. Both methods combine the posterior distribution from the gravitational-wave data analysis with numerical relativity results. One method relies on the use of phenomenological models for the equation of state and on the estimate of the collapse threshold mass. The other is based on the estimate of the tidal polarizability parameter $tilde{Lambda}$ that is correlated in an equation-of-state agnostic way with the prompt BH formation. We analyze GW170817 data and find that the two methods consistently predict a probability of ~ 50-70% for prompt black-hole formation, which however may significantly decrease below 10% if the maximum mass constraint from PSR J0348+0432 or PSR J0740+6620 is imposed.
The transformation of powerful gravitational waves, created by the coalescence of massive black hole binaries, into electromagnetic radiation in external magnetic fields is revisited. In contrast to the previous calculations of the similar effect, we study the realistic case of the gravitational radiation frequency below the plasma frequency of the surrounding medium. The gravitational waves propagating in the plasma constantly create electromagnetic radiation dragging it with them, despite the low frequency. The plasma heating by the unattenuated electromagnetic wave may be significant in a hot rarefied plasma with strong magnetic field and can lead to a noticeable burst of electromagnetic radiation with higher frequency. The graviton-to-photon conversion effect in plasma is discussed in the context of possible electromagnetic counterparts of GW150914 and GW170104.
We propose that the Hawking radiation energy and entropy flow rates from a black hole can be viewed as a one-dimensional (1D), non-equilibrium Landauer transport process. Support for this viewpoint comes from previous calculations invoking conformal symmetry in the near-horizon region, which give radiation rates that are identical to those of a single 1D quantum channel connected to a thermal reservoir at the Hawking temperature. The Landauer approach shows in a direct way the particle statistics independence of the energy and entropy fluxes of a black hole radiating into vacuum, as well as one near thermal equilibrium with its environment. As an application of the Landauer approach, we show that Hawking radiation gives a net entropy production that is 50% larger than that obtained assuming standard three-dimensional emission into vacuum.
We analyze the vacuum polarization induced by a quantum charged scalar field near the inner horizon of a charged (Reissner-Nordstrom-de Sitter) black hole in quantum states that start out as regular states near an initial Cauchy surface. Contrary to the outer (i.e. event-) horizon, where polarization effects lead to a discharge, we find that near an inner horizon, the transversal component of the expected current density can have either sign depending on the black hole and field parameters. Thus, the inner horizon can be charged or discharged. But we find that it is always discharged close to extremality thus driving the black hole interior away from this critical point. Furthermore, we find that quantum effects dominate in that the strength of the blow up of the quantum current at the inner horizon is state-independent and stronger than that of the current of a classical solution.
Motivated by the recent interest in the study of the spacetimes that are asymptotically Lifshitz and in order to extend some previous results, we calculate exactly the quasinormal frequencies of the electromagnetic field in a D-dimensional asymptotically Lifshitz black hole. Based on the values obtained for the quasinormal frequencies we discuss the classical stability of the quasinormal modes. We also study whether the electromagnetic field possesses unstable modes in the D-dimensional Lifshitz spacetime.