Particle Acceleration Driven by Null Electromagnetic Fields Near a Kerr Black Hole

Abstract

Short timescale variability is often associated with a black hole system. The consequence of an electromagnetic outflow suddenly generated near a Kerr black hole is considered assuming that it is described by a solution of a force-free field with a null electric current. We compute charged particle acceleration induced by the burst field. We show that the particle is instantaneously accelerated to the relativistic regime by the field with a very large amplitude, which is characterized by a dimensionless number κ. Our numerical calculation demonstrates how the trajectory of the particle changes with κ. We also show that the maximum energy increases with κ2/3. The typical maximum energy attained by a proton for an event near a super massive black hole is Emax∼100 TeV, which is enough observed high-energy flares.