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Main Authors: Yi, Shu-Xu, Cao, Tian-Yong, Zhang, Shuang-Nan, Feng, Hua
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.05600
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author Yi, Shu-Xu
Cao, Tian-Yong
Zhang, Shuang-Nan
Feng, Hua
author_facet Yi, Shu-Xu
Cao, Tian-Yong
Zhang, Shuang-Nan
Feng, Hua
contents Relativistic jets have been found for decades as a key phenomenon in active galactic nuclei (AGNs), compact binary systems, and gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), yet their energy resources remain a mystery. Two competing ideas prevail: one attributes jet energy to accretion power of the black hole (BH), the other, more interestingly, to magnetic extraction of rotational energy from the BH. A decisive observational distinction between them is still elusive. We propose that BHs remnant from their natal GRB activity can serve as a critical testbed to discriminate between these two scenarios. Via analytical approaches, we demonstrate that extraction of rotational energy to power jets during the GRB phase drives the remnant BH to a universal equilibrium spin, independent of accretion history, initial spin, and mass. This model predicts a stellar-mass BH population with this universal spin, a hallmark of BH spin energy extraction. Testing against the 4th gravitational wave (GW) catalogue (GWTC-4.0), we find a statistically robust dominant population where secondary BH spins are narrowly centered at $\sim0.05$. These findings provide strong new evidence for BH spin energy extraction.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_05600
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Gravitational Wave Evidence of Spin Energy Extraction from Black Holes
Yi, Shu-Xu
Cao, Tian-Yong
Zhang, Shuang-Nan
Feng, Hua
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Relativistic jets have been found for decades as a key phenomenon in active galactic nuclei (AGNs), compact binary systems, and gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), yet their energy resources remain a mystery. Two competing ideas prevail: one attributes jet energy to accretion power of the black hole (BH), the other, more interestingly, to magnetic extraction of rotational energy from the BH. A decisive observational distinction between them is still elusive. We propose that BHs remnant from their natal GRB activity can serve as a critical testbed to discriminate between these two scenarios. Via analytical approaches, we demonstrate that extraction of rotational energy to power jets during the GRB phase drives the remnant BH to a universal equilibrium spin, independent of accretion history, initial spin, and mass. This model predicts a stellar-mass BH population with this universal spin, a hallmark of BH spin energy extraction. Testing against the 4th gravitational wave (GW) catalogue (GWTC-4.0), we find a statistically robust dominant population where secondary BH spins are narrowly centered at $\sim0.05$. These findings provide strong new evidence for BH spin energy extraction.
title Gravitational Wave Evidence of Spin Energy Extraction from Black Holes
topic High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.05600