Rarity of rocket-driven Penrose extraction in Kerr spacetime
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arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2026
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| _version_ | 1866911671420715008 |
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| author | Le, An T. |
| author_facet | Le, An T. |
| contents | We study rocket-driven Penrose extraction in the test-particle limit on a fixed Kerr background for equatorial prograde flybys under explicit steering prescriptions. A spacecraft ejects exhaust inside the ergosphere; when the exhaust attains negative Killing energy, the remaining spacecraft gains energy by 4-momentum conservation. Across 320{,}000 simulated trajectories spanning black-hole spin, exhaust velocity, and orbital parameters, extraction with escape is rare in broad parameter scans (at most ${\sim}1\%$) and requires high spin ($a/M\gtrsim 0.89$), highly relativistic exhaust ($v_e\gtrsim 0.91c$), and finely tuned initial conditions. Under optimal tuning the success rate reaches ${\sim}70\%$ at $a/M = 0.95$. For representative escape trajectories, a single periapsis impulse is more propellant-efficient than the continuous-thrust controllers studied here. All quoted thresholds are empirical and specific to the orbit family, prior, and steering protocol studied. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_19616 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Rarity of rocket-driven Penrose extraction in Kerr spacetime Le, An T. High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena Systems and Control General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology Computational Physics We study rocket-driven Penrose extraction in the test-particle limit on a fixed Kerr background for equatorial prograde flybys under explicit steering prescriptions. A spacecraft ejects exhaust inside the ergosphere; when the exhaust attains negative Killing energy, the remaining spacecraft gains energy by 4-momentum conservation. Across 320{,}000 simulated trajectories spanning black-hole spin, exhaust velocity, and orbital parameters, extraction with escape is rare in broad parameter scans (at most ${\sim}1\%$) and requires high spin ($a/M\gtrsim 0.89$), highly relativistic exhaust ($v_e\gtrsim 0.91c$), and finely tuned initial conditions. Under optimal tuning the success rate reaches ${\sim}70\%$ at $a/M = 0.95$. For representative escape trajectories, a single periapsis impulse is more propellant-efficient than the continuous-thrust controllers studied here. All quoted thresholds are empirical and specific to the orbit family, prior, and steering protocol studied. |
| title | Rarity of rocket-driven Penrose extraction in Kerr spacetime |
| topic | High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena Systems and Control General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology Computational Physics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.19616 |