External Sources of Poynting Flux in MHD Simulations of Black Hole Ergospheres

This article investigates the physics that is responsible for creating the outgoing Poynting flux emanating from the ergosphere of a rotating black hole in the limit that the magnetic energy density greatly exceeds the plasma rest mass density (magnetically dominated limit). The underlying physics is derived from published 3-D simulations that obey the general relativistic equations of perfect magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). It is found that the majority of the outgoing radial Poynting flux emitted from the magnetically dominated regions of the ergosphere is injected into the magnetosphere by a source outside of the event horizon. It is concluded that the primary source of the Poynting flux is associated with inertial forces in the magnetically dominated region proper or in the lateral boundaries of the region. However, the existing numerical data does not rule out the possibility that large computational errors are actually the primary source of the Poynting flux.