Black holes consume everything that falls within their reach, yet astronomers have spotted jets of particles fleeing from black holes at nearly the speed of light. New computer simulations have revealed what gives these particles such speed: cosmic robbery.
Tracking the formation of jets is tricky because of the complexity of the physics involved. Black holes bend space-time and generate powerful magnetic fields. Particles on the outskirts of the black hole zip around untethered from atoms in a state of matter called plasma. New particles can pop into existence, such as pairs of electrons and their antimatter doppelgangers known as positrons.
As a black hole spins, its dense mass distorts and twists the surrounding fabric of space and time. The simulations show that magnetic fields at the poles of the black hole become coiled and spring outward, flinging jets of particles into space. At the equator, magnetic fields collapse into clumps. This tangling creates areas that act like particle accelerators, boosting some particles into the edges of polar jets at high speeds and others into the maw of the black hole.
Source:
MAQ Magazine n. 11 / March - April 2019