Published July 7, 2010 | Version v1
Journal article

Off-equatorial orbits in strong gravitational fields near compact objects-II: halo motion around magnetic compact stars and magnetized black holes

  • 1. Institute of Physics, Faculty of Philosophy and Science, Silesian University in Opava, Bezrucovo nam. 13, CZ-746 01 Opava (Czech Republic)
  • 2. Astronomical Institute, Academy of Sciences, BocnI II, CZ-141 31 Prague (Czech Republic)

Description

Off-equatorial circular orbits with constant latitudes (halo orbits) of electrically charged particles exist near compact objects. In the previous paper, we discussed this kind of motion and demonstrated the existence of minima of the two-dimensional effective potential which correspond to the stable halo orbits. Here, we relax previous assumptions of the pseudo-Newtonian approach for the gravitational field of the central body and study properties of the halo orbits in detail. Within the general relativistic approach, we carry out our calculations in two cases. Firstly, we examine the case of a rotating magnetic compact star. Assuming that the magnetic field axis and the rotation axis are aligned with each other, we study the orientation of motion along the stable halo orbits. In the poloidal plane, we also discuss shapes of the related effective potential halo lobes where the general off-equatorial motion can be bound. Then we focus on the halo orbits near a Kerr black hole immersed in an asymptotically uniform magnetic field of external origin. We demonstrate that, in both the cases considered, the lobes exhibit two different regimes, namely one where completely disjoint lobes occur symmetrically above and below the equatorial plane, and another where the lobes are joined across the plane. A possible application of the model concerns the structure of putative circumpulsar discs consisting of dust particles. We suggest that the particles can acquire a small (but non-zero) net electric charge, and this drives them to form the halo lobes.

Availability note (English)

Available from http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0264-9381/27/13/135006

Additional details

Identifiers

DOI
10.1088/0264-9381/27/13/135006;
PII
S0264-9381(10)45360-5;

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Classical and Quantum Gravity
Journal Volume
27
Journal Issue
13
Journal Page Range
[21 p.]
ISSN
0264-9381
CODEN
CQGRDG

INIS

Country of Publication
United Kingdom
Country of Input or Organization
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
INIS RN
42032916
Subject category
S79: ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY;
Descriptors DEI
ASTROPHYSICS; BLACK HOLES; CHARGED PARTICLES; DUSTS; ELECTRIC CHARGES; GRAVITATIONAL FIELDS; MAGNETIC FIELDS; MAGNETIC STARS; ORBITS; ORIENTATION; POTENTIALS; RELATIVISTIC RANGE; ROTATION; TWO-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
Descriptors DEC
ENERGY RANGE; MOTION; PHYSICS; STARS