Black-Hole Electrodynamics

Outline of the Course

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Black-hole electrodynamics is particularly relevant for modelling central regions of active galactic nuclei. This course deals with following topics:

  1. Introduction to the Newman-Penrose formalism. Emphasis is given to electromagnetism;
  2. Electromagnetic test-fields on the background of black holes;
  3. Exact solutions of the coupled Einstein-Maxwell equations;
  4. Electromagnetic energy-extraction from black holes -- the Blandford-Znajek process.

Basic knowledge of the theory of electromagnetism and general theory of relativity is required.

Textbooks: No textbook is available in the Czech language because the subject of this course is rather specialized. Related information can be found, e.g., in Chandrasekhar (The Mathematical Theory of Black Holes), Wald (General Relativity), and Gal'tsov (Particles and Fields around Black Holes -- in Russian).

Duration of the course: Basic duration is 12 hours. Then the course can be extended in the form of seminars, according to the interest of students.