Black Hole Battery

Janna Levin (Barnard and Columbia)

November 13, 2014

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Abstract: Black holes are dark dead stars. Neutron stars are monstrous magnets. Together they can form a giant electromagnetic circuit that outshines an entire galaxy for a millisecond before the black hole swallows the neutron star and the circuit with it. A black hole battery is expensive but powerful. I’ll tell you how to make one.