Energy Extraction via Magnetic Reconnection from Rotating ModMax Black Holes

Abstract

Magnetic reconnection has been widely recognized as an important mechanism for extracting energy from rapidly rotating black holes. We find that magnetic reconnection can also efficiently extract energy from slowly rotating ModMax black holes. In this paper, we investigate the magnetic reconnection process of ModMax black holes in both circular and plunging orbits. First, we analyze the fundamental characteristic quantities of the ModMax black hole, including the event horizon, ergosphere radius, and circular photon orbits. The results indicate that the charge parameter $Q$ and screening factor $γ$ exhibit a competing effect on the fundamental characteristic quantities of the ModMax black hole. Furthermore, for the extremal ModMax black hole, a larger $Q$ and a smaller $γ$ lower the minimum allowed spin parameter $a$. Subsequently, we analyze the parameter space $(r,a)$ for energy extraction in circular and plunging orbits. A larger $Q$ and a smaller $γ$ reduce the region for energy extraction and decrease the minimum spin parameter $a$ required for energy extraction. For circular orbits, the minimum allowed spin parameter is $a\simeq 0.50071$, while for plunging orbits, this threshold further decreases to $a\simeq0.22407$. This proves that energy extraction from lower spin ModMax black holes is theoretically feasible. Finally, we compare the energy extraction region, power, and efficiency between circular and plunging orbits. It is found that these quantities in plunging orbits are always higher than those in circular orbits, indicating that energy extraction from plunging orbits via magnetic reconnection may be more efficient.