Abstract. We study the motion of magnetized particles near a rotating black hole. The main result is that the spacetime curvature and electromagnetic field conspire to allow for the existence, inside the ergosphere, of stable circular orbits occupied by particles with negative total energy and angular momentum. Since these particles would never populate stable orbits were they not magnetized, a large binding energy is required to let them exist. A simple model of a magnetized belt in the ergosphere of a massive black hole with a strong magnetic field, shows that it can store a binding energy as high as 10⁵⁴ erg, an amount comparable with the energy detected in gamma ray bursts. Besides the above astrophysical considerations, this paper contains a formal deduction, from an appropriate Hamiltonian, of the equations of motion of a neutral and magnetized fluid made of spinless dust particles interacting with a magnetic field. This analysis does not appear to have been done before.

PACS numbers: 04.20.−q, 04.70.Bw, 04.90.+e

Print publication: Issue 4 (21 February 2004)
Received 30 September 2003
Published 14 January 2004