Conversion of protons to positrons by a black hole
Author:
A. D. Dolgov, A. S. Rudenko
Keyword:
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology, High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph), General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc)
journal:
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date:
2023-08-02 16:00:00
Abstract
The conversion of protons to positrons at the horizon of a black hole (BH) is considered. It is shown that the process may efficiently proceed for BHs with masses in the range $\sim 10^{18}$ -- $10^{21}$ g. It is argued that the electric charge of BH acquired by the proton accretion to BH could create electric field near BH horizon close to the critical Schwinger one. It leads to efficient electron-positron pair production, when electron is back capture by the BH while positron is emitted into outer space. The electron-positron annihilation in the interstellar medium may explain the origin of the observed 511 keV line.