Are BHs orbited, at Event Horizon, by "light rings" ?

[Widdekind]

Would a BH, accreting matter from an orbiting accretion disk, be orbited, close to or at its EH, by a "ring of light" ?? Please ponder the "head-light effect", whereby accelerated charged particles, moving relativistically, emit hard radiation, focused in their forward direction. Thus, as ions are dragged down into the BH, they will emit "headlights" of radiation, focused forward, around the BH. Would such radiation combine, to produce an annulus of orbiting photons, or "light ring", around the BH ??

[pantheory]

Would a BH, accreting matter from an orbiting accretion disk, be orbited, close to or at its EH, by a "ring of light" ?? Please ponder the "head-light effect", whereby accelerated charged particles, moving relativistically, emit hard radiation, focused in their forward direction. Thus, as ions are dragged down into the BH, they will emit "headlights" of radiation, focused forward, around the BH. Would such radiation combine, to produce an annulus of orbiting photons, or "light ring", around the BH ??

 

I think it is a matter of opinion depending on differing BH models, but my opinion is that your conjecture may be pretty close. The difference, I think, is that it may appear to be an annulus in form but instead would be a combination of small arcs of radiation that when combined together might resemble a torus.

[Widdekind]

...it may appear to be an annulus in form but instead would be a combination of small arcs of radiation that when combined together might resemble a torus.

 

...small arcs, each of which in-falls into the BH, due to practicalities, of initial emission angle/direction, and/or interaction, with in-falling matter, streaming thru the radiation 'belt' ?

[pantheory]

...small arcs, each of which in-falls into the BH, due to practicalities, of initial emission angle/direction, and/or interaction, with in-falling matter, streaming thru the radiation 'belt' ?

All your reasons seem like good ones. Although most such light-arcs would fall into the black hole, some of the EM radiation will be radiated outward, reflected, or otherwise bent outward by adjacent matter enabling us to see the sometimes bright light produced within the torus. Some of this EM radiation might even orbit the black hole once or twice before being interrupted, since the torus diameter accordingly would be relatively small; but my guess is that if so such radiation would only be a small portion of the total radiation produced.

//

Edited August 19, 2011 by pantheory

[Widdekind]

All your reasons seem like good ones. Although most such light-arcs would fall into the black hole, some of the EM radiation will be radiated outward, reflected, or otherwise bent outward by adjacent matter enabling us to see the sometimes bright light produced within the torus. Some of this EM radiation might even orbit the black hole once or twice before being interrupted, since the torus diameter accordingly would be relatively small; but my guess is that if so such radiation would only be a small portion of the total radiation produced.

//

Escaping radiation might be rather red-shifted ?

[pantheory]

Widdekind,

 

Escaping radiation might be rather red-shifted ?

Yes, this would seem like one of the logical possibilities of at least a portion of the light radiated away from the surroundings of a black hole. Conceivably for redshifted than their distance would otherwise indicated. If this is so then then it might be difficult to spot the more redshifted part of the displayed spectra. Edited August 26, 2011 by pantheory