Charges in gravitational fields: from Fermi, via Hanni-Ruffini-Wheeler, to the "electric Meissner effect"

Abstract

Recent developments in obtaining a detailed model for gamma ray bursts have shown the need for a deeper understanding of phenomena described by solutions of the Einstein-Maxwell equations, reviving interest in the behavior of charges close to a black hole. In particular a drastic difference has been found between the lines of force of a charged test particle in the fields of Schwarzschild and Reissner-Nordstrom black holes. This difference characterizes a general relativistic effect for the electric field of a charged test particle around a (charged) Reissner-Nordstrom black hole similar to the "Meissner effect" for a magnetic field around a superconductor. These new results are related to earlier work by Fermi and Hanni-Ruffini-Wheeler.