Black Holes Retain Magnetic Fields from Stellar Origins

Scientists at the Flatiron Institute have discovered that black holes inherit their magnetic fields from their parent stars, specifically from the collapsing proto-neutron stars. This finding, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, resolves a long-standing mystery about the origin of black hole magnetism, which is crucial for the formation of powerful jets and gamma ray bursts. The study suggests that the accretion disk of a neutron star can preserve its magnetic field, allowing the newly formed black hole to inherit it, thus enabling jet formation.