We construct a relativistic reflection model in a non-Kerr spacetime in which, depending on the value of the deformation parameter of the metric, there are black hole solutions with spin parameter $|a_*| > 1$. We apply our model to fit Suzaku data of four Seyfert galaxies (Ton S180, Ark 120, 1H0419-577, and Swift J0501.9-3239). These galaxies host at the center supermassive black holes that were previously interpreted as near-extremal Kerr black holes. For Ton S180 and 1H0419-577, our measurements are still consistent with the Kerr hypothesis. For Ark 120 and Swift J0501.9-3239, the Kerr solution is not recovered at 3-$σ$. We discuss our results and possible systematic uncertainties in the model.
Chandrasekhar separated the Dirac equation for spinning and massive particles in Kerr geometry in radial and angular parts. Chakrabarti solved the angular equation and found the corresponding eigenvalues for different Kerr parameters. The radial equations were solved asymptotically by Chandrasekhar. In the present paper, we use the WKB approximation to solve the spatially complete radial equation and calculate analytical expressions of radial wave functions for a set of Kerr and wave parameters. From these solutions we obtain local values of reflection and transmission coefficients.
I review the current status of X-ray reflection (a.k.a. broad iron line) based black hole spin measurements. This is a powerful technique that allows us to measure robust black hole spins across the mass range, from the stellar-mass black holes in X-ray binaries to the supermassive black holes in active galactic nuclei. After describing the basic assumptions of this approach, I lay out the detailed methodology focusing on "best practices" that have been found necessary to obtain robust results. Reflecting my own biases, this review is slanted towards a discussion of supermassive black hole (SM…
Nowadays we believe that a typical galaxy contains about $10^7$ stellar-mass black holes and a single super-massive black hole at its center. According to general relativity, these objects are characterized solely by their mass $M$ and by their spin parameter $a_*$. A fundamental limit for a black hole in general relativity is the Kerr bound $|a_*| \le 1$, but the accretion process can spin it up to $a_* \approx 0.998$. If a compact object is not a black hole, the Kerr bound does not hold and in this letter I provide some evidences suggesting that the accretion process could spin the body up t…
Spinning Kerr black holes are known to be superradiantly unstable to massive scalar perturbations. We here prove that the instability regime of the composed Kerr-black-hole-massive-scalar-field system is bounded from above by the dimensionless inequality $Mμ< m \cdot \sqrt{{{2(1+γ) (1-\sqrt{1-γ^2}) - γ^2} \over {4γ^2}}}$, where $\{μ,m\}$ are respectively the proper mass and azimuthal harmonic index of the scalar field and $γ\equiv r_-/r_+$ is the dimensionless ratio between the horizon radii of the black hole. It is further shown that this {\it analytically} derived upper bound on the superrad…
Most of the X-ray emission from luminous accreting black holes emerges from within 20 gravitational radii. The effective emission radius is several times smaller if the black hole is rapidly spinning. General Relativistic effects can then be very important. Large spacetime curvature causes strong lightbending and large gravitational redshifts. The hard X-ray, power-law-emitting corona irradiates the accretion disc generating an X-ray reflection component. Atomic features in the reflection spectrum allow gravitational redshifts to be measured. Time delays between observed variations in the powe…
We study the superradiant instability of massive vector fields, i.e. Proca fields, around spinning black holes in the test field limit. This is motivated by the possibility that observations of astrophysical black holes can probe the existence of ultralight bosons subject to this mechanism. By making use of time-domain simulations, we characterize the growth rate, frequency, spatial distribution, and other properties of the unstable modes, including in the regime where the black hole is rapidly spinning and the Compton wavelength of the Proca field is comparable to the black hole radius. We fi…
We study the prospects of detecting continuous gravitational waves (CGWs) from spinning neutron stars (NSs), gravitationally lensed by the galactic supermassive black hole. Assuming various astrophysically motivated spatial distributions of galactic NSs, we find that CGW signals from a few ($\sim 0-6$) neutron stars should be strongly lensed. Lensing will produce two copies of the signal (with time delays of seconds to minutes) that will interfere with each other. The relative motion of the NS with respect to the lensing optical axis will change the interference pattern, which will help us to …
A combined model of the Kerr spinning particle and superparticle is considered. The structure of the Kerr geometry is presented in a complex form as being created by a complex source. A natural supergeneralization of this construction is obtained corresponding to a complex "supersource". Peforming a supershift to the Kerr and Kerr-Sen solutions we obtain metrics of supergravity black holes with a nonlinear realization of broken supersymmetry.
The intriguing superradiant amplification phenomenon allows an orbiting scalar field to extract rotational energy from a spinning Kerr black hole. Interestingly, the energy extraction rate can grow exponentially in time if the black-hole-field system is placed inside a reflecting mirror which prevents the field from radiating its energy to infinity. This composed Kerr-black-hole-scalar-field-mirror system, first designed by Press and Teukolsky, has attracted the attention of physicists over the last four decades. Previous numerical studies of this spinning {\it black-hole bomb} have revealed t…
The accretion process onto spinning objects in Kerr spacetimes is studied with numerical simulations. Our results show that accretion onto compact objects with Kerr parameter (characterizing the spin) $|a| < M$ and $|a| > M$ is very different. In the super-spinning case, for $|a|$ moderately larger than $M$, the accretion onto the central object is extremely suppressed due to a repulsive force at short distance. The accreting matter cannot reach the central object, but instead is accumulated around it, forming a high density cloud that continues to grow. The radiation emitted in the accretion …
The binary black holes (BBHs) formed near the supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in the galactic nuclei would undergo eccentricity excitation due to the gravitational perturbations from the SMBH and therefore merger more efficiently. In this paper, we study the coupling of the three body 1st post-Newtonian (PN) effects with the spin effects from the SMBH in the hierarchical triple system. We extend previous work by including the coupling between the de Sitter precession and the Lense-Thirring precession from the SMBH spin. This coupling includes both the precessions of the inner orbit angular mo…
We study thermodynamics of the four-dimensional Kerr-Sen-AdS black hole and its ultra-spinning counterpart, and verify that both black holes fullfil the first law and Bekenstein-Smarr mass formulae of black hole thermodynamics. Furthermore, we derive new Christodoulou-Ruffini-like squared-mass formulae for the usual and ultra-spinning Kerr-Sen-AdS$_4$ solutions. We show that this ultra-spinning Kerr-Sen-AdS$_4$ black hole does not always violate the Reverse Isoperimetric Inequality (RII) since the value of the isoperimetric ratio can be larger/smaller than, or equal to unity, depending upon wh…
We present numerical waveforms of gravitational-wave echoes from spinning exotic compact objects (ECOs) that result from binary black hole coalescence. We obtain these echoes by solving the Teukolsky equation for the $ψ_4$ associated with gravitational waves that propagate toward the horizon of a Kerr spacetime, and process the subsequent reflections of the horizon-going wave by the surface of the ECO, which lies right above the Kerr horizon. The trajectories of the infalling objects are modified from Kerr geodesics, such that the gravitational waves propagating toward future null infinity mat…
In this paper we investigate the innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO) for a classical spinning test particle in the background of Kerr-Newman black hole. It is shown that the orbit of the spinning particle is related to the spin of the test particle. The motion of the spinning test particle will be superluminal if its spin is too large. We give an additional condition by considering the superluminal constraint for the ISCO in the black hole backgrounds. We obtain numerically the relations between the ISCO and the properties of the black holes and the test particle. It is found that the radiu…
By taking the ultra-spinning limit as a simple solution-generating trick, a novel class of ultra-spinning charged black hole solutions has been constructed from Chow's rotating charged black hole with two equal-charge parameters in six-dimensional $\mathcal{N} = 4$ gauged supergravity theory. We investigate their thermodynamical properties and then demonstrate that all thermodynamical quantities completely obey both the differential first law and the Bekenstein-Smarr mass formula. For the six-dimensional ultra-spinning Chow's black hole with only one rotation parameter, we show that it does no…
We consider particlelike solutions to supergravity based on the Kerr-Newman black hole (BH) solution. The BH singularity is regularized by means of a phase transition to a new vacuum state near the core region confining a dual gauge field. Supersymmetric BPS-saturated domain wall model is suggested which can provide this phase transition and formation the stable charged superconducting core. For spinning particle the core takes the form of thin, relativistically rotaiting disk.
The Mathisson-Papapetrou-Dixon (MPD) equations describe the motion of an extended test body in general relativity. This system of equations, though, is underdetermined and has to be accompanied by constraining supplementary conditions, even in its simplest version, which is the pole-dipole approximation corresponding to a spinning test body. In particular, imposing a spin supplementary condition (SSC) fixes the center of the mass of the spinning body, i.e. the centroid of the body. In the present study, we examine whether characteristic features of the centroid of a spinning test body, moving …
We consider the possibility that astrophysical Black Holes (BHs) can violate the Kerr bound; i.e., they can have angular momentum greater than BH mass, $J > M$. We discuss implications on the BH apparent shape. Even if the bound is violated by a small amount, the shadow cast by the BH changes significantly (it is $\sim$ an order of magnitude smaller) from the case with $J \le M$ and can be used as a clear observational signature in the search for super--spinning BHs. We discuss briefly recent observations in the mm range of the super--massive BH at the Center of the Galaxy, speculating on the …
Chandrasekhar separated the Dirac equation for spinning and massive particles in Kerr geometry into radial and angular parts. Here we solve the complete wave equation and find out how the Dirac wave scatters off Kerr black holes. The eigenfunctions, eigenvalues and reflection and transmission co-efficients are computed. We compare the solutions with several parameters to show how a spinning black hole distinguishes mass and energy of incoming waves. Very close to the horizon the solutions become independent of the particle parameters indicating an universality of the behaviour.
A natural combined model of the Kerr spinning particle and superparticle is obtained leading to a non-trivial super black hole solution. By analogue with complex structure of the Kerr solution we perform a supershift on the Kerr geometry, and then select a "body"-submanifold of superspace that yields a non-trivial supergeneralization of the Kerr metric with a nonlinear realization of (2,0)-supersymmetry. For the known parameters of spinning particles this "black hole" is to be in a specific state without horizons and very far from extreme. The naked Kerr singular ring has to be hidden inside a…
The existence and stability under linear perturbation of closed timelike curves in the spacetime associated to Schwarzschild black hole pierced by a spinning string are studied. Due to the superposition of the black hole, we find that the spinning string spacetime is deformed in such a way to allow the existence of closed timelike geodesics.
We construct an approximate metric that represents the spacetime of spinning binary black holes (BBH) approaching merger. We build the metric as an analytical superposition of two Kerr metrics in harmonic coordinates, where we transform each black hole term with time-dependent boosts describing an inspiral trajectory. The velocities and trajectories of the boost are obtained by solving the post-Newtonian (PN) equations of motion at 3.5 PN order. We analyze the spacetime scalars of the new metric and we show that it is an accurate approximation of Einstein's field equations in vacuum for a BBH …
We give a review of the works devoted to the treatment of the Kerr super black hole solution as a spinning particle. The real, complex and stringy structures of the Kerr and super-Kerr geometries are discussed, as well as the recent results on the regular matter source for the Kerr spinning particle. It is shown that the source has to represent a rotating bag-like bubble having (A)dS interior and a smooth domain wall boundary. The given by Morris supersymmetric generalization of the U(I) x U'(I) field model (which was used by Witten to describe cosmic superconducting strings) is considered, an…
The structure of spinning particle suggested by the rotating Kerr-Newman (black hole) solution, super-Kerr-Newman solution and the Kerr-Sen solution to low energy string theory is considered. Main peculiarities of the Kerr spinning particle are discussed: a vortex of twisting principal null congruence, singular ring and the Kerr source representing a rotating relativistic disk of the Compton size. A few stringy structures can be found in the real and complex Kerr geometry. Low-energy string theory predicts the existence of a heterotic string placed on the sharp boundary of this disk. The obtai…
We study ultrarelativistic encounters of two spinning, equal-mass black holes through simulations in full numerical relativity. Two initial data sequences are studied in detail: one that leads to scattering and one that leads to a grazing collision and merger. In all cases, the initial black hole spins lie in the orbital plane, a configuration that leads to the so-called "superkicks". In astrophysical, quasicircular inspirals, such kicks can be as large as ~3,000 km/s; here, we find configurations that exceed ~15,000 km/s. We find that the maximum recoil is to a good approximation proportional…
Non-trivial supergeneralization of the Kerr-Newman solution is considered as representing a combined model of the Kerr-Newman spinning particle and superparticle. We show that the old problem of obtaining non-trivial super black hole solutions can be resolved in supergravity broken by Goldstone fermion. Non-linear realization of broken N=2 supersymmetry specific for the Kerr geometry is considered and some examples of the super-Kerr geometries generated by Goldstone fermion are analyzed. The resulting geometries acquire torsion, Rarita-Schwinger field and extra wave contributions to metric and…
In this work we investigate validity of the weak form of the cosmic censorship conjecture in the interaction of Kerr-Sen black holes with neutral test fields. Previous studies of the Klein-Gordon equation on Kerr-Sen background imply that superradiance occurs for scalar fields. We show that scalar fields can overspin a nearly extremal black hole into a naked singularity, but the modes that could overspin an extremal black hole are not absorbed due to superradiance. From Kerr analogy one can naively expect superradiance to be absent for fermionic fields. In such a case overspinning becomes gene…
The motion of spinning test particles along circular orbits in static vacuum spacetimes belonging to the Weyl class is discussed. Spin alignment and coupling with background parameters in the case of superimposed Weyl fields, corresponding to a single Schwarzschild black hole and single Chazy-Curzon particle as well as to two Schwarzschild black holes and two Chazy-Curzon particles, are studied in detail for standard choices of supplementary conditions. Applications to the gravitomagnetic "clock effect" are also discussed.
We investigate the hidden symmetries of the Kerr-Newman, of the D=5 minimal gauged supergravity which admits a Killing-Maxwell system in the sense of Carter and of higher dimensional spacetimes in the presence of Killing-Yano torsion. We note that when an electromagnetic tensor is present and an associated Killing-Maxwell system can be constructed in the sense of Carter, the Killing- Maxwell field becomes a PCKY (primary conformal Killing-Yano) tensor or a PGCKY (primary generalized conformal Killing-Yano) tensor, the latter in the presence of torsion. We point out the structure of the Dirac-t…
We study the collision of two uncharged spinning particles around an extreme Kerr-Sen black hole and calculate the maximal efficiency of the energy extraction from the Kerr-Sen black hole via super Penrose process. We consider the collision of two massive particles as well as collision of a massless particle with a massive particle. For all the cases, we find that the maximum efficiency decreases as the Kerr-Sen black hole's parameter($b=1-a$) increases.
The motion of spinning particles around compact objects, for example a rotating stellar object moving around a supermassive black hole, is described by differential equations that are, in general, non-integrable. In this work, we present a computational code that integrates the equations of motion of a spinning particle moving in the equatorial plane of a spherically symmetric spacetime and gives a visual representation of its trajectory. This code is open source, freely available and modular, so that users may extend its application not only to the Schwarzschild metric, but also to other back…
The gravitational waves and energy radiations from a spinning compact object with stellar mass in a circular orbit in the equatorial plane of a supermassive Kerr black hole are investigated in this paper. The effect how the spin acts on energy and angular moment fluxes is discussed in detail. The calculation results indicate that the spin of small body should be considered in waveform-template production for the upcoming gravitational wave detections. It is clear that when the direction of spin axes is the same as the orbitally angular momentum ("positive" spin), spin can decrease the energy f…
The motion of a stellar compact object around a supermassive black hole can be approximated by the motion of a spinning test particle. The equations of motion describing such systems are in general non-integrable, and therefore, chaotic motion should be expected. This article discusses the integrability issue of the spinning particle for the cases of Schwarzschild and Kerr spacetime, and then it focuses on a canonical Hamiltonian formalism where the spin of the particle is included only up to the linear order.
Peng Huanwu Center for Fundamental Theory（彭桓武理论研究中心）；Centre for Strings, Gravitation and Cosmology, Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Madras（印度马德拉斯理工学院物理学院弦、引力和宇宙学中心）；Interdisciplinary Center for Theoretical Study, University of Science and Technology of China（中国科学技术大学理论交叉研究中心）；Chennai Mathematical Institute（金奈数学研究所）
The problem of a regular matter source for the Kerr spinning particle is discussed. A class of minimal deformations of the Kerr-Newman solution is considered obeying the conditions of regularity and smoothness for the metric and its matter source. It is shown that for charged source corresponding matter forms a rotating bag-like core having (A)dS interior and smooth domain wall boundary. Similarly, the requirement of regularity of the Kerr-Newman electromagnetic field leads to superconducting properties of the core. We further consider the U(I) x U'(I) field model (which was used by Witten to …
We point out that 5D large radius doubly spinning black rings with rotation along S^1 and S^2 are afflicted by a robust instability. It is triggered by superradiant bound state modes. The Kaluza-Klein momentum of the mode along the ring is responsible for the bound state. This kind of instability in black strings and branes was first suggested by Marolf and Palmer and studied in detail by Cardoso, Lemos and Yoshida. We find the frequency spectrum and timescale of this instability in the black ring background, and show that it is active for large radius rings with large rotation along S^2. We i…
A supermassive black hole can disrupt a star when its tidal field exceeds the star's self-gravity, and can directly capture stars that cross its event horizon. For black holes with mass M > 10^7 solar masses, tidal disruption of main-sequence stars occurs close enough to the event horizon that a Newtonian treatment of the tidal field is no longer valid. The fraction of stars that are directly captured is also no longer negligible. We calculate generically oriented stellar orbits in the Kerr metric, and evaluate the relativistic tidal tensor at pericenter for those stars not directly captured b…
We compute the mass, angular momenta and charge of the Godel-type rotating black hole solution to 5 dimensional minimal supergravity. A generalized Smarr formula is derived and the first law of thermodynamics is verified. The computation rests on a new approach to conserved charges in gauge theories that allows for their computation at finite radius.
The leading order effect of the spin of a distant supermassive black hole (SMBH) on the orbit of compact binary revolving around it appears at the 1.5 post Newtonian (PN) expansion through coupling with the inner and outer orbital angular momenta, and makes an oscillating characteristic contribution to the secular evolution of the compact binary eccentricity over a long time scale compared to the Kozai-Lidov dynamics caused by a non-spinning SMBH.
We study solutions in the Plebański--Demiański family which describe an accelerating, rotating and dyonically charged black hole in $AdS_4$. These are solutions of $D=4$ Einstein-Maxwell theory with a negative cosmological constant and hence minimal $D=4$ gauged supergravity. It is well known that when the acceleration is non-vanishing the $D=4$ black hole metrics have conical singularities. By uplifting the solutions to $D=11$ supergravity using a regular Sasaki-Einstein $7$-manifold, $SE_7$, we show how the free parameters can be chosen to eliminate the conical singularities. Topologically, …
