Circular motion in NUT space-time

Abstract

We consider circular motion in the NUT (Newman–Unti–Tamburino) space-time. Among other things, we determine the location of circular time-like geodesic orbits, in particular of the innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO) and of the marginally bound circular orbit. Moreover, we discuss the von Zeipel cylinders with respect to the stationary observers and with respect to the zero angular momentum observers (ZAMOs). We also investigate the relation of von Zeipel cylinders to inertial forces, in particular in the ultra-relativistic limit. Finally, we generalise the construction of thick accretion tori (‘Polish doughnuts’) which are well known on the Schwarzschild or Kerr background to the case of the NUT metric. We argue that, in principle, an NUT source could be distinguished from a Schwarzschild or Kerr source by observing the features of circular matter flows in its neighbourhood.