Strong gravity Lense–Thirring precession in Kerr and Kerr–Taub–NUT spacetimes

Abstract

An exact expression derived in the literature for the rate of dragging of inertial frames (Lense–Thirring (LT) precession) in a general stationary spacetime, is reviewed. The exact LT precession frequencies for Kerr, Kerr–Taub–NUT (Newman–Unti–Tamburino) and Taub–NUT spacetimes are explicitly derived. Remarkably, in the case of the zero angular momentum Taub–NUT spacetime, the frame-dragging effect is shown not to vanish, when considered for spinning test gyroscopes. The result becomes sharper for the case of vanishing ADM mass of that spacetime. We clarify how our results are consistent with claims in the recent literature of null orbital plane precession for NUT spacetimes.