General Black Hole Research Articles

The Petrov type D isolated null surfaces

Generic black holes in vacuum-de Sitter/anti-de Sitter spacetimes are studied in quasi-local framework, where the relevant properties are captured in the intrinsic geometry of the null surface (the horizon). Imposing the quasi-local notion of stationarity (null symmetry of the metric up to second order at the horizon only) we perform the complete classification of all the so-called special Petrov types of these surfaces defined by the properties (structure of principal null direction) of the Weyl tensor at the surface. The only possible types are: II, D and O. In particular, all the geometries of type O are identified. The condition distinguishing type D horizons, taking the form of a second order differential equation on certain complex invariant constructed from the Gaussian curvature and the rotation scalar, is shown to be an integrability condition for the so-called near horizon geometry equation. The emergence of the near horizon geometry in this context is equivalent to the hyper-suface orthogonality of both double principal null directions. We further formulate a no-hair theorem for the Petrov type D axisymmetric null surfaces of topologically spherical sections, showing that the space of solutions is uniquely parametrized by the horizon area and angular momentum.

Quantum criticality and duality in the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev/AdS2 chain

We show that the quantum critical point (QCP) between a diffusive metal and ferromagnetic (or antiferromagnetic) phases in the SYK chain has a gravitational description corresponding to the double-trace deformation in an AdS$_2$ chain. Specifically, by studying a double-trace deformation of a $Z_2$ scalar in an AdS$_2$ chain where the $Z_2$ scalar is dual to the order parameter in the SYK chain, we find that the susceptibility and renormalization group equation describing the QCP in the SYK chain can be exactly reproduced in the holographic model. Our results suggest that the infrared geometry in the gravity theory dual to the diffusive metal of the SYK chain is also an AdS$_2$ chain. We further show that the transition in SYK model captures universal information about double-trace deformation in generic black holes with near horizon AdS$_2$ spacetime.

Quasinormal modes of black holes in Horndeski gravity

We study the perturbations to General Relativistic black holes (i.e. those without scalar hair) in Horndeski scalar-tensor gravity. First, we derive the equations of odd and even parity perturbations of both the metric and scalar field in the case of a Schwarzschild black hole, and show that the gravitational waves emitted from such a system contain a mixture of quasi-normal mode frequencies from the usual General Relativistic spectrum and those from the new scalar field spectrum, with the new scalar spectrum characterised by just two free parameters. We then specialise to the sub-family of Horndeski theories in which gravitational waves propagate at the speed of light $c$ on cosmological backgrounds; the scalar quasi-normal mode spectrum of such theories is characterised by just a single parameter $\mu$ acting as an effective mass of the scalar field. Analytical expressions for the quasi-normal mode frequencies of the scalar spectrum in this sub-family of theories are provided for both static and slowly rotating black holes. In both regimes comparisons to quasi-normal modes calculated numerically show good agreement with those calculated analytically in this work.

Test-particle dynamics in general spherically symmetric black hole spacetimes

To date, the most precise tests of general relativity have been achieved through pulsar timing, albeit in the weak-field regime. Since pulsars are some of the most precise and stable "clocks" in the Universe, present observational efforts are focused on detecting pulsars in the vicinity of supermassive black holes (most notably in our Galactic Centre), enabling pulsar timing to be used as an extremely precise probe of strong-field gravity. In this paper a mathematical framework to describe test-particle dynamics in general black hole spacetimes is presented, and subsequently used to study a binary system comprising a pulsar orbiting a black hole. In particular, taking into account the parameterization of a general spherically symmetric black hole metric, general analytic expressions for both the advance of the periastron and for the orbital period of a massive test particle are derived. Furthermore, these expressions are applied to four representative cases of solutions arising in both general relativity and in alternative theories of gravity. Finally, this framework is applied to the Galactic Centre $S$-stars and four distinct pulsar toy models. It is shown that by adopting a fully general-relativistic description of test-particle motion which is independent of any particular theory of gravity, observations of pulsars can help impose better constraints on alternative theories of gravity than is presently possible.

Isoperimetric surfaces and area-angular momentum inequality in a rotating black hole in new massive gravity

We study the existence and stability of isoperimetric surfaces in a family of rotating black holes in New Massive Gravity. We show that the stability of such surfaces is determined by the sign of the hair parameter. We use the isoperimetric surfaces to find a geometric inequality between the area and the angular momentum of the black hole, conjecturing geometric inequalities for more general black holes.

How well can ultracompact bodies imitate black hole ringdowns?

The ongoing observations of merging black holes by the instruments of the fledging gravitational wave astronomy has opened the way for testing the general relativistic Kerr black hole metric and, at the same time, for probing the existence of more speculative horizonless ultracompact objects. In this paper we quantify the difference that these two classes of objects may exhibit in the post-merger ringdown signal. By considering rotating systems in general relativity and assuming an eikonal limit and a third-order Hartle-Thorne slow rotation approximation, we provide the first calculation of the early ringdown frequency and damping time as a function of the body's multipolar structure. Using the example of a gravastar, we show that the main ringdown signal may differ as much as a few percent with respect to that of a Kerr black hole, a deviation that could be probed by near future Advanced LIGO/Virgo searches.

Holographic non-computers

We introduce the notion of holographic non-computer as a system which exhibits parametrically large delays in the growth of complexity, as calculated within the Complexity-Action proposal. Some known examples of this behavior include extremal black holes and near-extremal hyperbolic black holes. Generic black holes in higher-dimensional gravity also show non-computing features. Within the 1/d expansion of General Relativity, we show that large-d scalings which capture the qualitative features of complexity, such as a linear growth regime and a plateau at exponentially long times, also exhibit an initial computational delay proportional to d. While consistent for large AdS black holes, the required ‘non-computing’ scalings are incompatible with thermodynamic stability for Schwarzschild black holes, unless they are tightly caged.

Horizon fluffs: In the context of generalized minimal massive gravity

We consider a metric which describes Bañados geometries and show that the considered metric is a solution of the generalized minimal massive gravity (GMMG) model. We consider the Killing vector field which preserves the form of the considered metric. Using the off-shell quasi-local approach we obtain the asymptotic conserved charges of the given solution. Similar to the Einstein gravity in the presence of negative cosmological constant, for the GMMG model, we also show that the algebra among the asymptotic conserved charges is isomorphic to two copies of the Virasoro algebra. Eventually, we find a relation between the algebra of the near-horizon and the asymptotic conserved charges. This relation shows that the main part of the horizon fluffs proposed by Afshar et al., Sheikh-Jabbari and Yavartanoo appear for generic black holes in the class of Bañados geometries in the context of the GMMG model.

Identification of black hole horizons using scalar curvature invariants

We introduce the concept of a geometric horizon, which is a surface distinguished by the vanishing of certain curvature invariants which characterize its special algebraic character. We motivate its use for the detection of the event horizon of a stationary black hole by providing a set of appropriate scalar polynomial curvature invariants that vanish on this surface. We extend this result by proving that a non-expanding horizon, which generalizes a Killing horizon, coincides with the geometric horizon. Finally, we consider the imploding spherically symmetric metrics and show that the geometric horizon identifies a unique quasi-local surface corresponding to the unique spherically symmetric marginally trapped tube, implying that the spherically symmetric dynamical black holes admit a geometric horizon. Based on these results, we propose a suite of conjectures concerning the application of geometric horizons to more general dynamical black hole scenarios.

Near horizon soft hair as microstates of three dimensional black holes

We provide the first explicit proposal for all microstates of generic black holes in three dimensions (of Banados-Teitelboim-Zanelli-type): black hole microstates, termed "horizon fluffs", are a particular class of near horizon soft hairs which have zero energy as measured by the horizon observer and cannot be distinguished by observers at finite distance from the horizon. These states are arranged in orbits of the two-dimensional conformal algebra associated with the asymptotic black hole geometry. We count these microstates using the Hardy-Ramanujan formula for the number of partitions of a given integer into non-negative integers, recovering the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy. We discuss possible extensions of our black hole microstate construction to astrophysical Kerr-type black holes.

Weak null singularities in general relativity

We construct a class of spacetimes (without symmetry assumptions) satisfying the vacuum Einstein equations with singular boundaries on two null hypersurfaces intersecting in the future on a 2-sphere. The metric of these spacetimes extends continuously beyond the singularities while the Christoffel symbols fail to be square integrable in a neighborhood of any point on the singular boundaries. The construction shows moreover that the singularities are stable in a suitable sense. These singularities are stronger than the impulsive gravitational spacetimes considered by Luk and Rodnianski, and conjecturally they are present in the interior of generic black holes arising from gravitational collapse.

Kerr-Newman black hole in the formalism of isolated horizons

The near horizon geometry of general black holes in equilibrium can be conveniently characterized in the formalism of weakly isolated horizons in the form of the Bondi-like expansions (Krishnan B, Class.\ Quantum Grav.\ 29, 205006, 2012). While the intrinsic geometry of the Kerr-Newman black hole has been extensively investigated in the weakly isolated horizon framework, the off-horizon description in the Bondi-like system employed by Krishnan has not been studied. We extend Krishnan's work by explicit, non-perturbative construction of the Bondi-like tetrad in the full Kerr-Newman spacetime. Namely, we construct the Bondi-like tetrad which is parallelly propagated along a nontwisting null geodesic congruence transversal to the horizon and provide all Newman-Penrose scalars associated with this tetrad. This work completes the description of the Kerr-Newman spacetime in the formalism of weakly isolated horizons and is a starting point for the investigation of deformed black holes.

Horizon fluff, semi-classical black hole microstates \u2014 Log-corrections to BTZ entropy and black hole/particle correspondence

According to the horizon fluff proposal microstates of a generic black hole belong to a certain subset of near horizon soft hairs that cannot be extended beyond the near horizon region. In [1, 2] it was shown how the horizon fluff proposal works for AdS3 black holes. In this work we clarify further this picture by showing that BTZ black hole microstates are in general among the coherent states in the Hilbert space associated with conic spaces or their Virasoro descendants, provided we impose a (Bohr-type) quantization condition on the angular deficit. Thus BTZ black holes may be viewed as condensates (or solitonic states) of AdS3 particles. We provide canonical and microcanonical descriptions of the statistical mechanical system associated with BTZ black holes and their microstates, and relate them. As a further non-trivial check we show the horizon fluff proposal correctly reproduces the expected logarithmic corrections to the BTZ entropy.

Expanded solutions of force-free electrodynamics on general Kerr black holes

In this work, expanded solutions of force-free magnetospheres on general Kerr black holes are derived through a radial distance expansion method. From the regular conditions both at the horizon and at spatial infinity, two previously known asymptotical solutions (one of them is actually an exact solution) are identified as the only solutions that satisfy the same conditions at the two boundaries. Taking them as initial conditions at the boundaries, expanded solutions up to the first few orders are derived by solving the stream equation order by order. It is shown that our extension of the exact solution can (partially) cure the problems of the solution: it leads to magnetic domination and a mostly timelike current for restricted parameters.

On timelike supersymmetric solutions of Abelian gauged 5-dimensional supergravity

We consider 5-dimensional gauged mathcal{N}=1 supergravity coupled to Abelian vector multiplets, and we look for supersymmetric solutions for which the 4-dimensional Kähler base space admits a holomorphic isometry. Taking advantage of this isometry, we are able to find several supersymmetric solutions for the ST[2, nv + 1] special geometric model with arbitrarily many vector multiplets. Among these there are three families of solutions with nv + 2 independent parameters, which for one of the families can be seen to correspond to nv + 1 electric charges and one angular momentum. These solutions generalize the ones recently found for minimal gauged supergravity in JHEP 1704 (2017) 017 and include in particular the general supersymmetric asymptotically-AdS5 black holes of Gutowski and Reall, analogous black hole solutions with non-compact horizon, the three near horizon geometries themselves, and the singular static solutions of Behrndt, Chamseddine and Sabra.

A boosted Kerr black hole solution and the structure of a general astrophysical black hole

A solution of Einstein's vacuum field equations that describes a boosted Kerr black hole relative to an asymptotic Lorentz frame at the future null infinity is derived. The solution has three parameters (mass, rotation and boost) and corresponds to the most general configuration that an astrophysical black hole must have; it reduces to the Kerr solution when the boost parameter is zero. In this solution the ergosphere is north-south asymmetric, with dominant lobes in the direction opposite to the boost. However the event horizon, the Cauchy horizon and the ring singularity, which are the core of the black hole structure, do not alter, being independent of the boost parameter. Possible consequences for astrophysical processes connected with Penrose processes in the asymmetric ergosphere are discussed.

Black holes and random matrices

We argue that the late time behavior of horizon fluctuations in large anti-de Sitter (AdS) black holes is governed by the random matrix dynamics characteristic of quantum chaotic systems. Our main tool is the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) model, which we use as a simple model of a black hole. We use an analytically continued partition function |Z(β + it)|2 as well as correlation functions as diagnostics. Using numerical techniques we establish random matrix behavior at late times. We determine the early time behavior exactly in a double scaling limit, giving us a plausible estimate for the crossover time to random matrix behavior. We use these ideas to formulate a conjecture about general large AdS black holes, like those dual to 4D super-Yang-Mills theory, giving a provisional estimate of the crossover time. We make some preliminary comments about challenges to understanding the late time dynamics from a bulk point of view.

Generic rotating regular black holes in general relativity coupled to nonlinear electrodynamics

We construct regular rotating black hole and no-horizon spacetimes based on the recently introduced spherically symmetric generic regular black hole spacetimes related to electric or magnetic charge under nonlinear electrodynamics coupled to general relativity that for special values of the spacetime parameters reduce to the Bardeen and Hayward spacetimes. We show that the weak and strong energy conditions are violated inside the Cauchy horizons of these generic rotating black holes. We give the boundary between the rotating black hole and no-horizon spacetimes and determine the black hole horizons and the boundary of the ergosphere. We introduce the separated Carter equations for the geodesic motion in these rotating spacetimes. For the most interesting new class of the regular spacetimes, corresponding for magnetic charges to the Maxwell field in the weak field limit of the nonlinear electrodynamics, we determine the structure of the circular geodesics and discuss their properties. We study the epicyclic motion of a neutral particle moving along the stable circular orbits around the "Maxwellian" rotating regular black holes. We show that epicyclic frequencies measured by the distant observers and related to the oscillatory motion of the neutral test particle along the stable circular orbits around the rotating singular and regular Maxwellian black holes are always smaller than ones in the Kerr spacetime.

Exponential fading to white of black holes in quantum gravity

Quantization of the gravitational field may allow the existence of a decay channel of black holes into white holes with an explicit time-reversal symmetry. The definition of a meaningful decay probability for this channel is studied in spherically symmetric situations. As a first nontrivial calculation, we present the functional integration over a set of geometries using a single-variable function to interpolate between black-hole and white-hole geometries in a bounded region of spacetime. This computation gives a finite result which depends only on the Schwarzschild mass and a parameter measuring the width of the interpolating region. The associated probability distribution displays an exponential decay law on the latter parameter, with a mean lifetime inversely proportional to the Schwarzschild mass. In physical terms this would imply that matter collapsing to a black hole from a finite radius bounces back elastically and instantaneously, with negligible time delay as measured by external observers. These results invite to reconsider the ultimate nature of astrophysical black holes, providing a possible mechanism for the formation of black stars instead of proper general relativistic black holes. The existence of both this decay channel and black stars can be tested in future observations of gravitational waves.

Critical phenomena of regular black holes in anti-de Sitter space-time

In General Relativity, addressing coupling to a non-linear electromagnetic field, together with a negative cosmological constant, we obtain the general static spherical symmetric black hole solution with magnetic charges, which is asymptotic to anti-de Sitter (AdS) space-times. In particular, for a degenerate case the solution becomes a Hayward–AdS black hole, which is regular everywhere in the full space-time. The existence of such a regular black hole solution preserves the weak energy condition, while the strong energy condition is violated. We then derive the first law and the Smarr formula of the black hole solution. We further discuss its thermodynamic properties and study the critical phenomena in the extended phase space where the cosmological constant is treated as a thermodynamic variable as well as the parameter associated with the non-linear electrodynamics. We obtain many interesting results such as: the Maxwell equal area law in the P{-}V (or S{-}T) diagram is violated and consequently the critical point (T_*,P_*) of the first order small–large black hole transition does not coincide with the inflection point (T_c,P_c) of the isotherms; the Clapeyron equation describing the coexistence curve of the Van der Waals (vdW) fluid is no longer valid; the heat capacity at constant pressure is finite at the critical point; the various exponents near the critical point are also different from those of the vdW fluid.